Where would you live within 1 hour-ish of London?

[feb1982]

Would love to hear all opinions. Moved out of London to a pretty Surrey commuter town 5 years ago but not sure it’s where we want to be for ever…where would you go? DH currently needs to commute to central London around 3/4 days some weeks and others not at all. Good state schools, beautiful countryside nearby, cultural/arts scene and liberal leaning would be at the top of our wish list. Thank you!

I suppose a lot depends on your budget! I love Richmond and Kew. Fast trains to Waterloo. I will never be able to afford there though!

Baldock, Hertfordshire.

Folkestone, Kent: 40 mins to London by train

Winchester

Winchester area? Hook? Micheldever Station? Alton? Pricey in Winch itself but variety in the villages. Trains from Winch to Waterloo are '59 mins', many villages have a 1 stop and change at Winch for fast train option or 'milk train' = 1hr20. (I don't know Alton trains but I think they are more commuter friendly)
State schools around Winchester are good and there's a range of indy if you prefer.

Come join us in Sutton, it's not so bad here!

Rural Suffolk. I'd live near a sleepy village station. Some parts of Suffolk are very arty and the countryside is beautiful. For schools, you have to choose the area but there are some very good ones.

@Gratesofbathyes, rural Suffolk is lovely, I live there, but there is no way I can get to Central London in an hour!

Sorry, yes, I was thinking of Manningtree which is on the Suffolk-Essex border but is in Essex. It's about an hour from there. Woodbridge and Sudbury are nice, but they're more like an hour and a half to Liverpool St.

Bishops Stortford

If you're prepared to be flexible about the beautiful countryside, I'd move to Cambridge. Loads of culture, lovely small city, but only an hour from central London by train

Hitchin.

If I could afford it I’d move to Oxford in a heartbeat. It’s a beautiful city, with a really vibrant arts scene, great shopping and restaurants, gorgeous countryside nearby (and not far from the Cotswolds), and about an hour into London on the train. The traffic can be bad, so you’d need to bear in mind which side you lived on, but it is a very walkable city.

Brighton! I’d move there in a heartbeat

What do you mean by “central London”? The options for c1 hours will be pretty different if for say Marble Arch or Mansion House.

Not sure about Suffolk. I live in Suffolk with a train station. You have to take the 6.20am train to get to Canary Wharf for 9. That isn’t something you want to do 3-4 days a week

Stortford is very nice, thriving market town with plenty of new build housing and very close to Stansted airport for cheap weekend getaways etc.
There are good pubs especially in the surrounding villages and a reasonable variety of fairly cheap restaurants, Thai, Indian, chains etc.

I wouldn’t say it’s a cultural desert but it’s not exactly teeming with excitement.
However, the schools are excellent.

Great ideas so far, thank you. By central London I mean Piccadilly Circus area, so the nearest large train station is Waterloo

Petersfield is about 1 hr 15 to Waterloo.

Great countryside, decent schools, nice small town.

The nearest large/main station is Charing Cross rather than Waterloo so you could look at Kent.
But actually for an easier commute, look at any of the stations along the Elizabeth Line - he could go to either Bond Street or Tottenham Court Road on that line.

I would just stay in outer London eg z4/5

St Albans

Why not move to a leafy part of London? Richmond, Kew, Greenwich/Blackheath, Chislehurst.

Is it really 40 minutes?

Yes on the high speed train but I thought it was about 50 mins