Like Bath but Up North

[AllTheDucks]

As with the title... we currently live in west Cornwall but with all the children now heading to university, we know we need to move as it's such a pain in the arse to get to and from here (and takes forever).

We'd like to live somewhere within an hour of an airport but that also has a bit of culture - good bookshops, restaurants, shops, theatre etc. We like Bath but really, it's still a bit south-westy and we'd prefer a change, prefereably in northern England near moors etc. Can anyone think of a place I'd like? All I can think of is Harrogate but have heard the traffic etc is awful.

Good point. Stick with Bath 😅🤣

@Likewhatever not Bakewell! It's not exactly great for shops, mainly tourist stuff. It also gets rammed - no exaggeration. It's hard to walk round at times and there's often no parking.

Bath is so chintzy and twee I don't think there's anything as old fashionedly British up north.

Last time I tried to book a bnb or non-chain hotel in Bath I gave up because I couldn't find anything but old lady roses on everything.

I love St Andrews but it's not great for transport links either

I would say York fits your requirements fairly closely. Some of the other places mentioned, not so much.

@OneFastCat how is York twee? Weird comment. Lots of suggestions on here seem wildly of the mark for the op

Having once lived in Harrogate myself, I would definitely check it out, it's not as big as Bath but very nice with some great shops/restaurants

@OneFastCat as does Beverly, as do other places suggested, Otley Skipton etc

Thanks everyone - think I've narrowed it to Buxton, Harrogate/ Hebden Bridge / Otley region and Newcastle. I honestly won't miss Cornwall - I grew up there but lived in London for 15 years at one point and loved it. We don't go to the beaches much now we don't have small children as parking is horrific. Also I suffer from Raynauds so going in the sea in the UK is agony - I'll leave that for the Med 😁

Do exercise caution with Buxton, as I said upthread. When winter hits there, it hits hard.

Loads of beautiful places in Northumberland

Is Shrewsbury north enough?

Harrogate and Hebden Bridge are pretty far apart. I’d steer clear of the one that floods myself! It’s also very small compared to Bath.

Harrogate is a nice visit but I can't imagine more than a week there, it's nice in a beige kinda way

Hebden isn't remotely like Bath, if you want a southwesterly comparison the nearest I can think of is Bradford on Avon (the similarity may mostly be an above average number of barges with Buddhas on them)

@Thistooshallpass24 but it's a very different thing if you live somewhere like this day to day to just visiting - as you are doing normal things - like supermarket shopping , popping dry cleaning in, watching TV at home , maybe joining clubs- doing hobbies, working in most cases !! it's not just as if life is one long walk round the attractions and coffees and meals out. It's no different to living in 'any' mid sized place apart from more tourists- but often more that's actually still open.

@Crikeyalmighty I'm aware, I know Harrogate really well, I still wouldn't want to live there

@Thistooshallpass24 i wouldn't either as for me it's a bit 'old' we live in Bath so although not that diverse in some ways and yes masses of tourists- we also have masses of students and international students -which I prefer and I feel it's more buzzy

Personally if I was OP I would go to York

I was put off York by the number of hen and stag parties I saw, but I can't say if it's that common.

York

The stags and hens are annoying but avoidable. They tend to go to certain places at certain times. They’re not in residential areas for the most part either.

Na not that common, lived there for 5y at uni. It's more the tourists taking over every possible road/pathway there is stopping every 5mins to take photos blocking everyone getting anywhere that drives you mad long term