Living in London - thinking of moving to Bath?

[GruffaloMummy]

Thinking of leaving the smoke for somewhere in the South West. Two small children, aged 2 and 9 months. Thought Bath might be good. Does anyone have any recommendations; what's Bath like as a place to raise a family? Schools, property, good areas etc? Would it be better to live outside Bath? Any advice really welcome:-)

every time I go to (central) Bath it reminds me of London

expensive, full of tourists and with traffic jams that make London look like a day out at the park (then again, Oxford is a bit like that too!)

We used to live just outside Bath in a small village. This was really nice as pp said Bath is very busy and so we had the best of both worlds! Is very, very expensive both in Bath and around it but depends if this is an issue for you or not - we had to move because we couldn't afford to buy or rent long term. Schools are quite mixed but generally ok.

Bath is truly lovely.

Schools are better on the east and south of the city; avoid Culverhay catchment but all else is pretty good.

I was looking to buy in Bath, too. However I found that I was able to get a whole lot more by buying in a village about 3 miles south...

My £360 k would have got a 3/4 bed Edwardian terrace with no parking and a tiny courtyard in a decent bit of Bath. It has bought me a 5 bed Victorian house with huge beautiful kitchen (Aga, beech worktops etc) and 140' of garden backing onto fields....

Moving soon!