To buy in Beaconsfield or Berkhamsted

[undecided415]

Hi
We are really struggling with deciding where to buy our family home (young DC pre primary school age). Does anyone have experience of Beaconsfield and / or Berkhamsted and where would you buy if you had the choice?
Both commutes are identical and both ridiculously expensive to buy so we want to get it right.

Berkhamsted closer to family but we worry about the schools (both primary and secondary as heard really mixed things). I find it “buzzier” than Beaconsfield which is great. Love the canal.

Beaconsfield. Very nice. Very good primary schools and grammar catchment. Heard mixed things about the local secondary so taking a risk on grammar. We find it a bit more ‘boring’ than Berkhamsted (which suits my husband but not me!) and there seems to be fewer young families around when we have visited parks / the high street etc.

Thanks so much!

Berko or Tring over Beconsfield which has always been weird, although Tring is less buzzy. Actually reading your post a bit more thoroughly I’ll think you’ll find Tring a bit dull. Berko has a lot more going on

Berkhamsted definitely! I like tring too but I don’t think it would fit with what you’ve described quite like Berko, and the train station is also a bit further out of Tring so would need to bare in mind travel to the station as it could be a fair walk from some parts of Tring whereas Berko station is quite central.

Tring station is a pain in the ass too - I used to live there and it was annoying for a commute as it’s too far to walk, but felt lazy driving (& then you have to pay for parking) I really loved it there though, would have stayed if we could have afforded it but had to move further out to get the size house we needed.
I really like Berko, I don’t know Beaconsfield that well but Berko is great - lots to do and the canal is great, plus it’s fantastic for walking/running if you like that sort of thing - you can go up to Northchurch common and onto the Ashridge estate and it’s fabulous!

Berko for sure. Beaconsfield is full of pretentious wankers.

Trying is nice but the train station is slightly out of town which might be a big off putting. You could walk (but it’s a long walk to add to your commute), a short cycle or I’m sure there are busses.

Berko definitely

Which is nicer, marlow or berkhamstead?

That should obviously say *Tring is nice but…

That’s good to know about Tring station being away from the high street as it would definitely make our commutes trickier.

@undecided415 i would be interested to know where you decided on? As my family are looking to make this move ourselves in the next few months.

We are still deciding between the two.. spending more time in both areas and keeping an eye on houses. I think the house might decide it for us to be honest. Good luck with your search!

Wondering if you decided? We visited Beaconsfield today and thought it was lovely. Nice high street, visited the model village and went to a lovely pub and sat in the garden. Are we missing something? Did see lots of Gucci bags, but we can live with that 😊

amersham ;)

We haven’t found a house yet and not rushing the decision but to be honest, we have spent a lot of time in Beaconsfield and don’t have anything negative to say. There is definitely less going on though than Berkhamsted.

We are also considering Amersham now too - it has a good buzz to it :)

Hope your search goes well!

Thank you @undecided415
very smart to take your time. We bought in a hurry and am now regretting it! I like Amersham husband doesn’t—he finds the split of old and new town annoying.
I’ll check out Berko. Visited once and thought it a bit small.
Good luck!