Where is better to live....Whitstable, Canterbury or Margate

[Bastet11]

Hi All,

Which do you think is the best for a person who wishes to have a 'Mediterranean Vibe' in UK: cafe culture (artisan coffee shops), health food, sunlight and warmer weather. And safe, crime free, of course. With a good commute to London. And the best neighbourhoods in a place of your choice.

Thank you.

I'd go to Hastings . I lived there for a couple of years and loved it

Have a look at Hastings.

Quite relaxed and arty there!

Would you move from Edinburgh to Bath? what are the trade offs? Weather in Bath vs Edinburgh? Any comments please.
We are considering getting closer to london for work and for more light but property prices (!) though capital growth in Bath seems higher than Edinburgh / any thoughts?

Whitstable is nicest of the 3 places you mentioned, followed by Canterbury, but that's full of students for most of the year.

However, due to the students Canterbury is a much better place for things to do, it has a busy town centre and trains into London are frequent and direct.

Whitstable, Margate is horrible.

''@Edinburghmusing

I don’t think there’s a health food shop in margate yet 😂''

You can find them in Cliftonville. The Grain Grocer for example is great and is both a shop and a little cafe.

OP, you will find there is often a lot of snobbism on these threads about some of the Kent coast towns.

I moved to Deal, a lovely small arty town, and spend a lot of time in Margate, Ramsgate and Folkestone and there are a lot of good things happening there.

Folkestone would be the quickest commute to London.

Whistable is more expensive. In a previous job I had a colleague who moved her family from London to Hastings and was very happy there. Broadstairs is another place to look at.

I would say try to visit all these places and keep an open mind.

I rented in Deal for a year before I bought a house just to make sure I was happy to settle in the area. I could have easily lived in Folkestone or Ramsgate too.

@jujudoll64 we live in Bath and I know Edinburgh reasonably well as well- I like both- Bath is a bit like a mini Edinburgh but as it's much smaller you would lose the vast range of cultural offerings but it does have good venues, theatres, galleries, restaurants and bars - just less of them!

Weather wise, well it's pretty wet here , but probably milder for much of the year- really is lovely on nice days though -

London is good on train- 1 hr 20 minutes, Bristol 12 minutes . And very regular- drive is around 2 hrs with a 10 minute stop.

Nice mix of people, lots of well off and comfortably off middle aged and older plus some fair sized council estates- so we have everything from Poundland and Greggs to the IVy and Oliver bonas .
I've found it friendly and there are lots of proper locals still, Bathonians - born and bred here

Very good schools, state and private

Housing isn't cheap but depends what you are after- both renting and buying- it's cheaper than london (you xan still buy a 4 bed terrace in a nice area for around £700k, 3 bed around £570k. but its probably more than Edinburgh! scotland seems to be way cheaper than rest of UK - even edinburgh-

rental wise a nice 2 bed flat here around £1250 to £1500 -a small 3 bed house £1300 to £1800

@jujudoll64 not sure you were on right page though- but responded anyway

DD and her partner live in Canterbury. Best for commute to London, city has great vibe and plenty of cafes, shops and also green space. Would live there in a heartbeat myself.

@sunshinesupermum we lived in Canterbury for 8 years- we only really moved away because all our friends did

Out of those options, Whitstable Tankerton area. Otherwise i’d consider Sandgate, Deal, Sandwich or Hastings.

We currently live in Broadstairs and love it!

The students in Canterbury aren't a problem. There's a large estate near the university (hales place and surrounding streets) which is pretty much an extension of halls so as long as you avoid that you'll be fine.

Whitstable is boring, expensive.

Margate is 'up and coming' supposedly but it's been called that for 20 years and it has not yet upped.

If you're commuting I wouldn't consider one of the villages as it adds on 20-30 minutes to get to the station.

@blushroses6 waves from St Peter's :)

Mediterranean vibe?

🤣

This is a zombie thread

starpatch
What’s a zombie thread?

It means it is a an old thread. The first post from the original poster was January 2023 then for some reason people have started replying now a whole year later.

Three different towns.

Whistable- by the sea, pebbles not sand, lots of nice little shops, can get busy, more expensive house prices,

Margate - large sandy beach, has Turner exhibition and Dreamlands, has improved a lot over the years, but still a long way to go

Canterbury - inland, historical, cathedral, larger shopping area,

Other areas to consider - Deal, Rye, Folkstone, Broadstairs, Worthing,

Kent seems to have its own micro climate, and is no warmer or colder than other areas of South East. I think the Scilley isles are the warmest place on UK.

Not Folkestone. It’s as dead in winter and all the friends who moved there have moved out because there isn’t anything to do and it’s a bit grotty. St. Dunstan’s in Canterbury is nice. Have you considered Faversham?

Could you direct me to the correct thread, I am looking to move to Bath and would like to read the thread!

I live North of Canterbury on the way to Whitstable and have lived in a couple of places in Canterbury. I grew up in Kent but moved from London nearly 10 years ago.

Avoid Margate. Having lived in Shoreditch it most definitely is not Shoreditch on Sea. It’s still got serious deprivation, socially and economically. It’s fantastic for a day out, but I would not recommend it as a place to live.

As others have said, consider Folkestone and the surrounding towns. Hythe and Sandgate are lovely.

I’m a big fan of Whitstable but would think twice about living there, purely because it’s gridlocked in the summer and attracts lots of daytrippers, many of whom are not respectful of the beachfront - think smashed glass everywhere and boomboxes. I never go there on a bank holiday in the summer. You also won’t get much much these days for 300k. The Beach makes it worth it just about, I don’t think it’s that bleak in the winter there’s still a lot going on with the locals.

I really rate Canterbury. Lots of lovely Cafes, restaurants, museums and theatres. Shopping is ok but if you want quirky independents go to Whitstable. Nice areas are Saint Dunstan’s along the Whitstable Road towards the University. Some villages just outside like rough common and Blean. On the other side south Canterbury along the old and new Dover roads have nice places and further out villages such as Bridge are worth a look. However, three bed semi detached go for around 400 K in those areas. Win cheap is often looked down upon but I think it’s nice lots of families and it’s very near town. The beauty of Canterbury is that you are only 10 minutes down the road from Whitstable. You don’t really have to choose you can do both.

Faversham is also lovely

thank you so much for you considered opinions - very helpful! @crazyaginglady Edinburgh has become a lot more expensive, but yes, its still a bit cheaper than Bath - we are also looking at Oxford but that seem even worse than London! Hastings looks great - I just love being by the sea, as I am from Cape Town originally - but shall need to explore this properly - so many tradeoffs!

gosh that's so helpful, thank you @crazyaginglady !