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Smallish towns for 4-6 months in the UK?

lesliejp

New Member
Hello, My husband and I live in Seattle Washington where we've had a small business for a bit over 40 years. We are retiring this year and would like to "live" in the UK for 4-6 months starting spring/summer 2023. We will be taking our two small dogs with us flying in-cabin to Paris and then onto the UK from there. We have considered so many areas and are getting a bit overwhelmed with all the wonderful options. We know we want a town large enough where services are available: veterinarians, medical clinics (in case we need), restaurants, pubs, interesting architecture, and small enough to have a nice walkable and community feel. In the past we have loved Dartmouth (but that might be too touristy, expensive and small for a longer stay) Would love to hear suggestions on your favorite small towns/cities. We are also considering splitting up our time in two different locations. Thank you!
 
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Great idea! The problem will be finding a furnished house to rent.

We wanted to do this and stay for a year, but could not find a furnished long term rental. Instead we did longer trips, spending 2 weeks in a few different locations, because that was easier to book than in one place. This was about 15 years ago.

One winter we found a holiday rental that gave us a good price for a 3 month stay, January to March. We had friends in the area who went to look at the cottage for us. We had a good stay and looked for longer term rentals while we were there but found none furnished.

Eventually, a couple of years later, we were able to rent that same place for a year, and we came to the UK with our cat. The house was in Nailsworth, in the southern Cotswolds.

We ended up staying in the UK and are still here 11 years later.

So, my advice is to choose 4 locations and find holiday rentals for a month in each place. Ask for a discount because you are staying a longer time. While researching that you may come across a place you could rent for the whole time. Most holiday rentals will have some weeks booked already for next year. Prices zoom up for school holidays - mid July to end of August.

@artnbarb may have something to add because she considered something similar and has done longer stays.

For locations, there are so many great places to stay here. We spent 5 years in the Cotswolds but now live on the Dorset coast. I love the southwest but there are other great areas. Where have you stayed before, other than Dartmouth?

Many holiday rentals take dogs, so you are good there. I recommend holiday rentals instead of long term rentals because they are furnished, you don’t have to sign up for utilities or pay council tax.

You can stay in the UK for up to 6 months as a visitor.

Every small town has a NHS office. Our town is population 12,000 and has a good NHS. Only villages won’t have one but there will be one in a nearby town. You probably need your own health insurance. I’m not sure how all that works, if you can use the NHS as a visitor.

Good luck with your search!
 
I wrote about our Year in England in the Trip Reports section:

 
Lots of choices!

- We're lucky where we live in Norwich, in that there's no big cities nearby, so it attracts more than it should do in terms of pubs, restaurants, shops, facilities etc. but still has very easy access to the countryside. Plenty of interesting, even quirky architecture and some good city walks, but also great ones in the nearby countryside (it's a modest sized city in a mainly rural area). If this sounds nice, but a bit too big, then Beccles has good charm, as does Aylsham (and FWIW it's a 'Slow' town)
Downside? It's not ideal for visiting the rest of the UK, if that's part of the plan.

- coastal can be appealing, especially for dog walking on the beach. A wonderful range of options here, from the bustle of Brighton, to the more charming area around nearby Lewes. North Yorkshire coast is stunning (Bridlington, Filey, Robin Hood's bay etc.). I recall the beach at St Anne's near Blackpool being lovely.
Downside? The facilities can be a bit sketchy, the smaller the place.

- Bath has oodles of charm, perhaps a bit touristy, but it's also got the option to escape to the coast at Weston Super Mare

- Horsham is a good option if you want somewhere close to London, but doesn't feel that way, with the added bonus of being very near Gatwick airport
 
Great idea! The problem will be finding a furnished house to rent.

We wanted to do this and stay for a year, but could not find a furnished long term rental. Instead we did longer trips, spending 2 weeks in a few different locations, because that was easier to book than in one place. This was about 15 years ago.

One winter we found a holiday rental that gave us a good price for a 3 month stay, January to March. We had friends in the area who went to look at the cottage for us. We had a good stay and looked for longer term rentals while we were there but found none furnished.

Eventually, a couple of years later, we were able to rent that same place for a year, and we came to the UK with our cat. The house was in Nailsworth, in the southern Cotswolds.

We ended up staying in the UK and are still here 11 years later.

So, my advice is to choose 4 locations and find holiday rentals for a month in each place. Ask for a discount because you are staying a longer time. While researching that you may come across a place you could rent for the whole time. Most holiday rentals will have some weeks booked already for next year. Prices zoom up for school holidays - mid July to end of August.

@artnbarb may have something to add because she considered something similar and has done longer stays.

For locations, there are so many great places to stay here. We spent 5 years in the Cotswolds but now live on the Dorset coast. I love the southwest but there are other great areas. Where have you stayed before, other than Dartmouth?

Many holiday rentals take dogs, so you are good there. I recommend holiday rentals instead of long term rentals because they are furnished, you don’t have to sign up for utilities or pay council tax.

You can stay in the UK for up to 6 months as a visitor.

Every small town has a NHS office. Our town is population 12,000 and has a good NHS. Only villages won’t have one but there will be one in a nearby town. You probably need your own health insurance. I’m not sure how all that works, if you can use the NHS as a visitor.

Good luck with your search!
Thank you so much!! Very helpful!
 
Lots of choices!

- We're lucky where we live in Norwich, in that there's no big cities nearby, so it attracts more than it should do in terms of pubs, restaurants, shops, facilities etc. but still has very easy access to the countryside. Plenty of interesting, even quirky architecture and some good city walks, but also great ones in the nearby countryside (it's a modest sized city in a mainly rural area). If this sounds nice, but a bit too big, then Beccles has good charm, as does Aylsham (and FWIW it's a 'Slow' town)
Downside? It's not ideal for visiting the rest of the UK, if that's part of the plan.

- coastal can be appealing, especially for dog walking on the beach. A wonderful range of options here, from the bustle of Brighton, to the more charming area around nearby Lewes. North Yorkshire coast is stunning (Bridlington, Filey, Robin Hood's bay etc.). I recall the beach at St Anne's near Blackpool being lovely.
Downside? The facilities can be a bit sketchy, the smaller the place.

- Bath has oodles of charm, perhaps a bit touristy, but it's also got the option to escape to the coast at Weston Super Mare

- Horsham is a good option if you want somewhere close to London, but doesn't feel that way, with the added bonus of being very near Gatwick airport
Thank you very much...so very helpful! I will check this out!!
 
Hi there! We tried to do this several years ago, and in the end, found the costs too daunting. We were never able to find anyone willing to give us a discount for a multi-week stay because the owners knew they could rent for full price. We ended up staying 2 weeks in Thirsk, in Yorkshire. There were plenty of scenic drives and charming villages to check out. After Thirsk we moved to southern England, and stayed 2 weeks in Rottingdean - another charming village, just minutes from Brighton and so many beautiful vistas and villages.

Hopefully your budget is more generous than ours was, but I definitely feel your pain in trying to narrow down your choices. I think @Ian Sutton has given you a great list to start with. Good luck!
 
My advice on finding long term vacation rentals is over 10 years old. That’s why I wanted to hear from @artnbarb. But even hers is from a few years ago. From what I read there are tons of people switching long term rentals to airbnbs. Bad news for locals with no places to rent but good news for tourists. Maybe they won’t be booked so far ahead.

Still, as you say in your original post, step one is to find a few good locations and start searching for rentals.

My list would be:
- anywhere in the Cotswolds. We loved our time there.
- Bridport or Lyme Regis on the West Dorset coast (where I live).
- Sidmouth or any other town on the East Devon coast.
- Chagford on the eastern edge of Dartmoor or Okehampton on the north edge, Devon.
- anywhere in Cornwall.
- Bath.
- Devizes, Bradford on Avon or Marlborough in Wiltshire.
- Wells in Somerset.

I could go on and on. All these are placed we considered moving to when we left the Cotswolds. They are all smaller sized towns, not cities.
 
Lots of choices!

- We're lucky where we live in Norwich, in that there's no big cities nearby, so it attracts more than it should do in terms of pubs, restaurants, shops, facilities etc. but still has very easy access to the countryside. Plenty of interesting, even quirky architecture and some good city walks, but also great ones in the nearby countryside (it's a modest sized city in a mainly rural area). If this sounds nice, but a bit too big, then Beccles has good charm, as does Aylsham (and FWIW it's a 'Slow' town)
Downside? It's not ideal for visiting the rest of the UK, if that's part of the plan.

- coastal can be appealing, especially for dog walking on the beach. A wonderful range of options here, from the bustle of Brighton, to the more charming area around nearby Lewes. North Yorkshire coast is stunning (Bridlington, Filey, Robin Hood's bay etc.). I recall the beach at St Anne's near Blackpool being lovely.
Downside? The facilities can be a bit sketchy, the smaller the place.

- Bath has oodles of charm, perhaps a bit touristy, but it's also got the option to escape to the coast at Weston Super Mare

- Horsham is a good option if you want somewhere close to London, but doesn't feel that way, with the added bonus of being very near Gatwick airport
East Anglia a great idea!
Couldn’t agree with Ian more. My elder son was at UEA in Norwich. We loved it and the surrounding area too.
My late husband and I planned to explore the east of England properly but it wasn’t to be although we did visit Saffron Walden which is an absolute gem of a place, I’ve been back there in my own & love the place.
A slower pace of life & people are friendly but yes slower communications.
Bath would be divine, my mother’s city, I know it very well but it’s expensive and so very very busy now.
Horsham is a good idea too, not far from me but also likely to be very expensive to rent.
So many good suggestions on the board!
 
My advice on finding long term vacation rentals is over 10 years old. That’s why I wanted to hear from @artnbarb. But even hers is from a few years ago. From what I read there are tons of people switching long term rentals to airbnbs. Bad news for locals with no places to rent but good news for tourists. Maybe they won’t be booked so far ahead.

Still, as you say in your original post, step one is to find a few good locations and start searching for rentals.

My list would be:
- anywhere in the Cotswolds. We loved our time there.
- Bridport or Lyme Regis on the West Dorset coast (where I live).
- Sidmouth or any other town on the East Devon coast.
- Chagford on the eastern edge of Dartmoor or Okehampton on the north edge, Devon.
- anywhere in Cornwall.
- Bath.
- Devizes, Bradford on Avon or Marlborough in Wiltshire.
- Wells in Somerset.

I could go on and on. All these are placed we considered moving to when we left the Cotswolds. They are all smaller sized towns, not cities.
Some really good suggestions & I can only agree with Pauline. Maybe Cornwall is a bit remote but a fabulous county.
If perhaps add Winchester as a possibility.
 
A couple of others... Oundle and Stamford, the former probably a small market town, the latter a fair bit bigger, but not huge. They both have charm and history, but one additional benefit is location, if doing weekend trips away etc. as they are reasonably central.
 
A couple of others... Oundle and Stamford, the former probably a small market town, the latter a fair bit bigger, but not huge. They both have charm and history, but one additional benefit is location, if doing weekend trips away etc. as they are reasonably central.
Stamford is a super little town.
 
I have no help for you on UK rentals, but in France, I use a local rental management company. I'm paying $3000/month for a modernized one-bedroom in my favorite Paris neighborhood. Trying to book the same type/neighborhood on VRBO or AirBNB would cost that much for less than 2 weeks. So, I recommend doing searches for short-term rental companies in the UK. By using the local rental management company, they require what we'd call "renter's insurance." It covers my stuff, as well as any damage to the apartment, or surrounding apartments, in case of fire, water damage, etc. It was 150 Euros for that price apartment. Also, the management company provided so much useful information/services, that I may elect to use.

BTW, I'd love to follow along to see how it goes with your dogs. The only reason I can't stay longer than a month is my miniature poodle. If I could take her with me, I'd stay a few months in France and a few in the UK. Also, I'm interested in all the red tape needed to get a dog into the UK...but, that's probably another post topic!
 
Also, I'm interested in all the red tape needed to get a dog into the UK...but, that's probably another post topic!
We brought our cat from the US to the UK 12 years ago and there was tons of red tape. From what I read it is changed and now it is much easier. Many years ago your animal had to quarantine at a special place on arrival. By the time we came you just had to prove your animal didn’t have rabies by getting them tested at home, waiting 6 months and getting them tested again. Now I think they don’t even do that.

 

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