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!

Best part of an hour from Folkestone. But I drive to Ashford (live in a village between the two) and it's 39 minutes from there.

Market Harborough it a lovely town an hour from London. It has some really nice shops and parks.

St Albans or Hitchin

Packed with tourists!

West Sussex - on the London to Brighton line.
Balcombe, Haywards Heath (not Burgess Hill), Hassocks or Brighton.

I'd go for Wokingham. I loved my time living there. Very friendly town.

Winchester is lovely.

Which are the arty bits @Gratesofbath ?

And does anyone else have thoughts on arty areas? (sorry to piggyback thread)

Whitstable

How big is your budget and what are you prepared to compromise on?

Richmond / Twickenham / Kew / Barnes - but, the housing is very expensive.

Cambridge.

We moved to Cambridge. Outstanding secondary schools and good primaries. Great culture, sport, easy to live in. Pricey tho

Marlborough
Reading
Oxford villages
Henley
Hungerford

The first four have good schools.
Arts patchy the further you go out.
All into Paddington but on the Elizabeth line.

I doubt you could beat Brighton for culture/arts/liberal. For an added bonus the South Downs are on your doorstep. Good transport which you need, because it is so expensive to park.

Newbury. Good schools. Two theatres (3 if you count the amateur dramatic society's one), cinema, good restaurants. Nice vibe and community events.

The Lizzie stops at all stations and takes an age.
Reading - London by train and use the tube is far, far quicker.
Experto crede as the classical scholars say.

There’s a fast train from Newark and Grantham to London, so you can easily buy on the Vale of Belgium, Bottesford etc together easy access to trains. You’d need to check the train costs but housing will be cheaper!

Great info @StormyLandCloud I had no idea you could get to London so quickly from that neck of the woods!

Lichfield in Staffordshire is 1hr 13 minutes into Euston. Our large 4 bed detached house a ten minute walk to the station would set you back £550k. 2 good local secondaries (including the best school in Staffordshire) and private options plus Birmingham grammar schools are 20 minutes by train if the 11+ is an option.

Great arts scene, award winning parks, decent indie high street, festivals (cultural, jazz, literature, food), peak district 40 minutes away, Birmingham also 40 minutes away for other culture options. Lichfield is also developing quite a food scene with 2 michelin star restaurants now.

I meant Vale of Belvoir … stupid spell check!

Claygate? Friends moved to Market Harborough but they’re retired. Friends live in bishops Stortford, husband commutes to city wife works BS, schools they say are very good.

I’m six years ahead of you with the exact search. We landed in rural Kent, nearest station (five mins) is Headcorn which is an hour exactly to Waterloo East/Charing Cross. Grammar system here, if that’s up your street.

Winchester it’s lovely. Great restaurants, shopping and culture. Lots of beautiful countryside on your doorstep and excellent schools.

Our budget is around £850,000 which doesn’t seem to go very far in some sorts of the south! We have family in Winchester and know it quite well but think we’d do better with our budget elsewhere. Wondering if Petersfield might be a good option in that area but don’t know it at all..

Brighton