mnze

For the complete novice. I left UK when I was eight.
We plan to arrive in London June 2007 and hope to work in the CBD area, whilst living somewhere reasonably close, with easy transport. We like culture,cafes, pubs and movies. We are thinking about a 1 bdrm studio apartment type of thing and train or bus transport.

Any advice or comments would be much appreciated.

Caroline G

Here's a link to the London Transport website http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/pdfdocs/colourmap.pdf which may assist you in your research http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tube/

I have lived in Watford. It's a busy large town with a large shopping centre, busy night-life (sometimes a bit yobby though) and Countryside nearby too. There's a leisure complex with cinema http://www.hertfordshire.com/pages/e...ry.asp?id=3886 Seehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watford Watford Junction Station has a direct train route which takes approx 20mins to Euston (the black train line on the tube map). There is also another Watford Station on the Metropolitan Line (purple line) which isn't so fast but still an easy commute to Baker Street and beyond. There are fast trains which stop at the main stations only which help speed up the journey. There are many bus routes and taxis.

Last year lots of apartments were being built by Linden Homes near the Watford Met Station http://www.lindenhomes.co.uk/lndn2/devlist-herts.asp. Here's a property website http://www.primelocation.com/ The Byewaters development is quite nice and nearish to the station, a business centre and other facilities.

Rickmansworth is lovely http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rickmansworth It's more upmarket than Watford, although both have their good and bad parts like anywhere. Rickmansworth has a village feel and a lovely old High Street with plenty of banks, shops, cafes, restaurants (Thai, Chinese, Indian, Italian to mention a few) and a few pubs and bars. The aquadrome offers lovely walks, water ski-ing, sailing and wind-surfing. Rickmansworth Station is also on the Met Line. When we lived there my husband commuted into central London daily. There are lots of apartments next to the Station. The main development is called Penn Place. Ruislip is also pretty nice too http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruislip_tube_station

However, you may want to be closer to central London but if you like the combination of countryside and the city being accessible consider the places I've mentioned. They are also in a good position for the M25 (London ring-road) M1 (Main motorway to the North), Heathrow airport, Luton Airport and Gatwick airport - Great for those weekends away in Europe. It's also cheaper to be a little bit further out of the city.

I used to work in Kensington High St. near Holland Park. The Kensington, Chelsea area is very nice but very expensive.

Hope this information is a helpful starting point. Feel free to ask any questions I may be able to help you with.
Enjoy the National Gallery when you get to London.
CarolineG

mnze

Caroline,
Fantastic post, thankyou. Will have alook at the sites and keep in touch.

regards

Caroline G

Islington just sprung to mind. My husband used to work there and that had plenty going on. Lots of restaurants, cafes, bars etc. and it's more centrally positioned. Angel Station is on the tube system.

tony_russell

If your gonna come over to live in London i think your best bet is to move west. Chiswick and Ealing are nice areas and not too stupidly priced (Kensington/ Chelsea, forget it!) with good underground tube links -about 20 mins to zone 1. They also have good nightlife, clubs, pubs, resturants. Tuffnell Park and sourounding areas in north London are not bad either. I would say its worth paying a bit more to live somewhere half decent and be carefull about going anywhere south of the river, apart from crap transport links there is a lot of bad things going on down there. Beware of any agent that tells you an area is up and coming (Brixton,Stockwell, Peckham etc.) There is a real, VERY real gang problem in London these days and people are getting shot for fun. I had two murders in a month just round the corner from where i used to live. Over all its still a great city, second to none but be prepared to spend alot of money. Hope you enjoy London. t.

Dan725

If you are going to get some fat paying jobs (maybe even thats an understatement!), these have a good selection of rentals in good areas:

http://www.foxtons.co.uk

mnze

Thanks Dan.
Have saved site to favourites, and will search through

Dan725

This is a good one, if you want to buy......60,000 pounds for a parking space! :scared:

http://www.foxtons.co.uk/search?md5=...it_type=search

.....And thats one of the cheap ones!

fishfinger

Richmond is a nice area too

Elvira

Absolutely! And very convenient for commuting into town if you're close to the train station.

But nothing beats Putney...

St.Georges Girl

St.Albans is nice. Filled with the antiquities I miss. Cobbled streets, the Cathedral, weekend quality market, quaint and trendy pubs, bistros,wine bars,excellent pizzerias and good restaurants. Good mix of shops and London is easily accessible. Islington is very 'upmarket' now, prices have gone up enormously since we left, but still a lively place to be.

BadgeIsBack

SW London is the best part of London outside the inner bit - if that makes sense - there is a whole swathe of suburbs all very nice - and not really that hit or miss. BLOODY expensive now - people often comment oh how nice a bit of N or NW/W London is but I don't think it compares(!)

S London is the poor cousin and a lot of professionals live there because it is cheaper - and slowly, it IS becoming gentrified in parts. I knew it was time to escape when my IT salary 'only' stretched to a rougher section of it(!)

Miss Eck

and what about the lovely place in a park that serves the best waffles and ice cream ever!

St.Georges Girl

Do you mean the Veralum? Down past the Cathedral on the right, just past the old water mill?

mnze

Hi,
Thanks for your post. Where exactly is St Albans ?

mnze