So in the next few years we are thinking of leaving London and setting up in the country somewhere.
All I need is a fairly fast internet connection and access to a motorway so I can get to an airport and a train to
London now and again.
But where?
I come from Devon, love the place and have seen some lovely properties. But a little too far but doable as the flight from Exeter Airport to London city is actually cheaper than the train.
Wales. Some fantastic properties for sale but again, distance will be problem and not so easy to get to London (especially North Wales)
Suffolk. Have rented a few holiday cottages there, but never really got a feel for the place other than being pretty and some really nice properties and not too long a drive to London.
Up North (Scotland, Yorkshire, etc) is just too far away and Winter climate not what we are looking for.
Home counties are just too expensive for what we are looking for (Nice 4+ bed Farmhouse/Barn conversion with an Annex for my Autistic son)
So where would you choose?
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I can be at Heathrow airport in a little over 90 mins on a good run, great train links to Paddington (25 min drive to Kemble for me, and an hour and 10 direct, or 20 mins in traffic to Gloucester Station and 1 hour 55 direct. I prefer Kemble as the cafe is MUCH better )
Oh and house prices aren't too ridiculous either (I mean, there ARE some ridiculous areas, but there are also some reasonably priced areas)
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I'm not locked in here with you, you are locked in here with me.
The SouthWest is less expensive but the infrastructure isn't so good once you get away from the M4 and mainline.
You can get a long way pretty quickly on the West Coast - or East Coast - mainline services out of London. Which is fine if you want to get into the North side of London.
West Coast gets to Crewe in 1hr45 or the Lakes in 2hr45. MCR airport is easy if you're on the south side of the city, or an hour (plus) from the Lakes. Its wet in the Lakes, but you're close to Scotland which can be beautiful.
East Coast gets you to Newark in 1hr30 with EastMids airport not too far away. I'd then probably keep going until York.
Roads - I'd take the A1 over the M1/M6 anyday, which points you East rather than West.
East Anglia is pricey if you look around Cambridge, but not so bad if you head past Ipswich (just make sure you get past Ipswich quickly). Norwich is a lovely city - airport with regular flights to Schipol and 2hrs out of London - and some quiet coastline nearby too.
With all of those, commutability pushes up the property prices significantly. If you don't need to be within 15mins of a mainline station, then your property budget will stretch a lot further, so if it's only an occasional trip into the City, stay away from the stations! Towards any coast or near any city tends to push up prices too.
You could count Robert Fripp, Robert Plant and David Hasslehoff as your neighbours in sunny South Worcs. And I could drop in for a cup of tea when I'm out and about ( South Worcs being my patch rather than my home).
There's nowt else there you can't order online.
I do Chester to London several times a year and it's a 2.5hr journey on Virgin. Quick and very little stops.
There are plenty of lovely places as above. My wife is from Cambridge and we often go back to see her family and I love the city itself but she much prefers it here, as do I.
I've done both, currently live in a village around Cirencester and I'll be here until I'm pushing up daisies.
From south Manchester or the Leeds areas you’ve got train, and flights to both Heathrow and City Airports.
From Dorchester you’ve got train, it takes several hours but you can work/read/sleep during the journey. Bristol airport is under an hour.
From East Midlands you’ve got a choice of train lines, Midland and East Coast. A choice of airports, EMA, Birmingham, and even Luton is not too far.
I’d start with how to get the lifestyle you want, and then worry about the transport.
I've looked at Cotswolds but for the kind of place we want it's just too expensive.
An Annex is a must and my wife wants a barn for her art and I want a barn for doing up cars/man cave.