Left London for the suburbs - hate it

[Whereishome22]

Feeling miserable about this situation so want to at least have hope on the horizon! Moved from a part of London I loved to zone 6 suburbs end of last year and absolutely loathe it. It's a cultural wasteland, nothing to do, need to drive everywhere (which I can't yet), takes ages to get into work, and no local parks or playgrounds (two small kids). Suffering serious buyers remorse but anywhere I'd live in London has shot up in price Vs here, which has stayed steady.

So I want to leave and start anew in a town/ small city and want your help!

Budget is £850k, need at least 3 bedrooms but ideally more/annexe. Want a house with period features (not cottage more Victorian/Edwardian/1930s), at least 100 foot garden, good schools (this doesn't necessarily mean grammar schools) within walking distance, things to do, cinema, swimming pool, fruit and veg market, actually useful shops rather than gift shops and to be able to get a nice coffee, vegan food every now and then. Family in the South so don't want to be too far from them (i.e. Wales, Scotland, NE/SW England) and will need to commute to London one day a week (but don't mind it being a long one)

Places on the shortlist are:
Folkestone
Norwich
Tonbridge
Faversham

Any other ideas?

Round my way (z4) there’s lots of 1930s terraces you could pick up for around 850k that have 100ft+ gardens. And within a short walk of high street, cinema, swimming pool etc. obviously they’re long and narrow rather than a wrap-around garden you’d get with a detached house. But still a decent amount to work with.

@Toomuchtrouble4me Totally agree. We live in Suffolk and even though there are very pretty areas, we are counting down the days until we make our move to Tunbridge Wells to be near family. The pig crap smell will be starting soon and it's so boring here.

What about Oxford? Some lovely villages on the outskirts and some lovely areas. Nice size city to be manageable and not too sprawling (as Bristol can feel). Lovely amount of cultural stuff going on, swimming, cinemas, theatres, markets, vegan food all there.

We all have different ideas of perfection. It depends on how much cash you have.