Caporegime
- Joined
- 30 Jul 2013
- Posts
- 29,554
Chelmsford is decent - 30 mins to Stratford/Liverpool Street.
Commuter towns to London
- Thread starter Diddums
- Start date
Associate
Have you considered that seaside town in North Wales we're not allowed to mention? 
Centre is a bit old and needs investment, surrounding area is fine. Go west to Reigate and it's lovely.
If you live South of London you have the entire Downs, Ashdown forest, coast, tons of places to visit all within 20-45min drive.
At least you have different routes south (e.g Victoria, London Bridge, Thameslink. Change at East Croydon / Clapham etc).
Coulsdon is getting busier all the time as more people have moved there after covid but some lovely areas and right on the doorstep of the countryside.
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Suspended
Really depends if one of the main stations is ideal or what.
Liverpool street for example :
Witham in Essex is a nice one.
You can go further out same direction, Colchester, Ipswich, Stowmarket
Hell I know someone who commuted from Norwich. (2.5 hours each way!) End of that line station.
Its really just a balance thing, you can commute from a good chunk of the UK into London but most people will be limited on travel time as opposed to location
Liverpool street for example :
Witham in Essex is a nice one.
You can go further out same direction, Colchester, Ipswich, Stowmarket
Hell I know someone who commuted from Norwich. (2.5 hours each way!) End of that line station.
Its really just a balance thing, you can commute from a good chunk of the UK into London but most people will be limited on travel time as opposed to location
Man of Honour
Sevenoaks is nice - but expensive.
Crawley is ok.
Dorking is ok
More SW I think it gets equally expensive but also the trains are more crowded.
Don't move to the north coast of Kent
Tunbridge Wells is great, good schools there too if ever you think about having kids
North of London I only know St Albans which is not cheap
Luton is a dump
Watford is ok in the suburbs
The Chilterns area is nice, but not sure what connectivity is like.
Where I live it's about 45mins or so to London Bridge, so we live really close by train, despite being miles out of the M25 - about 15-20min drive to get to M25. (Don't live far from Hever Castle for reference). It's green, quiet, lots of cycling, horse riding, farms and still less than an hour to LBG. So door to door you're less than 1.5hrs to anywhere in London really which is fab. And you come back to the countryside, and where you know your neighbours, and have 500+ sqm of garden.
Crawley is ok.
Dorking is ok
More SW I think it gets equally expensive but also the trains are more crowded.
Don't move to the north coast of Kent
Tunbridge Wells is great, good schools there too if ever you think about having kids
North of London I only know St Albans which is not cheap
Luton is a dump
Watford is ok in the suburbs
The Chilterns area is nice, but not sure what connectivity is like.
Where I live it's about 45mins or so to London Bridge, so we live really close by train, despite being miles out of the M25 - about 15-20min drive to get to M25. (Don't live far from Hever Castle for reference). It's green, quiet, lots of cycling, horse riding, farms and still less than an hour to LBG. So door to door you're less than 1.5hrs to anywhere in London really which is fab. And you come back to the countryside, and where you know your neighbours, and have 500+ sqm of garden.
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Soldato
Crawley is a dump.
Important questions:
What’s important to you?
How long do you want your journey to be?
Which part of London are you commuting to?
Personally I’d have:
Guildford
Horsham (better than Crawley IMO but still not great)
As the main towns on the South West side of London on the list.
Smaller places I’d have:
Marlow
Farnham
Horsley
Billingshurst
Farnborough is on a quick line but it’s a bit grim in Farnborough itself.
Man of Honour
Horsham isn't bad if you're on the outskirts the town itself has stuff to do.
South Lodge is also lovely!
South Lodge is also lovely!
Guildford is lovely. I live in Claygate so on the Guildford to Waterloo line. But realistically we should have moved to Guildford because despite being further out there are faster and more regular trains from there.
@Diddums I think you've been discussing your scooter in the motorcycle forum and also mentioned Putney once. Guildford will have a fast-ish train into Wimbledon where you can change for the District Line tube (that's what I currently do). If you still plan to ride to work then the A3 will take you most of the way into that area. The A3 around M25 junction 10 is horrendous at the moment due to carriageway widening for the next couple of years (not a problem on a scooter though). Guildford is nice (even has a small castle) but expensive. But if this is the right side of London then take a look at areas on the way out there, Kingston, Esher, Cobham, Effingham, etc. Or further out than Guildford like Farnham. That side of London is also near Box Hill, a massive motorbike meet area in summer.
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Honestly, without knowing this everything else is guess work.
Soldato
Huntingdon
Cheers for all the replies folks, I'll go through them in depth later, running against the clock atm. @Hades @ci_newman I work at South Kensington, Natural History Museum to be exact.
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Soldato
Rochester is nice but surrounding areas are pretty dire, also house prices are high but I guess it's all relative, I grew up in/around Rochester but I wouldn't want to live there now. It's just become overpopulated, rush hour traffic is a nightmare!
If commuting by train I would be looking for something that comes into Waterloo. Then hop on the tube (District Line again).
If commuting by scooter (not car - too busy) then the A3 does indeed take you most of the way there. So somewhere south west of London (Kingston, Guildford, Farnham as mentioned should work).
Crawley looks like it could work well too but I don't know that area as well to comment on it specifically.
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Soldato
Do you work from home some days, again it might make living a bit further out a bit more palatable?
You need something on the M3/M4 corridor then.
Woking, Reading, Basingstoke, Farnborough etc.
Soldato
If you want to keep that London feel then go along the Thames Valley.
Going north beyond Hertfordshire and to the top of Buckinghamshire will get you cheaper property with reasonable commute depending on proximity to the line. I personally wouldn’t go to Northamptonshire or above but there could be some nice villages if that’s what you are after.
Going east I wouldn’t go past Greenwich which is a nice option btw.
Going south then you are looking at Epsom, Guildford or if you want sea then Brighton.
Going south east then Canterbury.
Going north beyond Hertfordshire and to the top of Buckinghamshire will get you cheaper property with reasonable commute depending on proximity to the line. I personally wouldn’t go to Northamptonshire or above but there could be some nice villages if that’s what you are after.
Going east I wouldn’t go past Greenwich which is a nice option btw.
Going south then you are looking at Epsom, Guildford or if you want sea then Brighton.
Going south east then Canterbury.
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Soldato
Guess it depends on where in the Chilterns but I live in Chesham which is the end of the Met line, Amersham up the road is on the Met Line and on the Chiltern line (fast train into Marylebone). Further out on the Chiltern Line is Aylesbury
Soldato
Probably want to be on the Victoria line rather than Waterloo.
Or alternatively North London, and change at Kings Cross/St Pancras.
St Albans could be a good shout.
Wow you're very local to me!
Soldato
If you are looking at commute time then use this website https://app.traveltime.com/