Where to live in Moray area

[jodes7001]

Hello! I am asking the typical thread, where should we live? I am from California, partner is from Oban and we are currently living in Glasgow’s west end with our two kids (3,1). We just got back from a roadtrip around Nairn and thought it would be a nice area to raise our family as it’s affordable and we could get a house within our budget of £400k. What’s a good place to be that’s close enough to the sea, airport, community, good schools, has outsiders and is welcoming, liberal minded, good cafes? I think I would be after a house in the outskirts as I am very into gardening and I would like a bit of space and privacy but not too secluded. We drove along from Nairn to Findhorn. What’s it like between the area to the left of Nairn towards Inverness? Also, I want to stay in the driest sunniest micro climate bit!! We both work from home and we don’t need to be near his parents as they’ll eventually move wherever we decide. Any advice appreciated xx

That's a bit of a unicorn wishlist!
Liberal and a cafe would be Findhorn but its also very touristy and busy in summer and quite quiet in Winter - it does have a micro climate though!
It sounds like you might be better with one of the towns have you looked at Elgin or Forres?
Lossiemouth is also pretty welcoming and a great beach but depends what you mean by liberal.
Generally most areas around Moray and the firth are their own micro climate. The further inland you go the more influence from the hills you get so can be a bit wetter. But east coast is typically drier then west.

Brodie? I’m from Nairn loved it there it’s very different from Glasgow. I went to college in Elgin and hated the place the people are v friendly but something about it. Forres is ok. I’ve never really been to findhorn tbh there’s some villages around Nairn. Cawdor and auldern that may be suitable? I miss home, it’s lovely we lived in fishertown right next to the beach. Worse places to live

I lived in Forres 1993-1999 and worked in Elgin. We could see Findhorn Bay from our bedroom window. Short walk into town and not too far from Inverness. Fabulous dog walking country, coast with daily seal sightings and if you were lucky you might see the porpoises and forest walks with lots of deer.

Obviously that was a long time ago and I'm sure things have changed but it was a nice little town when we lived there. Check out Findhorn Foundation. They used to have a very interesting little shop there and an alternative way of life.