Commuting to London (and Gaydon)

[ChrisJN]

Hi,

New member, first post. I currently work in London, near Oxford Circus, but my other half works in Gaydon. We're looking to get a place together, ideally within a 30 minute drive to Gaydon, but close enough to be within walking distance to a train station which can get me to Oxford Circus within an hour and a half. Any ideas? We've seen Bicester North and Banbury so far.

Thanks in advance

 

[Mutant Lemming]

Rugby and Coventry are a reasonable commute to both though the areas close to the stations aren't particularly nice.

 

[nicobobinus]

As far as Coventry goes I know some of the streets around Earlsdon towards Spencer Park are really quite nice and not a long walk from the station - lots of commuters in the area with the same sort of rationale you have. Rugby I'm not too sure about as I don't know it well.

 

[Metrailway]

I would second Earlsdon if you are looking in Coventry. Probably one of the nicest areas in Coventry and within 15 minutes walk to the station. From Coventry it'll take an hour to get to London Euston.

Leamington Spa and Banbury are also options to consider - easily commutable to Gaydon. Leamington is about 1 hour and 10 mins from London and Banbury is an 1 hour away from London.

 

[Mutant Lemming]

As far as Coventry goes I know some of the streets around Earlsdon towards Spencer Park are really quite nice and not a long walk from the station - lots of commuters in the area with the same sort of rationale you have. Rugby I'm not too sure about as I don't know it well.

Only gone by what I have seen in Coventry but I did used to live near the station in Rugby a few years back. It is cheap and cheerful but it would be worth going a bit further out to get somewhere nicer.

 

[nuneatonmark]

Cheylesmore in Coventry is nice too! If you want somewhere close to both what about Banbury, loads of nice places around there and easy to get to London and Gaydon.

 

[Blamethrower]

My friend lives on spencer road in earlsdon, he can walk to the station to get into London. Rugby, grew up there, DO NOT live anywhere near the station as it is a hole. The best option would be to get a house in Bilton or Hillmorton (or other close villages), drive in via the bypass and eliots field to the virgin car park.

Word of warning, stupidly expensive. When I was commuting to London it was costing me over £650 a month without underground. Add to that car park charges, petrol, coffee etc and I was spending EVERYTHING I was earning on travel.

I would instead suggest somewhere like Bicester, High Wycombe etc. Assuming that your missus works for Aston Martin then I guess you need to be somewhere near to the M40.

Also if you're going to Oxford Circus then consider how much it will cost you for underground, should only be bakerloo

 

[plod]

Some thoughts on Rugby. You don't say what sort of property you are looking for but there are a lot of new houses (2 bed starter homes up to 4 bed 'executive' style) being built on the old GEC site just north of the station - very easy walking distance. The area to the south isn't especially great (but can be very cheap), although there has been some new build on the old cattle market site. More up-market older properties are available closer to the town centre. As for commutability, I commute from Rugby to London and my next door neighbour works at Gaydon. The only real down side to Rugby commuting is that if the West Coast does collapse (which, isn't very often), then the alternatives are a bit limited.

 

[CyrusWuff]

Also if you're going to Oxford Circus then consider how much it will cost you for underground, should only be bakerloo

Alternatively, park a cycle up at Euston or Marylebone and ride from there, if you're feeling brave.

 

[67018]

I used to do Bicester North to Oxford Circus, just over an hour including the Tube section. Marylebone-Oxford Circus is easily walkable in 15-20 minutes if you want to skip the tube journey, or the 453 bus is a cheap option on a rainy day.

Make sure you check season ticket prices - Rugby and Coventry are *much* more expensive than Banbury/Bicester.

Banbury and Bicester are both on the M40 so very convenient for Gaydon - Banbury's closer but the train commute into London is 10-15 minutes longer. There is tons of new development going on in both towns so plenty of housing available and you get much more for your money than closer to London.

Banbury gets some trains non-stop from Marylebone in the evenings. From September Bicester will have services to two stations, Bicester North on the same line as Banbury and Bicester Town on the new service to Oxford.