Best places to live outside London for nature: Best places to live around London with top schools: Places to live outside London with easy commute: Where to live outside London near forests. Schools within Guildford often appear in the Sunday Times Best Schools List, making it an ideal place to settle for families with children of school-going age. Photograph: Tolga Akmen/AFP via Getty Images Shops will often put things on and its a good way to meet people. There are lots of good options in and around the area. I hope youve enjoyed this guide to the best hipster neighborhoods in London, and that its made you want to put on your glasses, get a tattoo, go vegan, and explore more of the citys coolest areas. A new arrival on the long-established list of commuter towns, the Essex city of Chelmsford may surprise many for being included among the best commuter towns near London. A couple of miles down the coast from Broadstairs, Ramsgate was once a fashionable Victorian seaside resort, and although todays holidaymakers have set their sights on more exotic climes, there is still a lot to recommend in this busy town, with its street cafes, charming marina, clifftop walks and blue flag sandy beaches. Margate, on the east coast of Kent, has seen a property boom. Rambling detached houses in peaceful East Mersea come with big gardens and 1 million-plus price tags. The charming streets, historical spots, and affluent homes all make St Albans one of the best commuter towns near London, and no list of commuter towns would be complete without a mention of St Albans. And, although Surrey is the most expensive of the home counties, buyers who are willing to look beyond the classic dormitories can find value on a (comparative) budget. The garden caf serves lunch and cakes made with ingredients grown within this secret urban oasis. The best up and coming places to live in the UK. Again, with an average season pass of 2,904, the cost of making this daily commute isnt something that can be taken likely. Here a similar house would cost about 800,000. Coming in at number 5 and Buckinghamshire's first entrant, Iver. Another beachy option for the more occasional commuter are practicalisland towns with all the charm and romance of living by the sea and spending downtime messing around on boats, but where you can still be in the centre of London in a couple of hours. Its another hugely historic settlement, in Roman times known as Verulamium. For all your shopping needs, Stevenage is home to a huge shopping center with the privilege of being extremely traffic free. Let us know here. Be ahead of the game: at some point, someone's going to figure out you can essentially have bottomless brunch at Wetherspoons for 20 a head. A lot of hipster neighborhoods in London are in the East End. This five-thousand-acre royal park is home to great expanses of green spaces, ponds, and its own population of deer. The area offers a wide range of places to choose from. Buyers on smaller budgets could consider adjacent Westcliff-on-Sea which is attracting more interest thanks to its value for money although it is by no means as hip as Leigh. Its one of the hottest areas to live in London. This growth in population and popularity has brought about stiff competition for housing and employment. Factor in the ever-rising property and rental prices in the capital and staying in London for your downtime zzzs may not even be an option. The rise of commuter towns in the past few years can't be ignored. Most of the shops are independents, with lots of little art galleries, and the walking along cliff-top paths is just spectacular. Despite Ashford being the main railway station in east Kent, it has been ranked 107th on the list.. The medieval town centre is gorgeous to look at: packed with cute cafes, restaurants and independent boutiques. The commute: Havant Station is a two-mile walk or cycle from the island. The prevalence of street art, gigs, and arthouse films at the famous Ritzy cinema means theres something new to see on every visit, too. Although Stevenage stands over thirty miles north of London, it is possible to catch the fastest train and arrive in the capital in 27 minutes. Living in Iver could open up a realm of possibilities you never thought possible. The variation in properties and neighborhoods mean that Stevenage is somewhere that attracts commuters with many different incomes. How much will it cost? There are lots of hipster-friendly. Hackney is packed with bars hidden under railway arches, on-the-pulse nightlife, cutting-edge restaurants, delicious bakeries, and cool coffee shops. Regular bus services operate, although they do take around an hour and whether you bus it or go by car you will have to keep an eye on the tides because the Roman causeway that divides Mersea from the mainland floods at high tide. Although its ideally placed for commuting into London, there is a large infrastructure here that means you are not forced to travel outside of the town during your days off, creating a great balance between work and home life. Crazy golf has found a lot of love among the hipster community; navigate your balls through old washing machines at Junkyard Golf, or go putting on a Peckham rooftop car park. Or you could look at the market town of Ringwood, where a four-bedroom house is likely to cost from about 750,000. This 285 square miles of ancient forest sits right on the south coast and is heaven for outdoorsy types. Impressively, you can get from Richmond to London Waterloo in as little as 22 minutes. Iver,. Tottenham is next on my list of hipster London neighborhoods. 112 countries and counting! Coming in fifth place in the rankings is Iver in Buckinghamshire. Join local Facebook groups. Top commuter towns across Hampshire, Surrey, Kent and Essex Picturesque country and seaside locations for house-hunters who still want to live within reach of the capital. In addition. With many of Stevenages modern neighborhoods and commercial districts having been designed on the Radburn principle, this traffic-free environment can be found all over the town. As promised, heres a map of the hipster London neighborhoods on my list. Basingstoke is a large town in northeast Hampshire, in south central England. The content youre reading is made by independent, expert local journalists. A four-bedroom house in one of these areas would cost about 1 million. There is, at present, a three-year waiting list for a permit. It is one of the longest lines of beach in the country, one just leads on to the next, so it is great for walks, she says. Visit in all seasons. Hertfordshire is becoming a common theme on this list. As its name suggests, this market town lies along the northern banks of the River Thames and has grown from a small town to a hub for commuters and residents as the expansion of London has grown. Trowbridge, near Bath. Given there are so many choices, I want to give you an idea of your options and some good ideas for cool neighborhoods in London. Still, you're just six miles from Heathrow, it's very green, has some. Sign up for exclusive newsletters, comment on stories, enter competitions and attend events. 1. Not only is it a stones throw away from rural and suburban bliss, but the town itself also has a lot going for it. . At number one worst place to live came Aylesbury. A four to five-bedroom post-war house a little further out might cost between 500,000 and 700,000. 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Word of mouth seems to have been behind Leighs resurgence and most who move down seem to have a ready-made support network. On looks alone, the two loveliest villages have to be Dedham and Nayland. Your email address will not be published. Twice the size of Londons Hyde Park, Cassiobury Park is a popular spot with dog walkers, runners,s and summer days sun-seekers. If you're looking for a town with less than a 30-minute commute to London, then Richmond is the perfect place for you. But Kents sandy beaches, grammar schools and lovely towns are drawing a new generation of Londoners still WFH for part of the week and willing to live farther from the office. Families looking for the best commuter towns near London, which also have thriving schools, will see Basingstoke as a winner. You would need to pay approaching 1million for one of the lovely Regency houses overlooking the sea on The Paragon or Royal Parade, and around 700,000 for a two-bedroom flat. Staines-upon-Thames is perfectly balanced between a growing town, connected to the infrastructure of modern London and south England, while at the same time, there is an expansion of greenery and untouchedness that comes with Staines-upon-Thames. This unique arrangement means that Watford has the blessing of being far enough removed from London while being seamlessly connected to its major transport networks. This area also has atmospheric side streets and secret lanes to discover. Stevenage as a town has all the amenities and resources you would expect from a modern town. Not as smug as Broadstairs, this good-looking town is the perfect place to chill out on the beach, pick up vintage finds at its outstanding collection of antique shops (youll be hard pressed to visit the Petticoat Lane Emporium without finding something you have to buy), or cycle the Viking Coastal Trail. Rated as one of Englands top three growing towns, the largest town in Hampshire, Basingstoke is undoubtedly seen as one of the best commuter towns near London. High Wycombe has made the top 10 London commuter towns (Image: BucksLive - Grahame Larter) The bustling town of High Wycombe ranked 7th in the list of the best towns to commute to London. A lot of Londons hottest neighborhoods are located here. The incredible floor plan inspires both purchases and new style choices. Dedham also has an Ofsted outstanding primary school, as does the village of Lawford. The historic Berkshire market town of Windsor is a favorite commuter town for those who look for a little more luxury when it comes to home life. Its just 25 minutes from St Pancras, and is weirdly also known for its cinematic heritage, with Elstree Studios, a collection of different studios across various sites of which two still remain. Ramsgates still quiet and its got that community feel.. These are the list of the best commuter towns and some of the worst. Guildford, as a town in itself, is a pleasant place to live; with cobble-stoned streets, historic medieval architecture, and a castle to boot, Guildford has all the charms of a small English town.