I might be considering a move to work on either York or Bristol – office in York is in the centre, office in Bristol is north of the city. I would have the option to choose to be based in one of these places, with possibility of some home working.

I’m not a “city” person, happiest with walks on my doorstep, and am a keen road cyclist and mountaineer, so looking for good, hilly road cycling and hills nearby. I don’t have family / kids, and am in my late ’40’s, so don’t need to be near schools or bars / clubs. That said, I’d be keen to join a good road cycling club and a local mountaineering club. Would also like to have some facilities “on the doorstep” and be able to walk to a local shop / pub etc rather than be in a more remote location and always have to drive.

So any advice / experienced re living in, or near to, either York or Bristol? Is it better to be In the centre or further away in a small town / village nearby? Cost of housing? Commuting by either car, bike, or bus / train? Local clubs fir cycling and mountaineering? Low crime / no flood area is important for house buying!

Thanks in advance 🙂

I was a bit surprised at Bristol when a couple of STW’ers said they keep their bike(s) indoors as a necessity due to theft from sheds etc.

That put me off Bristol a bit…

York – Pros It’s in the North
Bristol – Cons It’s in the South…

Alos York on a proper fast rail line, well connected to the North and South, with a lot close by.

Bristol is really close to Wales which has great walking and bike trails.

I live and work in North Bristol (office is on Aztec West, live in Bradley Stoke). Its great for cycling (road = of the edge of the countryside, lots of nice low traffic routes and plenty of climbs in easy reach, MTB = either AC/50acre in the Bristol, mendips for natural riding and close to South Wales/FoD for trail centres (as well as natural riding)). No clue about the mountaineering scene though.

As for Bradley Stoke, hmm well it’s OK, I actually quite like living there. It’s quiet, shops in walking distance, a few pubs (albeit chain ones), leisure centre etc. It is pretty soulless but that doesn’t bother me. There are some villages/small towns dotted around to, places like Almondsbury & Tockington look nice but the houses are expensive, Thornbury & Yate are a bit further out but more reasonable prices.

Bristol does have a bit of a rep for bike thefts but not sure if it’s actually any worse than similar sized cities. Out in Bradley stoke I think it’s a lot better (mine are kept in a garage but I know others have there’s in sheds).

I used to live in Bristol. My brother now lives in York but also used to live in Bristol so they’re a couple of cities I know quite well. My choice would be Bristol, somewhere on the West side. It’s so easy to get out to Aston Court and Leigh Woods for walks and rides. The road riding is brilliant out into Somerset with a nice “scene” – groups rides from a few different clubs, shops etc. Getting across from the West to the North for work may be a bit tricky depending on where you are exactly.
For me, there’s nothing in York that really grabs me. I’m sure you can find some road rides out into the countryside (there’s plenty of it round there!) but it’s very flat on the whole. Apart from walking around fields etc. walking trails seem pretty dull too. Traffic is horrible everywhere at commuting times. It’s a smaller city with a feel of a town though – Bristol can feel quite sprawling with a few different ‘centres’ which gives you different options but also ‘ dilutes’ the feel of the town a bit for me.

All just my opinion of course and there will be plenty of others, hope it helps!

Bristol is a great city. Vibrant, forward thinking and outward looking but from your list of wants I’d say you’d be better off in York. Although I’m sure either would be good

Agree with nickjb above. York sounds like your best bet.

Depends what you like climbing really – York is handier for the eastern Peak gritstone and north York Moors sandstone, but I’d probably prefer to have S Wales coastal limestone so close by, and maybe the Avon Gorge for evening cragging. The climbing ‘scene’ is probably livelier around Bristol too, so you’ve got more chance of finding likeminded partners.

For York: Dales, Moors, Peak day trippable. Lakes- Just (2.5hrs each way). Beautiful contained city, little urban spread, greats pubs and restaurants, fast train connection south/Manchester airport. River for paddlesports. Commute by single speed as city centre is flat. Affordable* living 15mins walk from city centre.
*compared to the south

Against: ‘Vale of York’ so by road bike 10 miles every direction to get off the flat. A couple of pump tracks but no real mtb from door. No mountains for miles! (but there is a small rise and a windmill for your running hill reps!)

Geographically mike, yes, Brizzle is in the “south” but IME it doesn’t consider itself part of the south in the way other cities along or below the M4 corridor might fit your stereotype.

Plus, it’s a lot cooler. With much cooler people. 😀

Nah, seriously, I have no idea what York is like, it a couple of friends whose opinion is value speak very highly of it.

For what the OP is looking for, it will depend a lot on how much she can afford to spend on where she lives. For a single, no kids person with disposable income, there are plenty of apartments in the centre of town all within walking distance of, well, everything.

If she wants a house, then unless her budget is high, she’ll have to buy in a suburb. I live just within walking distance of town (30-40mins walk) in an area of ex-working class Victorian terraces. All pretty small, with parking problems etc and could we afford to buy it now? Not a chance. It’s expensive to live here – nothing like London but I’d imagine a bit more than York.

Bristol is very bike friendly. I was only marvelling at the sheer amount of cyclists riding down Gloucester Road yesterday morning as I sweated my way to work in a bloody van. It still desperately needs better segregated infrastructure (IMO).

If you live outside town, you’ll need a car although there are car-club vehicles parked all over town and the suburbs. Public transport is poor – no decent rail network and the buses are ok as long as you need to go YourArea->Town->YourArea.

It’s an open multi-cultural city (voted 60+% remain) with a “green” edge to a lot of what goes on during the year. I always thought that once I had a family, I’d move out of town but we love it too much here to move further out. I realise you’re not worried about family friendliness, but I always think that family friendly cities are generally nicer to live for everybody. And Bristol is pretty good for families.

You’ll have no problem finding Road Cycling Clubs and the climbing scene is very healthy – plenty of indoor walls for the winter and once you’ve got to know people there, plenty of opportunities to get outdoors in the spring and Summer.

If you ever fancy visiting for a few days to see what it’s like, give me a shout. We’ll show you around and give you an insiders’ view of what it’s like here. We love it, but don’t believe the hype (I think it always comes top 3 for cities in which to live) – it’s not all roses and food festivals. It has the same drawbacks as any city.

…from your list of wants I’d say you’d be better off in York.

What about somewhere like Bedminster or Southville though – to me, they seem spot on for what the OP wants.
Walks from your door into Ashton Court / Avon Gorge / Leigh Woods.
Nice community feel and local shops and services from your door on West and East street.
Shop rides from Strada Cycles on a regular basis.
(Not that I ever participated but) Climbing in the Avon Gorge a very short drive away.
Only drawback for me would be the commute across town to the North could be horrible.

Thanks for the advice and info so far – lots of different points to consider so keep it coming 🙂

Re housing – II would be looking to buy a 2/3 bed house with garden and parking. Not sure how housing costs compare between Bristol and York, or in small towns / villages nearby. Happy to commute if it gives me direct access to hills on my doorstep.

I currently live in North Wales – love it here with the mountains and coast on my doorstep, but work my necessitate a move to either York or Bristol, hence asking for advice from fellow cycling / hiking folks on here 🙂

Based on your description, I’d say you’d be better in Bath than Bristol.

It’s much less city like than Bristol and much more like York.

EDIT – I’d also consider across the bridge in South Wales (Monmothshire et al) as it’s very well priced.

My sister lives in Bristol.

She’s lived in several areas & is currently out of the centre towards Bath, in Saltford.

From a visitor point of view – Bristol is a nice place with plenty to see & do. It’s well positioned for visits into Wales, down into Devon & Cornwall & down to the south coast, plus there’s places like the forest of dean nearby.

Traffic always seems bad. It doesn’t seem to matter what time of day, there is traffic in Bristol.

Rain. It seems to do a lot of raining in Bristol.

Traffic always seems bad.

Tru dat. It’s always bad. To be fair, outside of rush-hour(s) and during school holidays, it’s not the worst but it’s not great. If you stick yourself somewhere where you have to commute into town by car, it’s not going to be fun.

Rain. It seems to do a lot of raining in Bristol.

Can you imagine how unbearably smug Brizzillians would be if it was sunny all the time here. 😀

I was a bit surprised at Bristol when a couple of STW’ers said they keep their bike(s) indoors as a necessity due to theft from sheds etc.

York also has a bit of an issue with Bike crime, with (according to the Police) gangs coming across from Leeds. Despite being very careful I’ve had 3 bikes stolen in York, from my locked garage (bikes locked inside) and a locked compound when I lived in flats in the centre. When I worked in a bike shop we seemed to be giving insurance quotes a lot.

York doesn’t have a big city feel, which coming from a backwards fishing town I loved, sure it was busy at rush hours but if you plan ahead and get to know which area’s to avoid and when it’s manageable. The Howardian hills are in riding distance and there’s greenery all around, it doesn’t take long to be cycling down country lanes around the city, although it takes a while to get to any hills that might test you on the road bike. One of the shops in town, Cycleworks I think had a riding club, there’s a great bouldering centre too. Dalby is 40 mins away.

The lakes/dales etc. aren’t too far away (1.30hrs) and you’re only an hours drive from the sea too so it feels easy to escape when you need to, like when the races are on, that side of York is a no go zone if you want to get anywhere quickly.

Loads of great little pubs and coffee shops in the centre, I used to work by the River and can direct you to an amazing Sandwich shop if you did end up there!

I wouldn’t advise living near the centre because of the prices and noise on busy days, I’ve lived in Woodthorpe (SW), Huntington (NE) and Clifton Moor (N) and found all those areas to be great with Huntington probably being my favourite due to proximity to the ring road at Monks Cross, it also took me 10 mins to ride to the centre or 40 mins to walk.

Clifton Moor is nice but the A1237 ring road gets stupidly busy at rush hour so can be a nightmare to get out. House prices are higher than surrounding towns/cities, a friend has just bought a 3 bed (two big and a box room) 1930’s semi in Rawcliffe for £280,000 and it’s in need of work.

For flooding avoid anywhere directly next to the Ouse, the Foss isn’t too bad, just be aware that if the barrier fails again like it did in 2015 that Huntington Road is very vulnerable, however there’s no parking down there other than on street permits so that might not be ideal for you depending on what you want.

Hopefully that makes sense, it’s a bit of a brain dump from my 10 years there.

York absolutely – surrounded by lovely northerners

My personal opinion of Bristol is that it’s a hole. Great if you are young and wanna social life but otherwise it’s a dirty messy noisy car infested hole

Born and brought up in York (well just outside in a village that has now been eaten by the City) and then lived in Bristol for 20+ years.

From your list of ‘wants’ then Bristol everytime.

Hth
Marko

If you fancy ‘north’ Bristol and anywhere you’d actually want to live (Redland, Westbury On Trym, Stoke Bishop, maybe Clifton – but that’s student central, Bishopton too (I guess) and you like period property (or any property) have a look at the prices…..steep. 3 bed semi or terrace way past £600k now, if you can get in the queue to view them.
Anything bigger then way more. And not Clifton, thats a ton more.
But….they are very nice areas to live in.

No idea about York, but live in Bath, and lived in Bristol. Personally I wouldn’t live in Bristol again, though lots of people love it.

If you like north Wales, why not consider living in south Wales? Plenty of places within easy commute of north Bristol.

Personally I’d live in Bath and commute. Great NCN4, traffic free from Bath all the way into Bristol. Bath has loads of road riding groups, and loads of road riding hills.

Bristol, Bath more so, are expensive house wise though. If you’re coming from north Wales you might be in for a shock!

Bristol and the surrounding area has a lot to offer

Bristol is benefiting from major upgrades to the rail network including partial electrification to London+ new rolling stock

Scrapping of the Severn Bridge tolls

Benefited from lots of investment in education, educational attainment within Bristol has improved significantly

Economically the area is performing stronger than most parts of the UK

a very vibrant arts / music scene

Bristol is a fantastic city. All the amenities and attractions you could want, but easy access to great road and off-road cycling. From my house I can be on the trails in 20 minutes, and the country lanes in even less. The downsides are house prices and traffic. I would try hard to live within a cycle commute of work if I were you.

EDIT – I’d also consider across the bridge in South Wales (Monmothshire et al) as it’s very well priced.

^^this is a good shout. Depends on where you’re working, but somewhere like Aztec West in North Bristol will be a shorter and quicker commute from Chepstow etc than it would from the city centre or anywhere south of that. And you’re very close to some cracking scenery then 🙂

Scrapping of the Severn Bridge tolls

Reduction in the bridge tolls, partially offset by being chargeable both directions. Then year on year increases till it’s above current level. Cynic? Moi? Why yes I am.

You don’t want to be commuting over the bridge. It’s a pain in th eballs.

People who talk about lovely countryside being ‘near’ Bristol are imo overstating it. Coming from North Wales you’d be disappointed I reckon.

Both York and Bristol are some of the most congested places I’ve ever been in terms of traffic, too.

I can’t comment on Bristol but I know York pretty well.

Traffic in York can be awful, especially on the ring road at rush hour. The City Centre is beautiful although can get rammed with tourists.

Great bike infrastructure, lots of dedicated bike routes, etc. Plenty of great pubs and restaurants. The river is nice although often floods and was very bad a few years ago.

I’d happily live in York – in fact, I’m half considering it at the moment.

both major political parties have put scrapping the tolls in their manifestos

People who talk about lovely countryside being ‘near’ Bristol are imo overstating it. Coming from North Wales you’d be disappointed I reckon.

It depends what you want. There aren’t any mountains nearby but loads of hilly countryside. Having previously lived in the Pennines and near the Lake District, I’ve never felt like I’m missing out here.

Options around Bristol would also depend where your office would be and how long a commute you would be OK with (and assuming a car commute is OK). Aztec West I guess is more North of Bristol than North Bristol and whilst it has very good road links (M4 & M5) those road links are a nightmare at rush ‘hour’ and any accident on the M4/M5 within 20 miles always seems to cause chaos.

A few people I work with commute over from South Wales but no chance I would (especially if you have to go through the Newport tunnels). No chance I’d commute from Bath or South Bristol either but then anything over 20 minutes I’d consider a long commute…

I’d expect lower house prices around York than Bristol for the same spec, but I’d also expect Bristol to be a warmer climate.

Sue – if you’re choosing between York and Bristol, you may well be at the same company that I’m working at, currently (in north Bristol…)

No comparison to make, as I haven’t worked in York, but I live in south Wales and commute in to Bristol. I do an early day to miss the traffic, and it takes me around 40 mins each way from/to near Monmouth. Obviously, S. Wales is great for MTB and walking. House prices are sufficiently lower in Wales to cover the bridge tolls, which are halving or disappearing next year anyway, depending on who you believe…

Happy to go into a bit more detail /answer questions if you want to email me (address in profile…)

Personally I’d live in Bath and commute

+1 . But only if workplace was easily accessible from Bristol and Bath cycle path.

fadda speaks some sense too. Monmouthshire is perfect for your lifestyle. Although I’m largely against car-commuting for a number of reasons – 40 mins isn’t too bad.

Have also to agree that Brizzle is car-infested and hell to drive around.

I think you can pretty much tell house prices by just looking at rightmove.

York – The West side of York is very expensive as it is commuter belt for Leeds and York. I know people who have lived in York and all enjoyed it.

The nearest mountains are the Lakes, which realistically are 2hr + away. The Pennines and NY Moors are beautiful and much near but still a fair drive/ride.

Don’t know a thing about Bristol but was brought up in York and still have friends and family there. To be honest, I kind of like visiting but wouldn’t ever move back. The centre is one massive tourist attraction and a lot of the shops are aimed at tourists or are coffee shops/bars/pubs. Move away from the centre and you have the usual mix of really nice suburbs and some pretty sh*t ones. House prices are pretty high but not massively. Lots of nice places in surrounding areas though which are easily commutable into the centre, some on a train line or the Park & Ride in York seems to work really well when we’ve used it and I think they have it on every main road into the centre now.

For road biking I suspect the area is ace – its flat as a pancake but with the fringes of the Moors out past Sheriff Hutton etc easily reachable. Stay north though – south and you’re into Selby and its surrounding area which is even flatter than York and utterly, utterly grim.

The nearest mountains are the Lakes

Don’t forget the Yorkshire Dales which you’ll probably drive past on the way to the lakes…..

I have lived in 3 places in North Bristol and comment on a micro level about Brentry, Southmead, Filton, Horfield, Westbury on Trym and Henleaze. These are all between Aztec West and the city.
It is true that south Bristol is better for instant access to country side – its 10 ish miles to get to ‘great’ road riding territory but there is a variety: Mendips south, Cotswolds North, Wye Valley over the bridge into Wales.
We are going to move to Chepstow but that’s for family reasons.

Thanks folks – lots to consider! I’ve been going through some Google info as well, especially re commuting / driving in and around York or Bristol. In addition to getting to a base office, I will also need access to a mainline train station to get to London and other places – it would appear that driving in to the centre of Bristol to get to the station is a nightmare – worse than York?

Anyone got any experience of living in Thirsk? It appear to have the benefit of a reasonable commute into the north of York, access to the mainline train service, and close to the North York moors. Would this be the “best of both worlds”, or a bad compromise all round?

For folks suggesting living outside of Bristol and commuting in, are there places that would have a good train link?

Thanks all 🙂

For folks suggesting living outside of Bristol and commuting in, are there places that would have a good train link?

Nailsea and Backwell but you might as well have given up on life as live there. 🙂

it would appear that driving in to the centre of Bristol to get to the station is a nightmare – worse than York?

That’s why they invented Bristol Parkway. Handy for the north side.