Nicest place to live a commute to Gatwick airport?

[Lucielllle87]

If money was no object, where would you choose for a max 45 min commute to Gatwick?

Advice for a friend who currently lives abroad!

No worries - Croydon does need defending sometimes but I'd still definitely recommend it to anyone (I moved here as an adult because my DH grew up nearby and we wanted to stay somewhere easy distance into London etc. It's great 😁)

Reigate if they want market town living (and it has direct trains to Victoria and to Gatwick) or Guildford for somewhere bigger. If happy driving and want village life that opens up lots of beautiful villages near Guildford (Clandon, Horsley, Shere, Gomshall).

@TerryWoganFanGirl Lovely chiddingfold too or Godalming

Keston, Lockbottom- technically, Kent, but still London, so international couple will be ok there. Good secondary schools, too.

Somewhere close to Victoria Station, if money is really no object then pimlico, Belgravia, sloane sq, South kensington.

If their budget isnt jn the nukti millions then around Wandsworth Common for access to Clapham Junction Station

Petworth/hazelmere/midhurst are really nice if driving and they want the countryside.

Yes indeed!

Don't diss the entire London borough of Croydon!

I had a friend from university who was very well to do, she was from Croydon, well the posh bit Purley, had a tennis club in their road too!

Think ?Purley Bury Avenue? Not quite sure where in my memory bank I've pulled that from, it was over 20 years ago we were at university

@LesterKnopf @TurquoiseDress my apols for contributing to the dissing of the non-Purley bits of Croydon! I have to confess that my experiences of central Croydon are limited to Lunar House (utter hell on earth) and a funeral, so perhaps not representative.

(As a child I always assumed Croydon was uber-posh, I don't know why, it's just as an adult my view of it changed.)

Do they have parking at Gatwick?

If not train is a better option if they are airport working

I’d go Dorking if you’re after a town, or Forest Row as a pp has mentioned for a village. Both have great countryside and decent high streets. Possibly oxted too although that’s a bit more faff transport wise.

@elisenbrunnen I think we live in the same place!

Are these people wanting to be near Gatwick because they work there or just near because there will be regular flying back to home country? Do they want city - in which case there is only London or Brighton or Croydon or smaller town, green and pleasant landy in which case you've got Lewis, dorking and surrounding villages like Betchworth, Brockham. Reigate is a complete bottle neck for traffic and is limited in things to do. Billingshurst, Horsham way are nice.

Leatherhead/Ashstead and surround might be a good location too. Access to motorway(be it a hotspot for congestion to M23) but also via A24/A25/A217 if needs be.

We moved to this small/med town because it had everything for a young family - choice of good schools right from nurseries to secondary, park, green spaces, a leisure centre with pool , library, shops, walking distance to Gatwick so that (now Ex)DH (who worked in the City and commuted from local station) could always get home, any time of night as Gatwick airport and station is 24 hours.

It's nice here innit @KathieFerrars

@elisenbrunnen Yes it is. I can hear sheep and occasionally cows (really noisy yesterday) as well as aircraft, we have fields and it is 50 mins to Brighton and up to London. Like you, the always being able to get home from London was a big draw. Rather too many charity shops and I really wish the local dep store hadn't stopped its clothes/luggage/toys but lots of nice cafes! Great place for teens to live as lots of transport routes to everywhere and they then get jobs in Waitrose which gladdens every parental heart.

Surrey Hills - the villages that surround Guildford and Dorking, idyllic, bucolic, and surprisingly easy to commute to London

Surrey Hills villages are some of the best, terrific area.

Or Knockholt.

Hee hee no worries!

I'm not even from Croydon & I'm bigging up some parts of it!

I've been past Lunar house on the bus and it does indeed look like an utterly grim place!

The nice bits of Croydon are far far nicer than Brighton which is very run down. Arty in parts with a proper theatre etc and arts and fashion colleges in Croydon. Plus you said multicultural, only Croydon and London fit that, everywhere else mentioned is a definite white area.

Plus good grammars eh whsg is top 50 in the country and Wilsons top 5 of all state schools, again more Wallington than Croydon but very close. Plus lots of good private schools too.