From bucolic bliss to the buzz of Soho within an hour: the best countryside commuter towns near London

When they got married, Amanda and Hugo Snell were keen to get out of the rental trap and buy a house of their own. The couple were paying £1,800 a month for a one-bedroom flat in Putney and it didn’t take much research for them to realise that if they wanted more space — and a garden — they weren’t going to be able to stay local.

They wanted to replicate many of the things they enjoyed about south-west London life —a buzzy town centre, easy access to the city and plentiful open space — and they found it in Windsor, where they were able to buy a three-bedroom house for the same price as a modest SW15 apartment.

“It was the perfect move for us,” says Hugo, 32. “There is nothing we miss about London because we are so close we don’t have to miss out on anything.”

New research by estate agent Savills highlights the best towns and villages which have their own train stations and are an easy commute from London — Soho within an hour, plus no train changes to navigate after a night out — and also offer access to beautiful open countryside. Although not exactly budget options, these sweet-spot locations could be the perfect solution for buyers who love London but are struggling with affordability and a yearning for more open space:

Tring

Key stats

From 37 minutes to Euston

Season ticket: £5,544pa

Average price: £923,000

Encircled by the 324 square miles of the Chilterns National Landscape, and with the National Trust’s Ashridge Estate on the doorstep, the market town of Tring offers as much open space as you could wish for.

Take a walk around beautiful Tring Park, follow the Ridgeway National Trail, or stroll along the Grand Union Canal. The College Lake Nature Reserve is a tranquil wildlife haven, and if you are feeling more active you can tackle the 173-mile Chilterns Cycleway.

Back in town, the high street is filled with independent shops, cafés, bars and restaurants. There is a good regular farmers’ market, where you can sample apple juice from local orchards, or local honey. And there is also the Natural History Museum at Tring showcasing the private collections of Walter Rothschild, of the banking family, an eccentric collector of the weird and wonderful.

The Grand Union Canal near Tring

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Before the pandemic around a quarter of those looking for a home to buy who came to Paul Swindlehurst, a partner at Michael Anthony estate agents, were moving out of London. During the race for space this accelerated to 95 per cent. “That has settled down now but still 60 to 65 per cent of buyers are moving out of London,” he says.

These buyers are mostly young couples and families drawn by value for money and great schools — there is a choice of primary schools and a local senior school, all rated “good” by Ofsted.

The good thing about Tring, says Swindlehurst, is how compact it is. “If you walk 15 minutes from the high street in any direction you are out of town.”

In town you could head to Silk Mill, an enclave of spacious 1970s council houses where a three-bedroom property would cost you about £375,000.

If you have a bit more to spend you could head to the posher east side of town where a similar-sized period house would cost around £400,000 to £450,000.

Ingatestone

Key stats

From 29 minutes to Liverpool Street

Season ticket: £4,640

Average price: £722,461

The historic Essex village of Ingatestone is five miles out of Brentwood but a world away from its Towie charms. This is a big, busy village, with two pubs, a choice of three primary schools and a highly regarded senior school. The conservation area high street is filled with pubs, restaurants, cafés and bakeries.

There are more than 40 different clubs to join to embed yourself in the local community, whether you fancy honing your gardening skills with the horticultural society or playing tennis. The town puts on a New Year’s firework display and for a bit of culture, Ingatestone Hall, a fabulous Tudor mansion, has a summer outdoor theatre (heavy on Shakespeare).

Ingatestone

The village is surrounded by farmland and you can walk along the river Widd, explore Mill Green Common, or take a longer hike to the Hanningfield Reservoir Nature Discovery Centre to admire the birdlife. Proximity to the Essex coast means you could also enjoy the golden sands of Southend-on-Sea or the quieter charm of Mersea Island.

Claire Jones and her husband Paul were on the fringes of London and Essex when they took the plunge and moved right out. With their two teenagers in tow, they exchanged a four-bedroom semi in Gidea Park for a four-bedroom, detached modern house with a huge wraparound garden in October 2020.

“We wanted a break from the hustle and bustle of London,” explains Claire, 49. “We were also attracted by the schools. There are brilliant primary and secondary schools within the village. Within five minutes of our house you can walk in countryside as far as the eye can see. There’s also so much to do, it’s very active in terms of clubs, sports, and arts.”

The move was less about affordability — the Ingatestone house cost £ 1million and the London house sold for around £600,000 — but about lifestyle. And from that perspective Claire is delighted. She commutes to work in Canary Wharf, where she works in the environmental and climate fields. Paul, 51, is an environmental scientist based in Romford.

In her spare time Claire runs a gardening education business running workshops and talks (@BeneaththeMaples), loves open-water swimming at nearby Luxborough Lakes, and is a member of the village ladies’ cricket team. Paul volunteers as a scout leader and has joined the local cycling club.

“It has had a massive positive impact on our wellbeing,” says Claire. “Our children have so much more freedom growing up in a village environment. The phrase it takes a village to raise a child has never been more true.”

Witley

Key stats

From 56 minutes to Waterloo.

Season ticket: £5,096.

Average price: £776,220.

With the Surrey Hills on one side and the South Downs on the other, the Surrey village of Witley is sandwiched by quality countryside. The National Trust’s Winkworth Arboretum is just out of town for those who wish to wander among ancient trees turning gold, amber, and crimson in autumn time. You could wind down by taking part in forest bathing sessions and there are loads of children’s activities to keep the family amused. In fact the whole area is ideal for an outdoorsy life — it’s littered with nature reserves, golf clubs, and riding stables, plus wild swimming opportunities at places such as Frensham Great Pond in Farnham.

Fresham Pond

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The village itself is leafy and quiet, although it does have a general store, a couple of pubs and a primary school rated “good” by Ofsted. For more action the well-stocked market towns of Godalming and Guildford are about eight miles away and the village is on the London to Portsmouth line, which means day trips to Southsea beach are a breeze. Buying agent Mark Crampton, a director of Prime Purchase, said family buyers like Witley because of its open countryside, convenience and schools. Witley’s infant and primary schools hold “good” Ofsted reports, and pupils can go on to well-regarded senior schools in Godalming. “Witley is not a destination village like Hambledon or Chiddingfold, but it is very, very close and has very good amenities,” said Crampton. And although the average house price in the village is sub-£800,000, high rollers can also find some very swanky property – in 2019 Oleg Smirnoff, scion of the vodka family, purchased the Witley Park estate for a reported £30 million.

Windsor and Eton

Key stats

From 56 minutes to Waterloo

Season ticket: £3,924

Average price: £617,751

The perfect sweet spot between town and country, Windsor and Eton offers a buzzy town centre, sustained by tourists keen for a glimpse of Windsor Castle, and the 4,800-acre Windsor Great Park (almost 14 times the size of Hyde Park) on the town’s southern fringes. You can also learn to row on the Thames.

Scenic view of the town of Windsor from the Windsor Bridge

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For the Snells, easy access back into London was an essential. Amanda, 32, works for the LTA, formerly the Lawn Tennis Association, based in Roehampton and needed a feasible commute. The couple were already familiar with Windsor before their 2023 move — they actually met during a short stint working for a travel company in the town — and felt it offered a very similar lifestyle to the one they were leaving behind in Putney.

“I love being near the river, you can walk everywhere and there are all the shops, bars, pubs, and restaurants you could ever need,” says Hugo, who now runs his own luxury tour operator (nightingaleluxurytravel.com) and works from home. He likes the fact that Windsor is a historic, tourist town. “There is always a busyness to it — it is not a dead town.” And, from their three-bedroom, £605,000 terrace just over the river in Eton, the Snells can walk straight out onto The Brocas, a riverside meadow perfect for walks in the metaphorical shadow of Windsor castle. “We can walk straight out of our house and into greenery,” says Hugo. “But we can be in London so easily too. We have no regrets.”