Where to live max 2 hours for London!

[SanGamo]

I’ve been considering options for the last 2 years and I can’t find the right place that would take all the boxes. Where to move out of London…commute 1 day per week, good schools, affordable houses (3 bed £500k), good NHS, diverse (we’re not British), and sense of community (yes I want it all!)
All the places I think of are extremely popular now (Guildford, Horsham, Tunbridge Wells…)
help please! We need to move in January!

What about Reading?

Hospital is pretty good, lots of different ethnicities, good schools and easy to get a 3 bed for 500k

Lots of 3 beds for £500k around Guildford - assuming saying ‘they’re all popular now’ means more expensive? I recommend it, love it!

Maidenhead

I travelled from Wakefield, by train, in less than two hours!

Your choices must be huge.

Folkestone

Woking (fast train to Waterloo)

Wokingham

Have you thought about chandlers Ford/hiltingbury between Southampton and Winchester. Or Hedge End / Botley. 1hr 10 mins on the train to Waterloo.

I commute one day a week to London from Merseyside. Appreciate that is 2.5 hours but your choice of places will be pretty decent.

Letchworth

Southampton?

Norwich?

Which part of London do you need to get to? Do have family/friends in any particular county you'd want to get to often? This would have a massive baring whether you have a line which comes into say Liverpool St, Paddington or London Bridge.

Nuneaton station is about an hour into Euston. There is a good choice of houses and schools within half an hour of the station and prices are relatively low. I do the commute from North West Leicestershire when I need to go to the office.

Cambridge and the surrounding area. Hour on the train to London and it’s a beautiful diverse city!

Leamington Spa

Salisbury area. 1.40 train

2 hours commute by car or train?

We are in Midlands and you'd get a lovely house in a lovely area for 500k and train commute to London Euston in less than 2 hours , but not within 2 hours if by car.

Market harborough/ rugby area

You can go quite far north for 2 hours and still get a fast train into Euston.

Do you want to stay in London? There are 3 beds in zone 4/5 in SE London with a quick train journey to central.

Epsom or maybe look in Sutton.

Folkestone, Deal, Ramsgate, Sandwich, Broadstairs, Margate.

Bicester - Banbury - Warwick - Leamington Spa

45 - 55 - 75 - 80 mins away from London Marylebone on the Chiltern Line

Norwich/Norfolk 100%. Coming from someone who loved living in London and all it has to offer, Norfolk ticks the boxes as Norwich is such a wonderful (small) city but you also have the coast which is hard to beat :) I think direct Norwich to Liverpool St is 1 hour 45.