Where to live

Axe_meister

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?

joneve

Cotswolds? In/around Gloucester/Cheltenham or the surrounding areas?

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 )

there's some REALLY nice areas here, all pretty easily accessible to the M5 and M4 (via A419 to swindon).

Oh and house prices aren't too ridiculous either (I mean, there ARE some ridiculous areas, but there are also some reasonably priced areas)

markslade07

We live in Wiltshire (Chippenham, in the north, right by the M4). No great need to go to London, but we're right by the railway and the M4 and can get North, South, East or West really easily (for the most part). Not too far from the countyside, or bigger towns if that's what you want.

LuttiS

London is actually fairly easy to get to from North Wales, there is an express train going fairly regularly to Euston, goes direct and takes a couple of hours.

spark240

Ashby de la zouch seems good value at the moment..

not_the_dj

The Cotswolds over on the M40 side is nice, and gives good access to the M40 for getting to London.

VimFuego

Somerset? About a 2 hour ish drive to London, lots of countryside and close to the proper SW.

ESBlonde

If you want peace and quite with a quaint twist, north Norfolk is lovely. In distance terms not far from London but the roads north of the A47 make travel slow compared to elsewhere. Big skies and beaches for long walks.

TTony

Axe_meister said:

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.

The South/South East is pretty busy and expensive.

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.

SouthpawMark

We did something similar last year. Ended up moving to Oxfordshire, in a village just outside Abingdon. 10 minute drive in to Oxford. 10 minute drive to Didcot Parkway station, which is a 40 minute train journey to Paddington. M40 and M4 within easy reach. If Alan Partridge hadn’t chosen Norfolk, I reckon he’d have chosen Oxfordshire. 

EricTheWeary

Some lovely places in South Worcestershire. It includes part of the Cotswolds but some super villages and small towns outside of those. The M5 runs through it so quick access to the motorway system, trains into Birmingham ( guitar shops, shopping, theatre, big gigs,etc) and when Worcester Parkway opens ( the new out of town train station) an improved rail service into London. 
 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). 

drofluf

Like SouthpawMark we moved to Oxfordshire a few years back - great links London via Didcot or M4; Heathrow and the North on the A34

p90fool

Two important things happened to me which freed up possible places to live - Denmark Street died on its arse and the Tate Modern turned out to be utter tosh, meaning I never had to think about setting foot in London ever again. 

There's nowt else there you can't order online. 

SouthpawMark

p90fool said:

Two important things happened to me which freed up possible places to live - Denmark Street died on its arse and the Tate Modern turned out to be utter tosh, meaning I never had to think about setting foot in London ever again. 

There's nowt else there you can't order online. 

Still a fine selection of Angus Steakhouses though. 

dano

LuttiS said:

London is actually fairly easy to get to from North Wales, there is an express train going fairly regularly to Euston, goes direct and takes a couple of hours.

Indeed.

I do Chester to London several times a year and it's a 2.5hr journey on Virgin. Quick and very little stops.

rlw

I live in York and can do door to door with clients in central London in 2.5 hours.  

Fuengi

We live down the A3 about an hour from London, 10 mins from the coast in the South Downs NP. Love it here, countryside on our doorstep, coast close by, Winchester, Portsmouth, Guildford and Southampton all within half an hour. 

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. 

Dodge

As already said, you've described the Cotswolds. Either the Oxon area with the A40/M40 as your route back to London, or the Gloucestershire Cotswolds thinking about proximity to the A419 to the M4.

I've done both, currently live in a village around Cirencester and I'll be here until I'm pushing up daisies.

Roland

How important is this link to London? Which part of London do you need? How often will you make the journey, and who’ll pay for it?

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.

Axe_meister

My office is in Victoria, most of my work can however be done from home or is either at a client site anywhere in the UK/EMEA  
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.

digitalscream

We're in Stamford, pretty much in the middle of the country - while it's ludicrously expensive in the town, the surrounding villages are a lot cheaper and there's plenty in terms of the kind of property you're talking about. 90 miles from London, 10 miles from Peterborough (with a 40 minute train run to London), and practically on top of the A1.