Where would you live - no kids central London?

[TintyMinty]

Where would you live - no kids semi retired (WFH) want to immersed in London cultural life (theatre / galleries / museums / events etc ) not interested in restaurants/shops/bars) would like green space nearby. Thinking Primrose Hill, St John’s Wood, Marylebone anywhere else in zone 1 (don’t want to have a car)?

We've just moved out of South Kensington. We absolutely loved it there. We lived on a garden square. 10 mins walk from Hyde Park and just a few stops on the tube from central London.

We had a baby so need a proper house but I'd move back in a heartbeat once we're retired.

Holland Park - my parents live there and I love it. I live abroad now but this is my fav in london

Fitzrovia or Bloomsbury. I want really central.

Primrose Hill and SJW are zone 2 so not that central really (walking distance to attractions). For that kind of lifestyle I'd want to be in Marylebone, Bloomsbury or Fitzrovia. PH is not that well connected either - the tube is a bit of a walk. Other areas mentioned are in zone 2 as well - Holland Park, Greenwich, Wapping. Nice enough areas and easy to travel from - but then you could say that about places like Wimbledon or St Albans.
Zone 1 is quite big so if you're living on one side then it's not really walkable to get to places on the other side - we lived near Liverpool St and certainly wouldn't walk or bus it to Kensington, and spent most of our time in the centre of town and further east - it felt like a faff to go across town to e.g. Notting Hill. If you want to be in easy reach of all of zone 1 you need to be more geographically central. So something to bear in mind if you go for somewhere at the edge of zone 1.

I lived in Bayswater for years. Lovely period building with communal gardens. Very central. 5 mins to Kensington Gardens or Hyde Park. Loads of transport options.

Bloomsbury for me. Proper shops, local restaurants and not too showy.

I think budget is the issue. If you had a bit more I'd go for Marylebone,
or Primrose Hill as you have lovely green spaces too. Given your budget I think you might need to be a bit further out so think Belsize Park, Dartmouth Park, Kentish Town, Hampstead and Highgate. They are still expensive but dotted around Hampstead Heath - so you get east access into town plus lovely walks.

I wouldn’t call Primrose Hill or Hampstead Heath anywhere near central London.

This is also my dream retirement. I think I’d probably go a bit leafy - Hampstead, West Hampstead (I know slightly further out) or Primrose Hill. I also love Maida Vale. A mansion block flat near the tube.

Otherwise, somewhere right on the river on the south bank or running down east along that way if funds allowed.

Primrose Hill is NW1. It’s pretty much Camden Town. North central.

Yes, and I wouldn’t call Camden central either.

Central London is zone 1, maybe even a little smaller. Places like Camden, Battersea are way out of zone. If people are counting zone 2 as central, that’d mean I’m central, and I definitely don’t think I am. Central London has a very different feel.

I've always liked the idea of living in Little Venice so around Maida Vale.

For me, definitely Fitzrovia. Villagey vibe but super central.

Pimlico is nice.

Barbican (but pick your staircase so you have one that has residents not just mid-weekers/occasional users, otherwise could feel a bit barren & empty). Small patches of green around plus easy access to the river.

Pimlico

Highgate. Not so close but nice area with cultural things going on and close to Hampstead Heath.

+1 for Bloomsbury but also if you’re after anonymous/ no community, move inwards from Maida Vale / St John’s Wood to Edgware Road / Paddington. No neighbours all winter!

If bedroom 3 can be a study, baker st: https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/133262615#/?channel=RES_BUY

That flat is gorgeous …. I’m going to do the lottery tonight 😁

agree totally. plus free transport for over 60s (OP retired/retiring?) - transport so much smoother than it used to be. better to be 30 mins or so out the centre I think on a good link. Also, always seems to me that many practical things aren't as available in glossy centre-land. When I need culture events etc (I go out a lot) no probs to drift to on public transport of an evening and then be whizzed back.
Of course the OP might want to live a life of staggering back sloshed from hotspots at 3am - in which case go for it.

If you want green space, then I'd look in walking distance to one of the central London parks, green, St James's, regents, Hyde...

I used to live in Battersea and was very happy there, but whilst it's good for getting into Chelsea, and was easy to get a taxi to take you home late at night, I wouldn't have described it as "central"

@TintyMinty did you decide on a location?

Sorry I haven't read the whole thread but maida Vale if you can afford it is lovely and close to everything. I work in fitzrovia and I love it and the options on food/drink etc.