I often play around with this idea, but with Covid accelerating the working from home/office balance, I’m doing a bit more thinking on this. Still in the pipe dreaming phase though

I live in North London, edge of the green belt, love the area but it’s lacking the hills and proper outdoors (lots of green space though). What places would you recommend?

Rough requirements
– commutable into London by train. Don’t have a firm travel time limit at the moment, definitely 3 hours max at the most though. I currently work in Bank so would need time to get from a train station to the office. Pre-Covid I cycled to the office. My job and any future job would most likely be tied to London
– ideally north-ish of London as if I was going to drive down and stay with family (they’re all North London too) it would be easier, plus it’s closer to other hills. West should work well OK. South would be a pain
– easily accessible to the ‘proper outdoors’, but that’s a broad definition. Hills/mountains/fells for outdoorsy fun – walking, biking etc.
– infrastructure available. Don’t want to live in the middle of nowhere, have 3 kids and they’ll want their own life too. So maybe a small town at the minimum, or suburb of a bigger city. Infrastructure means things to do and public transport. Plus need a local shop to be able to buy supplies from, maybe with a bigger town/city/place that we can get to by car
– ability to get to other good bits of the country (i.e. Kent would mean much further to get anywhere else in the UK)

I love the Lake District but it’s too far away really, which sort of rules somewhere like Kendal out.

Bristol? Sheffield? Sell me your town!

Sorry you can’t have it both ways. Tell the nation you reject the centralisation of power, intellect, investment and influence and come and enjoy the world outside of the South East.

Vive les regions!!

Abbergavenny?

Sheffield is the answer.

But *why*…? Move North and work north…

Somewhere around Derby.
South enough to have reasonable train links to Laandaan and within riding/driving distance to the Peak District. Also has great road connections as right on the M1 and a quick blast through to the M6.

3 hours! Shit, I live in Manchester 2 hours from London (sub 3 door to door) and would never take on that commute.

PS have you seen how much a train ticket is at peak times? I could fly to many European cities for less than the standard next day peak return Mcr to Ldn.

Sort of depends on whether you mean a 3 hour total commute or 3 hours each way. If talking about west of London, 90 minutes from Paddington will get you to Newbury / Bath which isn’t particularly outdoorsy, while 3 hours pretty much gets to Cardiff.
Similar North. 90 minutes and you’re still virtually in London but three hours is nearly the Scottish Border (Berwick is 3 hours 40 mins from Kings Cross)

Derby / Derbyshire …
Oxford for the Cotswolds but it is very expensive
Southampton / Bournemouth as left-field choices
I would say Brighton cos I live here
Shrewsbury ?? Miles from anywhere but great countryside.
Cardiff?

North out of London for a really long way is pretty flat and dull. I live in Cambridge and drive to visit a friend outside Whitby a few times a year. It takes a LONG time for the countryside to get more lumpy.

Manchester as an occasional work centre and somewhere an hour or so from there maybe? My former boss has been kept busy in IT development jobs up there for the last 8 years or so (across a selection of companies, all moves her choice).

3 hours is a bit high if I’m honest, 2 hours would be better. I’m talking about a door to door trip, not train only. So I’d need to figure on getting to the train station as well. Would probably combine a train trip with a Brompton.

I know it’s not ideal, just trying to get closer to the hills and a more active lifestyle. Could get a job outside of London but unlikely, I’m in a niche job and London is where they are all based.

Wouldn’t have spent much time thinking about it but with Covid going on, and me working at home permanently and it going well, I’m thinking in a different way

Needs to have good schools too (primary and secondary!)

Sell me your town!   No – stay in London, we don’t want any more townies thanks.

But if you’re commuting 2 hours at the end of the day it really doesn’t matter where you are as you ain’t getting home til 8 ish so you’ve got no time to go out anyway.

That’s madness time/distances to be travelling.

A two-hour commute would be too long for me though I know some people live in Bristol and take the train to London a few times per week. Check out Petersfield – in the South Downs NP, can ride to Rogate and QECP bike parks with plenty of real off-road available. Can also ride to the coast or take a ferry to the IOW. You’d be in Bank in less than 90 minutes. Obviously it’s not as rugged as the North.

I’m in a niche job and London is where they are all based

Are those the only jobs in the UK in your role?
🤔

It’s a specialist, senior role. Only exists in very big companies, and they tend to be based in and around London. They do exist in other areas, but it’s a much smaller pool to play in there – roles don’t come up as frequently and in that situation beggars can’t be choosers. Nearly all the people I know in this space are based in and around London

I’m thinking that commute would be once or twice a week, maybe with an overnight stay with family

(In case it wasn’t obvious, I’m still thinking it through!)

How often are you doing this commute do you think? Are we talking once or twice a week, once a month?

There is a point where you should be travelling for your fun not your work as it is far less frequent.

If we are talking once every couple of weeks you could fly and live in Inverness and get there in about that time. Or near a regional airport that’s got flights going into London. Or even abroad I guess. Environmental heresy mind.

Edit – crossed posts – if those two days a week at the office could be back to back you could still fly in. Our head of HR in Hampshire (actually Petersfield which as Corroded says gets you outdoors-lite and is a lovely place much nicer than anywhere a similar distance north with a big London commuter community) lives in Seville.

Chilterns have some good biking, not far at all.

Go South.
Dorking.

I used to have to be i london once a week on average for 2 days, I live in Edinburgh. It was sh1t so don’t do that. Door to door was 4 hours minimum so you were up at 5 for a 6:30 flight then home at 9 the next night – a few months of that you’ll be spannered if you are as old as me.
Find somewhere within a couple of hours which meets 75% of what you want and accept that you will have to save hard to get freedom like that. Or change jobs or hope C-19 means people don’t give a monkeys about where people are, which is how it is for me. I was the only one out of London so was the lone voice on a video call so at a major disadvantage. Times have changed though.

SE Wales has a lot of people who do this kind of thing. Tuesday am to Thursday lunchtime down in the Big Smoke. Thursday pm to Monday pm in the fresh mountain air and p*ssing rain… Happy days!

I’d have said Chilterns as well – Marlow or Henley-on-Thames maybe? Just over an hour into London, at a guess.

Dorking or somewhere similar to Waterloo is a good shout. Train to Waterloo and tube (Waterloo & City) one stop to bank. Straight out to Surrey Hills so mountain biking and walking. I’m up the road fron Dorking and MTB (huge trail network), road ride from the door. Not cheap though and still the southeast so no in the least bit wild and a bit overcrowded but a reasonable work-life travel balance for you.

Sheffield a good shout – decent trains to London (2 hours) and good road and mountain biking very close to centre of city – Parkwood Springs, Lady Cannings and Grenoside Woods all likeable from town for man made stuff and Peak District a steady 40 min spin off road for natural stuff.

Lots of climbing/walking etc too

Somewhere close to Chester? Back in the 80s/90s in when living in Wirral, step dad used to regularly travel down to London in ~2.5 hours iirc on the train to Euston.

Plenty of outdoor hills, especially just over the Welsh border!

Macclesfield area would be a good candidate if it didn’t have to be every day. Prob 1hr45 or thereabouts on the main line into Euston.
Right on the edge of the Peak district, and despite its association with the Macc lads, is an affluent area to live in.

Had this exact same problem ourselves, with relatives in Liverpool and job in the City. We’ve landed at the very end of the Metropolitan line in Chesham and love it – Chilterns, good road links, commute isn’t short but it’s one train to Liverpool Street, grammar schools.

Depending on budget and views on state vs private schools you might also want to consider Chorleywood, Chalfont, Amersham, Beaconsfield etc. I love Marlow (stomping ground as a yoof) but trains to London were a deal-breaker – it’s drive to High Wycombe and train from there realistically.

By comparison we used to be in St Albans for ostensibly the same reasons – good schools, good commute, links to the North etc. but didn’t get on with it. Schools oversubscribed and it really felt like an extension of London. Commute was quick but very crowded. We’re basically in the country here and couldn’t be happier with it.

Feel free to PM me if you’d like further insight or have specific questions.

How’s that for a sell?

How many days per week will you realistically be commuting and will the crippling cost of train travel be an issue?

It’s probably a pipedream to think of anywhere properly hilly if you are gonna be in London more than one day a week, or if you are not pretty minted.

I’d look at the Chilterns, as suggested above.

Plus one for dorking, it’s where I would be if I didn’t have to daily to London. As it is I’m just down the road in Reigate (redhill station) which cuts the commute time a little. Dorking has the best mtbing but it’s an hour just to Victoria/Waterloo.

Surrey hills straight out the door need no introduction though 👌

Sounds like money isn’t a problem so I’d look at Ashtead. Easy for London and dirt on your doorstep.

Some folk do manage to commute from Inverness if it’s a couple of consecutive days per week. I’m not sure how sustainable that is and it would ruin any green credentials you might aspire to.

The other faff factor if you are talking a train commute are the stupid season ticket price systems.

From Petersfield, Dorking etc the price of 2 return tickets a week is pretty close to the price of a full 7 day a week season ticket. There is no option for a part week season ticket. If you work a 6 month contract and 6 months off or work one week on and one week off there are options to reduce the cost but not if you consistently travel in just 2 or 3 days a week.

Surely in the post covid world where working from home at least part of the week is going to be more popular they are going to have to address that.

Wendover?
45-50 mins from Marylebone. Aston Hill bike park on your door. Lots of other Chilterns riding nearby.

Stroud, Gloucestershire. It’s a bit: hippy, affluent & chavy all rolled into one. There’s a lot of Londoners and Bristolians who’ve opted to leave the cities and bring their kids up here. It’s 1hr 20mims into Paddington by train. Easy access to a Bristol, London, South Wales, Birmingham. I left Enfield after 40 years there & don’t miss it a bit. Great place to allow kids to have a childhood. Bring your climbing legs.

Guilford! Gets you on the right side of town for Surrey Hills, North Downs, South Downs, South Coast, Cornwall etc. Bit pricey, mind.

I had a colleague who commuted into London from Peterbrough. He thought it was grand, but at 2 hours each way every single day we all thought he was utterly, utterly mental

ETA: I know people who say York is commutable from London. If you’re going to go a bit far out, why not go proper Nicolas Cage balls out?!

You probably know this already, but trains to Blackfriars or Canon St are much more convenient for the City than the main termini. Paddington and Marylebone (for Bristol and the Chilterns) will add a lot to your commute. Kings Cross and Euston are a painful tube trip but an OK on a Brompton.

From a pre-Covid Chilterns to Bank commuter who used to spend > 4 hours/day traveling.

90 minutes from Paddington will get you to Newbury / Bath which isn’t particularly outdoorsy, while 3 hours pretty much gets to Cardiff.

Cardiff is 1h50 from Paddington, however Paddington isn’t handy for many places e.g. the City. We have great MTBing but it’s not really an ‘outdoorsy’ place. The climbing isn’t great for example. Swansea has biking and also watersports, but is further way ofc.

My mate lives in High Wycombe – great road biking, passable MTB and nice countryside walking.

Really interesting and helpful input. Thanks.

Best mate is in Tring and someone in my team is in Berko so those would be good options, but they’re country ish without the full on outdoors, if that makes sense. It’s more than what I have but maybe not enough…?

Tring mate commented that while its excellent, accessibility of the outdoors for his young kids, from the front door, is less good than I have. Lots of parks and quiet cycling tracks from my front door where I live. And no pavements for the kids to get around on. I suppose you can’t have your cake and eat it

Haven’t worked out how the commuting would work, I guess it’s all dependent on what a post covid world looks like. The realisation that people really don’t need to be in the office to be engaged and productive is hopefully a game changer. Could be a few days in the office in a row, then not. Or something else.

I just love the idea of walking the dog up a real hill, or just a stroll in the countryside proper. Maybe the romance is better than the reality. My commute is an hours cycle ride each way, it really is an excellent way to get to work

Dorking and that does sound, but it’s also the wrong side of London to get up to the national parks I use, which turns me off a bit eg lakes, peak, mid Wales, snowdonia

Couple of interesting options above, thank you

I had a colleague who commuted into London from Peterbrough. He thought it was grand, but at 2 hours each way every single day we all thought he was utterly, utterly mental

Get the right one and the train bit of that journey is circa 50mins amazingly. I say amazingly as Dorking is barely outside the M25 and the train time is longer.

Peterborough is however in the most beige part of the country as far as I can see and nothing would get me to move there.

Well I would say this given I live there but west Sheffield for me is perfect. Used to work a lot in central London in a previous career and spend a few days a week down there. Door to door could be done, just, in under 3 hours. That might put you off but for me it was bearable based on the quality of life here.

But the best bit, I can be on some of the best riding in the Peak and back home in an hour loop. This is half way round a really quick 10km loop from home, 75% off road singletrack and bridleways.

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Daily constitutional up on Blacka Moor. Trail conditions are perfect but not the time for pinning it. #nocarnognarnotfar #ridesheffield #singular #rooster

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I spent a couple of years doing 2 hours each way – 6am – 8pm – it takes its toll after a while. Whilst Surrey Hills doesn’t sound outdoorsy enough for someone not familiar with the area, it’s a great place to enjoy the outdoors – lots of good off-road and road riding, some great walk ins and lots of really nice pubs. Quality of life is pretty good, good schools, low crime and decent public services – if you can afford to live there.