Moving to Bath or Oxfordshire

[Malgonia2001]

We are currently living abroad and relocating soon to UK. Our current UK home is in Berkshire. We would like to move to the nice, lively town preferably more south with good connection to London (only for the Theatre.. not work..) and airports.
We will be retiring soon so it should have activities and community life. I do lots of Fittness and my husband is a dedicated DIY lover. We would like at least 4 bedroom house with walking distance to the town centre or at least bus service so we could go out in the evening and not take the car. Good hospital too… ha ha … does any town like this exist ?? Ha ha !
im writing this is honestly wondering if you all will laugh about me …
We were looking into Bath … some great architecture there , Oxford … a bit on the more expensive side .. so maybe Abington ??
also Stroud ..
Any thoughts and experiences mums ??
Would be very grateful for any advise as have t been living in UK for over 15 years ans I know lots of things has changed!
thank you !!! 🤩

What is your budget?

Lots of towns would fit your bill, but they don't come cheap!

Abingdon won’t give you links to London easily and lacks culture and tbh any sort of growth. It’s a lovely town but compared to other Oxfordshire towns has been left to ruin, it’s very run down these days.
I only know Oxfordshire but I’d consider:
Bicester or surrounding villages (but lots of new estates and growth - I left as too busy for me!) but great links to London and other areas, Bicester Village is good for lunch and shopping and more and more stuff happening.

Thame - lovely market town, on the right side for London and easy access via chiltern line.

Woodstock - this would be my choice tbh, and the train to London is in Long Hanborough which is only a few miles away. You have Blenheim Palace on your doorstep which never tires, the Cotswolds, and Oxford close by. And just a lovely town to live in, an abundance of events, shops, cafes etc.

Chipping Norton - another fab Cotswold town.

Summertown or surrounding area, that side of Oxford basically inc Wolvercote. This is much closer to centre of Oxford.

Witney but not ideal for London but a nice market town.

Round 950000 maybe bit more thx

Bath is nice I used to live there, some lovely areas in & around the town

Bath sounds perfect for you. There are many events and things to do locally. It’s beautiful. Good connection to London but you can also go out in Bristol. Plus Bristol has an airport too, so for going away you might not even need to go to London.