@sandythepig – agree, When I moved it was for 2 years max, and was there for nearly 5. And it took a lot to move even then. A year on and I am much happier, and still get to London now and then with work, so scratch the proverbial itch.

If mtb & outdoors is important, the South East is not ideal.

I’d consider Bristol over Edinburgh personally. For a start the weather is better!

I’ve never seen the attraction of London, and on recent visits, that was confirmed.
TBH these days when I visit Edinburgh – I kind of feel the same now (and I used to start there for 20+ years).

IT — decent opportunities, but I’m well out of the loop. There are a lot of startups and migration between businesses as far as I can tell.

it seems an odd comparison to make. the world is your oyster so London? Paris? NY? Sidney? Barcelona?
all offer a world city experience which you either get or you find the idea of big city living abhorrent. how can you compare London to a what is essentially a large town with under 500,000 residents?
the whole of the city centre of Edinburgh fits inside Hyde park, its tiny.

actually the answer to your dilemma isn’t going to be found on here, its going to found by asking her what she would like. 😆

what @brooess said basically