Nice Areas Around London

Philip624

you could do a lot worse than Ware or Hertford and surrounding villages, lovely area with good schools

Bargain_Rzl

As people have been discussing Windsor I thought I'd stick my oar in. I know the area quite well as I spent part of my childhood in nearby Maidenhead, and my dad has lived in Windsor for the past 8 years.

Windsor is lovely - the town centre is charming with a good mix of shops, the Royal Parks and the countryside outside the Windsor suburbs are really beautiful. Some of the suburbs are astronomically priced, but my dad lives in Dedworth which has a good community mix and is not too bad price-wise. Dare I say it, Windsor has a lot more character than Woking or some of the other places that have been suggested.

If you have to commute by train into London, you've got the choice of the slow train to Clapham Junction and Waterloo from Windsor & Eton Riverside (not a quick journey, but it's the terminus of the line so you know you'll get a seat!), or the shuttle service to Slough from Windsor and Eton Central. However, if you're planning on driving to the station it's probably worth just heading straight for Slough - depending on which side of Windsor you're on.

Dad is self employed in IT and finds Windsor handy for road and rail connections to London, the Thames Valley, and parts of Surrey - which is where most of his work opportunities are.

silvercar

ringo_24601 wrote:

Moving to (hopefully!) a nice bit - Studio way.

Around that area, there's also Bricket Wood. Its a really nice large village, practically hidden inside a wood. It's just up the road from Radlett.. but it's a bit pricey as no new houses ever get built there

Studio way is a nice bit!:)

tazgirl

Again, Surrey is good. It really depends how often you need to go into London - if it's every day, then you need to be near a mainline station (train times on branch lines can be too infrequent for commuting), so that limits you a little. If you're just going into London for occasional meetings, and driving to park at a station is an option, it's more affordable. Beyond Guildford there are lots of nice villages/small towns - so Godalming, Milford, Haslemere etc. Between 40 minutes and an hour into Waterloo depending on how close to Guildford you are. Again, some of suburbs of Woking are pleasant.

Can't really help on schools I'm afraid, but there are lots of well rated independent schools in Guildford, and the pupils on the train seem very polite - often give you a seat if it's full and none of the usual shouting and litter throwing etc.

divadee

how about the london/kent borders.

you have got bromley, oprington, sevenoaks etc...

those areas are lovely i dont know at what prices houses are going for these days its 8 years since i moved away.

they have all got great schools as well.

mrsc_4

CCStar wrote:

I have never lived in Essex but when I visit, I find the people very friendly and positive.

There are all the white shoe and boy racer stories are myths

Mrs_pbradley936

CCStar wrote:

Stevenage is cheaper than other places in Herts.

Some parts of Stevenage are very rough, same for Harlow. Other parts are very nice, both were New Towns built to help cope with the ever increasing population of London. Lots of cheaply built 60s housing and huge comps.

LizEstelle

whambamboo wrote:

Have you ever even been to Windsor???

I didn't think so.

It's nothing like Virginia Water, with the cheapest house £1m. There is quite a social mix there, and it's not as rarified and royal as ignorant outsiders like yourself might assume

I guess you think Prince William will be moving in here:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-5440587.rsp?pa_n=1&tr_t=buy

1. Yes
2. So tell me again where Eton is?

gallygirl

West Herts is lovely - Tring or Berkhamsted, & good schools. Also East Herts - Hertford, however the people in Hertford are a bit up themselves (IMHO!).

Check on the Sunday Times website and see if you can find an article they had a few weeks ago on Essex. There are some beautiful villages there, east of Stansted, sorry, can't remember any names, but I love driving through there. Good rail links to London.

But all these come at a price - what do you have at the mo, how much will you get for it, what is your budget? Then we can advise.

If you do go for Slough just tell everyone you live in Windsor..... that's what everyone I know who lives there says..... we don't call it Windsor anymore, we call it Windsor Actually;) ).

zag2me

I live near slough, and its the armpit of the UK, truely horrible place.