commuter friendly towns in south oxfordshire

[whoami]

Hi,

Where's the "best" place to stay/commute from in South Oxford? Not familiar with the place.

Don't want to live in Central Oxford; perhaps one of the villages outside. (like 4 miles South say). But NEEDS to have good train links to London. i.e. 45 hour journey, and frequent or minimum 2 trains every hour, with NO changes!

So similar to MKC to London! and Reading to London!

Don't mind living in a small village, as long as it is easy to cycle to a station nearby!

 

[LexyBoy]

If a short commute is key you're going to be disappointed I fear. You don't say how you intend to travel [edit: yes you do, I'm just blind] (i.e. walk, car or bus to a station?) but if driving be aware that the larger stations are expensive to park at, and Oxford will be horrible to drive into. If you're driving, Didcot will be the best bet (or drive to Haddenham & Thame Parkway). Outwith the immediate environs of Oxford, bus services to the villages are very patchy. Cycling you'll want to be no more than a 3-4 miles I'd think.

Oxford: ~50-60 mins, 2 tph+. Pros: beautiful city, loads to do, generally a fantastic place to live. Cons: Housing very expensive.
Didcot: 45 mins, 3-4 tph. Pros: good for commuting. Cons: nothing to do. No character - just a dormitory town.
Abingdon: Pros: nice town, stuff to do, very frequent and fairly fast bus connexions to Oxford. Cons: no station (but Radley easily cyclable).
Radley (on the outskirts of Abingdon): ~1h20 with a change. Pros: has a station, handy for Abingdon and Oxford. Cons: quite a long commute.
Thame or Haddenham: 45-60 mins to Marylebone. I don't know these places so won't comment on them as places to live.

You don't say why you want to live in that particular area - that might affect where works for you. I'd say one of the villages around Didcot would work well - Steventon and Sutton Courtenay I know and are both nice, with enough facilities to get on with. These might be further from Oxford than you want though.

 

[backontrack]

If only the station were reopened. Then Wantage would have been ideal...

 

[cactustwirly]

If only the station were reopened. Then Wantage would have been ideal...

That's never going to happen!

Thame is nice, but it is quite small

 

[windowseat]

I live in Abingdon and commute from Didcot - 5/6 trains an hour in the morning peak and 4 an hour in the evening peak. Door to door from Abingdon to Paddington (with a drive to the station) 1hr 10 mins. Getting the bus and a good connection to a train adds 10 mins (but getting home is a bit of a longer wait for a train)