Areas around Southampton to move to

[InFreeFall]

We are in our 60s and looking to buy somewhere that is near-ish to places to drive to for days out, as well as decent transport links to London, with local shops and facilities within walking distance. The internet suggested Southampton as a contender.

We've looked at Shirley, and am looking online at Bitterne and Bevoir Valley.

Does anyone have any intel on these or other nearby places?

I use the Southampton central to Victoria route for meeting friends in London not work and I stand by my experience that I’ve never had a good journey . There’s always delays , alternative buses , waiting for replacement drivers , reroutes or sadly jumpers on the tracks . Being dumped at fratton is usually because the Southampton line is not going at all so you have to find any line , usually Portsmouth Harbour or Port / Southsea to get as far south as possible so as not to be stranded in London overnight , not a case of over sleeping but the railway decision not to travel further down the line
If I needed a reliable train service for work I would not be moving to Southampton .

The problem with these threads, is everyone comes on recommending places that are £, ££ or £££ more than the place the OP suggested.
There are some v nice bits of Southampton, it is well located for trains to London, it has a local airport with excellent train links (you can count the distance between railway and airport check-in in steps not minutes), it is on the edge of the New Forest with good road links along the M27 and M3. The local theatre is good too.

Bitterne is good choice. I would avoid some parts of Shirley and would definitely avoid Bevois valley. West End is a lovely area, as is Eastleigh, Chandlers ford.

Hedge End, Botley, Fair Oak and Chandlers Ford all nice places. Hedge End has a direct line to London which I use for work a lot. Or from Fair Oak/Chandlers Ford you can pick up the mainline from Eastleigh to London.

Southampton definitely not a pretty city but for shopping, the theatre and connections to the isle of wight, new forest and Winchester is good.

Romsey and Winchester are lovely but very pricey.

I regularly travel up from Southampton. Travelling via Victoria is cheaper and a longer journey. There is the alternative of Waterloo. Train disruption is inevitable regardless of which route you take.

Bitterne, Hedge End, West End & Chandlers Ford - from someone who knows 😉

I'm not sure that living somewhere that is pretty is a priority, but more that it has access to such places for days out, etc.

I think what is more important is easy access to cinema, theatre and train into London for exhibitions.

Budget is fairly low at 550k, so I think we will be priced out of Winchester etc.

I'm going to take a look at Bitterne and some of the other areas suggested and will report back!

Thanks to everyone for their feedback so far, it's much appreciated.

Eastleigh has train to London /Winchester/Southampton
Shops, cinema and theatre in walking distance
Plus airport and a pretty new leisure centre
And you should be able to get something within budget

If you’re not wedded to being so far south, I have family who live in Newbury - it’s a 50 min train into London and a small market town with quite a lot going on (some places aren’t great but most is nice). On the doorstep of the Cotswolds, 30 min drive/train to Oxford or Reading, an hour to Bath and surrounded by lots of pretty villages and the North Downs.

You could get a 4 bed detached in the town for £550k.

You could also look at Chichester? Regular trains into London, Festival Theatre is excellent, there’s an independent cinema, high street is good, South Downs is close by, or there’s the coast about 20 minutes drive away. Your budget would get you a 3 bed detached in a nice area.

Or Petersfield might work for you?

You just beat me to it! Add in Emsworth if you'd like to live a little outside but still have the train.

New Milton might be an option for you. Definitely not pretty, but 20 minutes to Southampton on the train one way, and 20 minutes to Bournemouth the other. And you have the forest and sea on your doorstep. Would be within your budget too. There's quite a lot going on there but you would need to travel for big ticket events and better shops.

I second New Milton; it would probably tick all the boxes.

OP - why not spend a few nights down here to get a feel for the areas which might interest you?

(Edited for fat fingers.)

Gosh, if I could live anywhere it wouldn’t be Southampton!

Have you looked at Chichester?

Look at Southsea. Much nicer than Southampton.

Bursledon is close to Southampton and in a quiet ish village. Botley/whiteley are both nice places too.

I think it depends what quality of local shops you are looking for. Shirley in general is quite deprived, and has had recent problems with anti-social behaviour and racist abuse in the High Street. Upper Shirley has more affluent housing, but not the shops that go with that. The shops in Bitterne aren't great - off the top of my head there is a Sainsbury's, but not the best; Gregg's; a card shop; charity shops; a pet shop; cafes; lots of estate agents; Superdrug. What sort of shops do you want? Woolston perhaps has slightly more variety and more of a community, and is closer to the shore and to Netley for walks.

If your budget allows, you could consider Highfield. The shops there are in Portswood High Street, and a bit more varied (bookshop, international food shop). There are some nice houses too around the Avenue, which is easy walking distance into the centre of town, but the volume of traffic around there would put me off.

Bursledon / Lowford maybe? Almost the only shop is a massive Tesco's, but if you drive, you can get to shops at Whiteley, Hedge End etc.

Are you looking for a community feel too - groups and things? If you're ok with further out, maybe Lee-on-Solent, though no station so days out etc depend on driving.

I find the Southampton to London, Southampton to Cardiff, Southampton to Portsmouth etc trains ok.

Sorry, I hadn't seen this morning's replies when I wrote mine. Scratch Highfield and the Avenue on that budget, I think. And ignore Lee-on-Solent because of the lack of railway.

As you mention exhibitions - Southampton Art Gallery is very good. Pallant House in Chichester also, in a different way, and Oxmarket Gallery there too.

Eastleigh area might work for you (Boyatt Wood, Bishopstoke, Fair Oak etc.) Your budget would buy you a very nice 4/5 bed detached with garage and driveway.

Eastleigh is very well connected with two motorways, an airport and direct rail line to London. It has a town centre with shops, and you can also get to Winchester and Southampton in 10/15 minutes on then train or in car.

Also Eastleigh has a cinema so it ticks that box.

I'd avoid bevois valley, student bedsit and generally not good. Upper Shirley if you can afford it, central town if you don't mind apartment living. I lived Southampton for years, in woolston now. Feel free to ask me

New Milton is a good shout. It’s coastal (Barton on Sea) and on the edge of the New Forest, and well connected by rail. It has a good high street and weekly market. It’s a real town not a tourist destination, lots going on and overall a nice place for day to day living.
Christchurch is also nice.
Look at the train timetable - whilst there are fast trains that stop at Soton Brockenhurst and Bournemouth, others are semi-fast and stop at New Milton and Christchurch too. Then there is a stopping service for the intermediate stations like Sway and Hinton Admiral too.

Depends what you're used to, but the traffic in Southampton is godawful, and local roads are often horribly congested with loads of cars from new homes trying to get past parked cars on narrow roads etc. The motorways are no fun at all either. I have family near Eastleigh and grew up there, you'd get a nice house for your budget but keep an eye on which side of the town you look at depending on where you'd want to be travelling to. In your shoes I'd definitely be looking at Romsey/Salisbury or possibly Oliver's Battery area of Winchester if you had the budget. Lymington is gorgeous but pricey, hard to get to/from and traffic can be awful.

Thanks for clarifying that it's the Victoria route you're talking about. Apart from once when there was a major issue on the Waterloo route I've not taken the Victoria train as direct it takes more than an hour longer than going to Waterloo and is less often (2 and a half hours vs an hour and 20 mins), so I can't comment on reliability of that route, but it sounds a nightmare. I'd go to Waterloo and then get the tube to get to Victoria.

I've just checked and direct to Victoria is now actually only once a day (used to be once an hour). To Waterloo it's twice an hour and honestly I've not had any more issues with it than I had when I used to live closer to London on the Portsmouth - Waterloo route. Occasional issues, but generally it gets me to London and back home again fine.

Yep, I agree on these as options, as well as upper Shirley.

The New Milton suggestion is also not a bad shout if you prefer to not be in a city. Driving to and from Southampton isn't always great though as the road in and out of the Forest can get really busy at times.