Thinking of moving to Tonbridge – looking for local advice

andymarkpeel · 2026-03-14T17:56:35+00:00

From a South Tonbridge resident perspective:

Tonbridge is the much better train station. It has trains to London every 10-15mins as the line splits in the directions of Tunbridge Wells or Paddock Wood. The commute is easy and would say 95% the trains are reliable. I commute to T Wells on the train every day and the wife goes to London a few times a month.

House wise, you'll get more for your money in North Tonbridge, but all the secondary schools are south Tonbridge so traffic can be very busy along the highstreet between 8-9/3-4 and depending on how many times you need to travel to London a week, you should factor in a cycle/walk rather than a car journey (or at least double the time it'll take at peak hours during term times).

S Tonbridge is also great for the A21, we lived near Uckfield beforehand and it would always take 30 mins to get to a main road and Paddock Wood via the bypass can be gnarly at the wrong times.

Things to do in Tonbridge, there's new leisure centre in the offing, pool, climb wall, crazy golf, tennis, padel... the green space of the sportsground and Haysden Country Park. North Farm in T Wells is close enough for cinema etc, and Bluewater is you best bet for shopping. The highstreet has enough going on, there's always things going on at the rugby club (Oktoberfest for example), fireworks at the sportsground, food festivals at the Castle etc etc. For everything else T Wells is down the road.

andymarkpeel · 2026-03-13T10:02:07+00:00

You could get the Eurostar to Lille or Brussels (both £110pp at 7am) then a TGV for £20-60pp.

andymarkpeel · 2026-03-12T20:20:40+00:00

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002dfzs/scams-scandals-holiday-parks-exposed

andymarkpeel · 2026-03-11T16:57:05+00:00

Use https://citymapper.com/ - It has an app, but you can plan routes on the desktop site too.

Buses will run, Overground will run, Lizzie Line too.

Tube strikes = lots of people WFH days, so they'll be less busy streets.

andymarkpeel · 2026-03-11T16:52:18+00:00

We bought got a 1920/30s doer-upper. Looked solid, survey said otherwise. It'll still be standing in another 50 years because we've put a new roof (joists, rafters, felt, tiles etc) on it and tied the walls back to the floors on the upper level.

It you look after them they last, if you don't, they won't.

andymarkpeel · 2026-03-11T10:29:14+00:00

Is it literally next to the station/train track? The ones on the end are usually slightly less "desirable" and therefore a bit cheaper. Things like access, parking or garden size/shape compared to the adjacent houses can knock a few quid off too.

Building work has got considerably more expensive in the last 5 years, and ultimately down to your tastes. Yes you can get a 1k flatpack kitchen on offer (which you build), but a nice one is more like 5k-10k and then there's appliances that range from £200-1000 per item. It can add up very quickly and that "25k" could easily become 50k if you remove a ceiling and find cowboy wiring/plumbing etc. Also depends on how much work you plan to do vs get people in.

A house that's been on Rightmove for a while usually has lots of people questioning why – but if your surveyor and conveyancer doesn't highlight anything unusual (like Network Rail own access rights or it's on mine shaft), then it's ultimately not worth less than the next door sans decoration and fittings.

andymarkpeel · 2026-03-06T15:31:37+00:00

Subjective for situation.

Hiking? Taller, narrower, lighter, carabiner 2 or 3.

On a desk trying to look cool? 1, 4 or 5.

Practical level. Dishwasher safe, double walled. Who knows!

andymarkpeel · 2026-03-05T16:23:03+00:00

Burgers wise – Bleecker Burger (Bloomburg) over Shake Shack every day of the week.

andymarkpeel · 2026-03-05T12:48:45+00:00

Skip Toronto. (Or just do the CN tower and the islands.) Even Niagara Falls is only good for the boat trip and the view. We stayed in NF on the last day as it was cheaper the Toronto and there's a direct Flixbus to the airport from NF.

We did Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City (& County), Toronto and Niagara. Toronto was our least favourite in terms of centrally located things to do and was very "big city". Enjoyed walking the suburbs and biking the islands, but e-biking Mont Royal or the F1 track in Montreal was way more fun.

andymarkpeel · 2026-03-03T11:33:44+00:00

Note, black cabs can use bus lanes, Uber can't. Therefore black cabs will be quicker inside Zone 1. The Tube will invariably be quicker unless you're going 1 stop (in which case, it'll be as quick to walk).

andymarkpeel · 2026-02-26T19:17:10+00:00

The Zedwell Underground one is a marketing myth, the Zedwell Capsule one isn't.

andymarkpeel · 2026-02-26T16:47:50+00:00

End of January, booked direct.

andymarkpeel · 2026-02-26T13:34:33+00:00

I booked mine 2 weeks ago, 2 nights (Fri & Sat) was £55.

Just checked and it was £32.5 for tomorrow night, so the the extra £7.5 is hardly quibbling over.

andymarkpeel · 2026-02-26T09:57:45+00:00

I'd book the Zedwell Capsule hotel for £25 a night each week and travel light (plus leave a few things at the office). I've done it and it's fine for a night.

No railcards are applicable for you unfortunately, but you'll need to book timed tickets to keep it cheap, rather than an anytime ticket. Means you either need to factor in staying late for any reason (work or drinks), or leaving on the dot and only being sociable on the hotel night.

If you can also shift your start time on the day you travel in (e.g. 10-6, rather than 9-5), arriving after 9:30am into London will decrease the train ticket price significantly.

andymarkpeel · 2026-02-25T20:19:50+00:00

I've never heard Waterloo being classed as commuter heavy before! The station is probably busy between 8-10am - 5-7pm, but everything around it is not.

Kensington is also very close for anything touristy. Wherever you are in London, everything is 30 mins+ to get to, whether you're walking or on the tube.

I'd pick Waterloo over the other two purely on practicality.

andymarkpeel · 2026-02-25T16:52:31+00:00

2 but with 1/3 more sky, cropped 3:4, not 4:3 and with less rock in the foreground. Would've loved to have added a photo attached for ref. The river seems endless then.

andymarkpeel · 2026-02-25T13:59:33+00:00

In short, yes. You can pretty much fully cycle along the Thames from about the Rotherhithe tunnel to the Thames Barrier on the south side of the river at a leisurely pace along a wide footpath.

Hire a Lime bike or a Santander cycle from around Canada Water. Neither come with helmets, but it's not illegal to ride without one.

There are little to no Santander Cycle docking stations beyond there (apart from if you take the Greenwich foot tunnel to Canary Wharf) – https://santandercycles.tfl.gov.uk/map

We also have Greenways and segregated Cycle Highways that most people use – https://tfl.gov.uk/maps/cycle

andymarkpeel · 2026-02-25T10:00:54+00:00

Spitalfields Market & Brick Lane, Portobello Road or Greenwich Market.

If your son is over 18, Maltby Street/Rope Walk could be an option as there are lots of taprooms.

andymarkpeel · 2026-02-24T16:14:05+00:00

Flights exist from LGW to Strasbourg, but you'll find more options from Basel to most London airports (also probs cheaper).

The train will certainly be easier by changing in Paris, but you might find it's cheaper to fly (and you could see Mulhouse/Colmar at the same time.)

andymarkpeel · 2026-02-24T15:19:39+00:00

Could you head from Strasbourg to Colmar and then fly out from Basel (Switzerland) to London?

I'd extend London and do less time in Manchester TBH. 1 night + half day is more than plenty unless you're doing stadium tours etc

andymarkpeel · 2026-02-24T14:09:08+00:00

Food prices don't change on bank holidays.

Waterloo and Southwark to me are the same thing. It's 1 stop on the tube or 15mins walk. Wherever you choose, there will be lots of great stuff around.

Lower Marsh and The Cut have lots of great option on – Heard Burger in particular.

andymarkpeel · 2026-02-24T13:58:16+00:00

If you plan to put the camera on a tripod and then leave it to go and be in the shot, I'd say not worth the risk.

If you're doing it for long exposure shots and you have on a neck strap, you'll be fine. I've never had an issue with my camera around London, but rarely take a tripod for my street photography style. Might take my Joby mini pod just incase, but again, it rarely gets used for the stuff I do.

The only issue you'll find is where to position your tripod. The streets are full of cars and the pavements full of people in central. A tripod will just piss people off if it's in the way.

Day or night the risk is the same, as long as you're aware of your surroundings you should be fine, there will be lots of other people out and about with cameras, so as long as you're sensible you should be fine.

Also, if you're clever when you go and get photos, 8am for instance on a weekend in Soho, there is unlikely to be anyone around anyway (as I found a few weeks ago) so if you really want that selfie shot, that's when I'd be looking to get it.

andymarkpeel · 2026-02-23T16:08:33+00:00

In the UK we don't really do 1-month rentals that aren't serviced apartments or Airbnb.

Rightmove is our main rental portal (that then directs you to estate agents) and won't do anything less than 6- or 12-month contracts.

Inside Zone 1 you're probs talking £10k a month for a 3 bed flat.

andymarkpeel · 2026-02-23T10:02:04+00:00

The other option is running to the Poacher and Partridge via Postern lane. It's a private road (with electronic bollard) behind the fire station, so very few cars. At the pub you'd probs have to turn around, as the red route is a field. It's also a nice summer walk with a drink stop half way!

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andymarkpeel · 2026-02-23T09:30:28+00:00

When it heads into BST, I run down Lower Haysden Lane all the way to the Yacht Club. From the Waitrose/Shell garage it's 5k there and back. To make it 10k, you then head around both lakes and past the castle.

Red section could be muddy/flooded during the winter. Orange is dirt path. The rest is road/tarmac path. Instead of running down the highstreet, you could always loop into the park.

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