The pizza express there is very memorable apparently

Sorry couldn't resist

Don't live there but spend time there. If we weren't fully integrated where we are ans because we don't want to hassle of moving schools etc, we would move there. I like it.

Would provably just outside or even a but further like Ripley, but it's a much nicer place than it used to be and I find the people.friendly and pleasant

Whenever someone suggests moving to Woking they are told that there is a fast train to Waterloo. Some of the villages outside of Woking are lovely. I like the theatre. Don't know much about the schools.

It's ok as a place to live.

Lived on Goldworth Park 1994 to 2000 then moved to Barnsbury where we lived for 11 years.

My husband commuted to London. I worked in Woking.

Can't comment on schools as we don't have children.

The Wolsey Centre and the Peacocks are the shopping centres. Woking Swimming Pool is at Woking Park which is a nice park.

Horsell village is popular. Knaphill is nice.

Nearby towns are Guildford, Camberley and Aldershot.

Woking has good facilities but is pretty charmless as a town. Cinema, theatre and trains are all good (in so far as any train service into London is these days). New Marks and Spencer in the new shopping centre if that’s your thing. Council appears to be strapped for cash but then whose isn’t? Particularly good on waste collection IMO! Four big state secondary schools and lots of good private prep schools but no private senior schools currently (Hoe Bridge is opening one soon). There are loads of buses to the senior schools around and about or the train gets used a lot by schoolchildren too.

There are some lovely areas around Woking itself. PP mentioned Ripley; Pirbright over on the western side is nice (with a closer but less well served station at Brookwood) and Horsell is popular with commuters. A bit further out is Chobham which is nice too. Chobham Common, Ash Ranges, Horsell Common and Basingstoke Canal are all there for walks and outdoor stuff. If you use Woking for the facilities and trains and live a bit further out I think it’s great!

As regards community we have been here for more than ten years and when we moved actively chose to stay in the area because we had made friends here. Lots of social opportunities based around sport or churches, or hobbies, whatever you are into and the schools seem to do a lot too.

You can get some great street food in Market Walk in the town centre. It smells amazing when you walk down there.
The nightlife seems somewhat lacking in terms of bars, but that could be because people go out in London instead.
They put a big screen up in Jubilee Square for major events e.g. sports, plus giant chessboards and perhaps table tennis. Anyway lots of people gather there to watch and eat lunch whilst children play.
There's a big celebration for Diwali. I've never been but have heard good things about it.
Traffic in the town centre can be difficult with all the building work going on. Not least the Hilton which they seem to have been building forever.

Sheerwater is mostly social housing, with associated problems. There was a scandalous story very recently of a woman with mental health issues who had died in her flat in Woking (Sheerwater I suspect). It turned out no one had seen her for over three years.

Goldsworth Park was the largest housing estate in Europe when it was built forty odd years ago.

Maybury Road area isn't very nice.

Paradoxically, Maybury Hill is very posh and expensive !

Old Woking seems to have its' share of troubles. Although nearby Kingfield looks nice IMO.

St John's village is expensive for property. Personally I can take it or leave it.

Bisley is a little bit too far from the centre of Woking for me. However, some people may take that as a positive ! It would shorten the journey to Camberley/Frimley if you needed to go there. There is a pistol shooting range in Bisley. All legitimate but you can sometimes hear the crack of pistol fire on Sunday mornings. HMP Coldingley is in Bisley.

Mayford looks nice and is slightly closer to Guildford.

Oriental Road has some big properties on it. It's a busy through road though. Being close to the Shah Jehan Mosque (Britain's oldest Mosque) might be a plus point for you. The Lion Retail Park (built on the site of the Lion Works. You have to be my age to know that !) is at one end of it. The other end of the road provides access to Woking train station.

Send looks nice too. Depends how far from the centre of Woking you want to me. HMP Send is a Womens prison

I don't live there but have been many times and have friends there. I'd say overall it is nice. Some areas are not that great, like the bit north east of train station (has that inner city, high crime gritty vibe), but by contrast there are lots of very nice suburbs further out.

Main complaint is traffic - driving anywhere in that area is terrible - the roads are completely overwhelmed vs the number of people. You can see this just looking at the map on google - basically a load of villages became towns, then merged together, without any real new roads being built.

Traffic is impenetrable in the centre. Villages like Bisley, West End, Chobham are nicer, but public transport isn’t good and they are more expensive areas.

Horsell is close to the town centre (and expensive), not keen on Brookwood, except for the train, which goes to Woking. Similarly, Knaphill, St John’s aren’t great imo.

Woking High and Winston Churchill are the state secondary schools, unless you’re Catholic and can go to SJB. There are primary schools in all of the villages- Horsell, Knaphill, Bisley, West End, Pirbright, Chobham etc.

Woking high is great. We live in Horsell. V nice, friendly village with lots going on, v good high street with actually useful shops, nice cafes etc.
Horsell schools are excellent - ours went to infant school (Horsell village school) then up to the junior school and are now at the high school which is also in Horsell so v convenient. They’ve all been great for our kids and I’m v impressed with the high school. Children from a much wider area come to the high school too, or to Winston Churchill. Other options if you’re catholic, though I know plenty who just went on to Woking high.

For me, I’m much more of a town / city person than a village person, so Horsell was a good compromise- the village is lovely but you can walk to the main town in 10-15 mins (from my bit of Horsell anyway), with cinema, arts centre, library, bigger shops etc. I’m lazy and drive to the leisure centre. It’s not in any way a beautiful town centre and I go to Guildford or Farnham or Kingston for nice pottering and Xmas shopping, but day to day it’s great, and there’s lots more good food options now - enormous improvement on 15 years ago! The food walk is great, and plenty of restaurants etc - as well as lots of Surrey pubs having good food.
And coming from SW London I do laugh when people moan about the traffic - yes it’s annoying sometimes but I caught myself getting cross the other day when it took 10 mins to do a journey that’s usually 6 cos of roadworks. Hardly dreadful.

Horsell is lovely and definitely the best part of Woking to go for. Loads of families, nice High Street, great community. Very green and acres of common land to go for walks. Only 15 minutes walk to the station.

Horsell infants and junior schools are very good. Goldsworth school (infants and juniors) is also excellent. The High School has a really strong reputation.

Move quick though as it’s becoming hideously expensive to buy in Horsell. There is also massive competition to buy properties (particularly family homes) from new families moving in and existing families wanting to upgrade. Good luck!

This is a super useful post! I’m also following :) May I also ask about old Woking?

I understand some people are not big fans, and definitely hear more about horsell! But given the better value for money housing, I wanted to ask which parts of old Woking would you recommend or suggest to avoid?

any views around palace way road?