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 live in chandlers Ford now and grew up in Southampton. Bitterne and West End could be a nice option for you and is reasonably priced. But just outside Southampton is probably a bit nicer, e.g. Eastleigh, chandlers Ford, romsey. Eastleigh is great forgetting into Waterloo in 1hr5, from Southampton airport parkway.

Don't touch Bevois Valley.

Shirley is very variable. Upper Shirley can be ok. The rest not so much.

Bitterne is mixed.

If you want somewhere more scenic and peaceful the Waterside area on the west of the solent. Dibden and Hythe are between the sea and the New Forest and easy distance to Southampton, also Lymington and Romsey.

You could afford a pretty nice place in these areas with your budget.

I live in here so know it very well.

I lived in the area for over ten years. Lymington is absolutely gorgeous but the traffic between there and the M27 in the summer is truly terrible. It also feels a bit cut off from civilisation and, as a huge animal lover, I hated driving through the New Forest after dark (which you pretty much have to do to get anywhere!) due to the number of ponies without reflective collars (and I'm a very confident driver).

Brockenhurst is nice although has a poor selection of shops; Lyndhurst is much better for day-to-day shopping.... The problem is, it's Brockenhurst that has the station.

New Milton is really ugly (sorry!).

If you don't actually need to be near Southampton I think the earlier suggestions of Petersfield or Salisbury might work better for you.

I live in southampton. The A326 is abysmal so avoid blackfield,hythe & marchwood. Romsey is nice as is Rownhams and Nursling. Upper Shirley is ok but quite crowded with cars. Chandler's Ford is somewhere to consider also.

I was also going to suggest Chichester. Southampton is a dump, and I say that as someone who was born and grew up there: still live nearby but seldom visit as there’s just nothing there. Traffic can be a pain depending on where you live - anywhere you’re trying to get onto the M27 in the morning, esp J5,7,8 - is a nightmare in rush hour.

Romsey much nicer and more community feel but no main train line; Chandlers Ford has good amenities and quite a lot going on if you look for it, but it’s a bit of a sprawling burb with no real centre although, if you’re within easy reach of the main road through then the No 1 bus between Winchester and Southampton is a great and much used service. I’d avoid Eastleigh town centre although rail transport is good from the town station or Soton Airport Parkway.

@InFreeFall switch up your search by using the filters on Rightmove which can find you places within 40 miles of a particular railway station or postcode. When we were looking we printed the train network for trains out of our key stations, Waterloo and Paddington and used the actual stations as the place to start the search. So for instance , houses up to £550k , 1 mile from Chandlers Ford etc . It took a fair bit of time but it helped… And funnily enough, I once got the train to Chandlers Ford and walked around…
have you thought of Chichester or even Christchurch?

What about the Portsmouth side of Southampton?

Have a look at Fareham, Lee on Solent, stubbington, hedge end, wickham, Titchfield etc.

all have some really nice areas and dependent on how far you would want to track to things all offer something.

Lee and stubbington are very coastal.

Wickham in much more rural but not too far out.

More rural is Botley and Bishops Waltham without being too far out of the town or coast.

Both Portsmouth and Southampton are 15 minutes away

Romsey or Chandler’s Ford.

What about Salisbury or Basingstoke? If you likes village, Overton and Whitchurch are on the train line to London

@NewGrandmummyplease do tell us more about New Milton being really ugly. Rather a sweeping statement don’t you think?

Love Hythe, especially the pier train and boat journey across the water to Southampton.

The Hythe ferry has been out of action for 2 years now. Such a shame.

Chichester is lovely. My parents live outside it at the coast but the bus is easy into Chi and they can get the train to the airport etc.

Eastleigh is great for connections and also has a good community. Totton is also great and has everything you need but ugly and has a station straight into London.

Upper Shirley's ok v suburban and the main roads for going to the shops (good M&S food) are not pleasant to walk along.Highfield's the nicest area but the side roads to cross The Avenue have the slowest traffic lights ever (take your knitting) and traffic's quite bad anyway.
I'd go for Petersfield, Romsey or Winchester depending on price and accessibility to London. Lymington's lovely but the property prices are sthg else given it's not that accessible with poor access roads.

New forest?

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.

I’d have a look at Salisbury. Small city, very walkable. Countryside all around, 20 mins to New Forest, 40 mins to the coast. Direct trains to London/Bristol/Cardiff.

Salisbury - direct trains to London/Bristol/Cardiff.

…and Southampton!

I did say sorry!

I'm just not a fan of 1960s-style low rise concrete rows of shops, which is what I always associate NM with. Having said that, I'd love a Bradbeers where I live now!

i would avoid Shirley now, upper Shirley is nice but expensive considering the general area around it.
Chanlders ford is nice and easy for the motorway. Down near Walsash is nice easy access to the sea

We were in New Milton yesterday. I agree with you about the architecture in Station Road (no idea why it's not called the High Street; maybe it's because the station's at the top), but compared with some town centres it's really quite good in terms of shopping. Just in Station Road there's a plethora of small shops - Bradbeers is in the process of expanding, having acquired the shop premises next door and also another property over the road, there's an M&S food hall and also a Morrisons. Add to that, on the edge of the town there's Tesco and Aldi (both large).

Given its proximity to the coast and the New Forest, together with very good rail links, I could think of worse places to live (e.g., Southampton🫣😙).

Having spent Saturday visiting various places around Southampton, including many mentioned here, I'm thinking that I just can't bring myself to love it, and so will have to start sticking pins into other places of the map.

Thanks to all for your help, it was useful.

How about Winchester OP?

Like others have said, Chandlers Ford and Winchester would be my top choices. Chandlers Ford is a really lovely area and generally feels safe. I will say though, there was a stabbing involving teenagers there over Halloween weekend, which was quite shocking.

I don't want to put you off becasue I know people who've lived there for years and this is the first incident like that I've heard of!

Did you not like Romsey OP?

If you didn't visit then I will just add that although it's not on a direct line to London you can get direct trains to Bath, Portsmouth, Chichester. Southampton and Salisbury, and you can drive or get the bus to Winchester.

You'd need to be in the main town rather than the newer Abbotswood development for walkability though.

Salisbury is nice and is in a good location