The jobs my partner could go for in the UK seem mostly to be situated in London. Having spent most of my early years in London, loving it, but being of an age where the hustle and bustle would be too much, I am wondering, does anyone have an opinion of good places to be based within a reasonable travel distance of London (an hour and a bit), so he could park his missus and kids, we could enjoy what was on offer there and then he'd be doing the commuting?

We are used to living in rural areas as a family, and this bit we love, but I understand that if the point about moving back to the UK is a basic yearning to be back in the broad mix of UK culture then a rural area in the UK might not be the best, 'cos there ain't so much going on there?

We don't do 'village' life very well and our choice to do rural so far has been about the nature and enjoying the great outdoors rather than being sociable.

However, this stereotype of rural England I keep dreaming over in 'Country Living' mags (don't ask ), all very quaint, does that really exist?

Okay, now I have just thought up another thread that would be about the expat's romantic notions of the UK, do they ever match up and what is the picture in the mind we get of the UK when we have been away for so long and miss the sunday papers and hot buttered crumpets? Tee-hee.

If you want this kind of lifestyle you need to be on a fast rail line and work not too far from a London Terminus. My journey is 10 mins on the bike to the station, 50 mins on the train, and then a 10 min tube. Weekends make it all worthwhile though , as does waking up to fresh air and the birds every morning.

Make sure the working partner knows what they are letting themselves in for, though. I see some pretty knackered-looking people on the train each day.

Also you need to factor in the cost of the travel when negotiating your wages.

I agree, and bear in mind the cost of a season ticket can be horrendous.
An alternative may be to drive in, but this can only realistically be done in the short term. If you start off early enough (say 5 or 5.30am) you may find the journey can be relatively quick - but what takes 70 minutes at that time in the morning can then take 3 hours at night, because of traffic.

"Also you need to factor in the cost of the travel when negotiating your wages."

Good point!

Which leads me to:

"I agree, and bear in mind the cost of a season ticket can be horrendous."

HOW horrendous?

We lived in and commuted from Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire before moving overseas. Small town, reasonable facilities with good rail and road links North and South. Close to Cambridge and Peterborough for better shopping opportunities. Fast trains about 50 mins to Kings X.

The further out you go the higher it gets. You pay more for the shorter term tickets, but a yearly one will give you at least thirty working days travel you don't use (holiday+public holidays) - unless you take all your holiday in London.

In my experience the closest bit of "rural" County Life picture postcard to London would be the Chilterns going 40-50 mins out to Aylesbury and High Wycombe way. The Chiltern Line train seems cheaper than other lines too. This needs to be balanced by the fact that nearly all the towns in the Chilterns are horrendously expensive by returning expats standards

I would recommend Upminster, which is at the east end of the District Line on the tube, and also has overhead rail connections into London's Fenchurch Street. It's a nice, safe, pleasant suburb with a good high street, and good state schools. It's also very close to the M25 and other motorway links. It's near enough to London, but also far enough away to be able to get out and about to the "countryside". Upminster is within the Oyster card network. My husband commutes from Upminster to Canary Wharf every day and it is about 45 - 50 mins door to door (C2C to Limehouse then DLR to Canary Wharf). Upminster (zone 6) to Canary Wharf (zone 2) costs hubby about £60 a month, he says, but the price does shoot up if you're travelling into zone 1 (the centre of London), unfortunatley. Check National Rail Enquires & London Underground for prices.

Incidentally, are you entitled to use UK state schools? If not, there is a good private school in Brentwood (The Brentwood School) and places like Chigwell & Woodford have good independant schools. All are within a reasonable commute to London. Upminster has one good independant school (Oakfields) but it only goes up to age 11.

I'm very happy living here, though will admit I am biased! Good luck with your move.

Barbara B

It costs for an annual season ticket £5,248.00 - High speed - Dover Priory (DVP)to London including underground zones 1-6.

I travel from Dover to London on business and the journey takes 1 hour and 10 minutes. The journey seems to be always to be smooth and not too busy.

Some of my sons's friends parents work in London and live in the villages around Dover.

I have been looking to work in London and commute to Dover

Hudd

you can calculate an annual season ticket here:

http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/en/s/s...ket/calculator

Just select 12 months. Unless you are lucky, you will need it to be <station>-to-London 1-6

Try Small towns instead of villages, most do have rail connections in to the City if you want a "fix" on City life and most towns are usually semi rural....we settled for a town with a good High Street and good links into the city if we want "more choice" etc....we have lovely countryside on our doorstep as well so a bit of both.....good luck

Chelmsford is good.

I know some expats who landed in Tunbridge Wells and rave about it.

They commute to London and have a lovely town to live in, and the countryside just minutes away. The Kent countryside is beautiful.

TW is about 20 mins away from us along the High Weald. It seems to have everything most people would require in a town (there is a big John Lewis HomeStore opening soon) The countryside is amazing and the there are loads of little villages and pubs. Haven't tried the train line in as I come in on the Brighton mainline.

Thank you so much for your feedback, I've already been given loads of helpful leads that we are following up.

When I worked in London (left 5 years ago) we found a good 'middle ground' in Ealing. We rented the top floor of an old 3-storey Victorian townhouse. The bedroom and kitchen had huge sash windows overlooking a vast expanse of allotments where people would grow their vegetables. Our street was quiet with minimal car and foot traffic and on the corner was a handy little shop and a nice pub with a big beer garden overlooking the local church. Ealing has a town center (which was just under 10 minutes stroll away) with a small, semi-open air shopping precinct, including a Safeways and an M&S and there were nice restaurants and bars on the adjacent Broadway. A few steps away were Ealing Common, Gunnesbury Park and another very pleasant green open space whose name escapes me - we used to take picnics there and sunbathe on sunny weekends!

All of this made it feel that we weren't on the doorstep of a major metropolis, yet we could get to Piccadilly Circus door-to-door in just under half an hour thanks to South Ealing tube that was 5 minutes walk away, and we were also within a mile's drive of the M4 when needed.

All of this we felt contributed to our quality of life by cutting down the commute (and associated cost) so we could spend more time enjoying the environment.