Areas within two hours drive of Horsham

[Mylazycatspyjamas]

I am looking to relocate closer to family in Horsham. Either in villages around or slightly further afield. We need good bus services, access to train station , a good community and lots to do. Retired and moving to be closer to grandchildren. Heavy traffic is something we want to avoid .

Why not Horsham itself? It fits the brief (though buses aren't great anywhere outside of cities tbh)

What’s your budget? Do you need to be able to get a direct train and bus into Horsham itself, or just have local transport to e.g. hospital, supermarket etc?

A two hour drive radius creates a fairly huge swathe of land - pretty much anywhere between Winchester in the west, Ashford in the east, and anywhere south of or on that bit of the south coast in between them. Are there any specific features you’re interested in?

I like Cranleigh for the record, and it has a direct bus into Horsham. But I’ve no personal experience of living there, only friends I visit who seem to really like it.

What sort of budget. There is a lot of countryside round Horsham and the buses are not brilliant

You drive but want lots of bus options? Or is the 2 hours based on public transport? Agree with a pp - why not live in Horsham itself or immediate surroundings? You could.move closer to the coast - Brighton,Hove, lancing, Worthing etc. Or closet to London so you get best of city and country - epsom, Redhill, Guildford etc.

Your requirements are a bit vague though.

hmm, I would be willing to argue the point with you re Cranleigh and "access to train station"
Part of the culture of Cranleigh is that it is for people who do not need fast access to trains given it does not have a station of its own and the nearest line is east-west going no where. You'd have to get to Godalming or Guildford or Horsham to get on a train line that gets anywhere useful.

I’d go for the south coast, where there are links to Victoria and the trains go through Horsham. There are decent bus services, the A27, horrid though it is, to Portsmouth, Southampton, Worthing, Brighton.

Haywards Heath, Burgess Hill, Lewes Crawley have a look at the Trainline app and you will see where has a train station

I do drive but the issue is that if one of us has the only car, or in the future we don't drive, it would be helpful to have public transport options. Horsham itself might be fine, depends on whether we like it. Budget up to £800,000.

I’d consider Billingshurst- very large village, on train line to Horsham and London, short drive to beaches and Brighton. Various housing stock from quaint cottages, houses with land through to modern estates. Recently opened Lidl and a couple of decent independent pubs and restaurants.

I can comment well having lived all over London and Brighton too. Can confirm Worthing is a great place if you want:
-A lovely quiet beach
-Beautiful countryside and walking nearby
-Friendly safe community, quite diverse and queer friendly
Very good cafes restaurants pubs and bars (both traditional and also natural wines bars and small plates etc, craft breweries for Brighton vibes)
-Good schools
-Leafy parks
-Decent town centre with walkable shops
Three train stations(!) and an easy enough commute straight to Victoria/East Croydon/Clapham, and Brighton of course
-Decent parking (especially compared to Brighton)
And affordable homes! I bought my three bedroom house in a good area for only 30k more than my one bedroom flat in Brighton- and for the price of a one bedroom flat in Zone 3 London.
For us it's been a no brainer and we love it, we're in our 30s and lots of our friends are following suit.
-Best areas: Check it out in person. Personally we're near the station on a leafy nice street, Tarring (West) is also desirable. But the best way to ascertain is to go and walk around.