Please tell me the best areas to live in the west country.

[tortoise]

I am looking into doing a HA house swap at some point but i don't know what areas to look at.
I would love somewhere fairly close to a beach.
Has to be near good primary and secondry schools.
Close to doctors.
Train station would be good too!

I don't really have a specific idea of where but Devon, somerset, Dorset etc would be fine.
Currently in a small town in Somerset.
Have 3 bedrooms need 4+!
Large garden essential!
TIA

bumping for you as we are also moving to west country (somerset)...

Thanks for the Bump.

I live in a village on the outskirts but Portishead is a good place to live with kids. Very good schools, near to Bristol/M5/M4, nice beaches fairly close.

Thanks, will have a look.

There must be more areas to look at.

The beaches are what are causing me trouble TBH. I'm in Somerset and there are some interesting beaches but no nice sandy ones. Sidmouth/Seaton area has some lovely coast. N Devon is lovely but remote.

Weymouth is a nice beach. Wouldn't mind being closer to there.

North Devon is beautiful, with gorgeous sandy beaches such as Croyde, Saunton and Woolacombe (lived there most of my life) but as Ormirian says is remote, and almost no industry/jobs which is why I have moved away.

Plus there are pockets of real poverty in some areas, and the 'nice' places are horrendously expensive.

But, most gorgeous place in the world really.

There is a small stretch of nice beach in North Somerset, from Weston to Minehead with:

www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-breandown/

From Portishead/Clevedon etc, nice beaches in Somerset/Devon/South Wales/Dorset are all on the doorstep (from 30 mins to 2 hours max).

My brother has a house in Weymouth and it is a nice beach but it gets stacked out and parking is a nightmare even with a permit.