# the best place to live in London as a cyclist



## James10 (10 Jul 2013)

Me and my girlfriend are planing to move to London in the autumn. Over the last six months I've caught the cycling bug and a large part of that has probably been because the New Forest is right on my doorstep where I can access beautiful, quiet, smooth roads relatively quickly.

I could probably commute through central London on a bike but I can't imagine enjoying it in my spare time. So most likely it will be a case of cycling out of London as quickly as possible to find some countryside. So, my question to you lot is which part of London is best for that?

My thought initially was Richmond borough as you have access to Richmond Park as your little playground and Surrey for longer rides. Richmond borough also has the biggest concentration of cyclists in London, which is a pretty good sign.

Thanks


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## Brandane (10 Jul 2013)

As close as possible to Euston station. Approximately 4.5 hours later you could be in Scotland; but you will be about £120 poorer.


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## SpokeyDokey (10 Jul 2013)

James10 said:


> Me and my girlfriend are planing to move to London in the autumn. Over the last six months I've caught the cycling bug and a large part of that has probably been because the New Forest is right on my doorstep where I can access beautiful, quiet, smooth roads relatively quickly.
> 
> I could probably commute through central London on a bike but I can't imagine enjoying it in my spare time. So most likely it will be a case of cycling out of London as quickly as possible to find some countryside. So, my question to you lot is which part of London is best for that?
> 
> ...


 

Anyone moving from the New Forest to London is beyond help - so I can't; sorry.


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## slowmotion (10 Jul 2013)

We don't have smooth roads in London, just lots and lots of potholes and broken up tarmac. Actually, you could do a lot worse than Richmond. Pootle round the Park or head out to Surrey, as you identified. Also, you can go down the Thames Path and follow the River pretty much all the way to Chelsea Bridge without meeting a car if you wish. West London is great, and the motorists are some of the best in the country when it comes to bike-awareness.


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## vickster (10 Jul 2013)

Just avoid Hounslow, some of the worst drivers I have ever encountered

I live in Sutton and can cycle to central London in an hour or to Richmond park in half an hour or to box hill in an hour etc...we do have more pothole than road however!

Maybe you are a stockbroker or similar and have pots of cash but have you looked at the price of property in Richmond! Where will you be working, might have some bearing on where you live

W London roads are very busy at the weekends, as are the Surrey hills, you may find cycling rather more stressful than out in the sticks


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## tiswas-steve (11 Jul 2013)

The Bromley/Beckenham end of south east London, right on top of the North Downs. I'm roughly 30-45 mins from lovely roads that cater for all ya needs...... Including tea and cake !!


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## srw (11 Jul 2013)

vickster said:


> Maybe you are a stockbroker or similar and have pots of cash but have you looked at the price of property in Richmond! Where will you be working, might have some bearing on where you live


 
This. Where you live will be determined by the trade-off between distance to work, cost of commuting, cost of housing, desired living space and budget.

Are you on a Chelsea palace or an East End slum budget?

Also, don't dismiss living out of London. Richmond to Waterloo is 25 minutes on a (packed) fast train; half an hour on a slow train. For the same commute time you could live within 5 minutes of countryside in the Surrey Hills, the North Downs, the Chilterns or the Essex plains. I can _walk_ to open countryside - no houses visible in any direction - in 5 minutes, but have a 40 minute journey to Marylebone 10 minutes walk away.


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## vickster (11 Jul 2013)

Might want to check out the costs of travel, but to be further out you'll be probably paying less rent (or to buy)

Zone 5/6 is a decent compromise - Bromley/Sutton/far reaches of the Northern/Jubilee/Central line etc


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## Globalti (11 Jul 2013)

Beyond being born there and having commuted a short distance by bike in the eighties I don't know much about cycling in London except that it seems that the club and road cycling scene is mainly in the south-east. I guess this may be because of the quality of the landscape and the roads?

For the same reason Lancashire has a great cycling scene centred on the Ribble Valley, Bowland Fells and the flatlands of The Fylde.


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## deptfordmarmoset (11 Jul 2013)

tiswas-steve said:


> The Bromley/Beckenham end of south east London, right on top of the North Downs. I'm roughly 30-45 mins from lovely roads that cater for all ya needs...... Including tea and cake !!


Yes, Bromley, Bickley, Beckenham are close to the Downs and not too far to commute to central London.


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## ianrauk (11 Jul 2013)

Orpington.
It's suburban heaven...honest.


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## Mr Haematocrit (11 Jul 2013)

Head out west... towards Uxbridge, Ruslip.
Easy access to the west end, easy access to Heathrow and the countryside of Berkshire just five mins down the road


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## 4F (11 Jul 2013)

Personally I would stay in the New Forest


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## Ciar (11 Jul 2013)

Can't really help as I would prefer to just do a straight swap and try out the new forest ;-)


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## Kies (11 Jul 2013)

Mr Haematocrit said:


> Head out west... towards Uxbridge, Ruslip.
> Easy access to the west end, easy access to Heathrow and the countryside of Berkshire just five mins down the road



Like wot he said guvnor


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## James10 (11 Jul 2013)

Hmmmm thanks for your responses. This is all very helpful and interesting. 

We're definitely on an East End slum budget, as srw calls it. I have done some research and you can get small, grotty studios in the Camden area for around £5-600 a month. Yes, we're aspirational people.

After you're advice of Bromley/Sutton/Beckenham and Orpington I did some gumtree searching in that area and you do get quite a bit more for the price, i.e. a studio where you can fry food a sufficient distance from your bedsheets. 

The good thing with central London is that if you're in a crap area, it's only a short walk or tube journey to a better one. I think if we move too far out of London and into suburbia, on our budget we could end up in a place where that crapness and proximity to crime is flattened and spread over a larger area. That said, if we're close to a tube station, it wouldn't really matter. Maybe we should stick to high streets where the transport links are good.

thanks for your help!


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## Lee_M (11 Jul 2013)

srw said:


> This. Where you live will be determined by the trade-off between distance to work, cost of commuting, cost of housing, desired living space and budget.
> 
> Are you on a Chelsea palace or an East End slum budget?


 
I can truthfully say there's no such thing as an East End slum budget, it'll still buy a mansion anywhere else!


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## Dan B (11 Jul 2013)

If you've got a bike, why do you need a tube station? For that matter, even if you don't have a bike, many areas ineligible for the Tube Tax (say, most of the LB of Hackney) are well served by bus routes

London cycling is not in any way like riding in the New Forest, but has a (figurative) cut and thrust which is enjoyable in a quite different way. I woudn't go for leisure rides on zone 1, but the commute is always interesting sometimes verging on exciting


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## Lee_M (11 Jul 2013)

James10 said:


> Hmmmm thanks for your responses. This is all very helpful and interesting.
> 
> We're definitely on an East End slum budget, as srw calls it. I have done some research and you can get small, grotty studios in the Camden area for around £5-600 a month. Yes, we're aspirational people.
> 
> ...


 

The tube travels out a long way, so being out in the burbs is still a short trip into town but you will get a lot more for your money


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## Roadrider48 (12 Jul 2013)

vickster said:


> Just avoid Hounslow, some of the worst drivers I have ever encountered
> 
> I live in Sutton and can cycle to central London in an hour or to Richmond park in half an hour or to box hill in an hour etc...we do have more pothole than road however!
> 
> ...


I was just about to say that about Richmond prices!


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## Andy Hay (13 Jul 2013)

Move a little bit further out from Bromley and you find Westerham and Biggin Hill - there are some great trails around there and the commute from Sevenoaks is easy (if expensive!). Alternatively, have you considered somewhere like Petersfield - an hour into Waterloo on the train and you're right on the South Downs and Queen Elizabeth Country Park. If you can work from home at least one day a week, this might be your perfect solution...


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