We are looking at a house swap for 6 months in Richmond-on-Thames (Greater London) starting October 2012.

We go away for the winter and often rent an apartment in a European City for 8-10 weeks. This location is further away from a city centre than we are used to...in Paris we stayed in the First Arr, in Barcelona by the Cathedral and Trastevere in Rome - in each case we could walk to major attractions and shopping, which we enjoy.

I understand Richmond is about 30 minutes by Underground to Westminster (it's at the end of the District Line) or 20 minutes by train to Waterloo. It's a pretty looking town but we wonder if it's too suburban to really feel as though we're in London? We wouldn't have a car (other than occasional rentals to travel within the UK) ... the apartment is located very near Richmond Station - can we do most of our marketing on foot? (obviously I've put these questions to the owner but would appreciate independent opinions).

6 months would be fun and this way we wouldn't have any housing costs - which is a great advantage - but we don't want to sacrifice the experience either.

TIA for any comments.

Richmond is a lovely 'suburb' of London and many people commute daily to cetnral London for work. In fact, hubby does the opposite and commutes out to Richmond from Greenwich via central London every day. London is essentially made up of little 'villages' each with their own personality so this would be a normal thing.

It will be a commute into London on the train, but for a 6 month stay I think it would be lovely. Richmond is quite a posh area in general.

Richmond is a VERY nice "suburb" of London. You'd be foolish not to take up the offer unless it is the one bad property in the whole area. Have a look at the Google Streetview of it and unless it's the flat above the kebab shop take it NOW.

Richmond -- for six months??? Heck, if you don't take it I will. Don't <i>even</i> think in terms of a US 'suburb'. It would be a wonderful place to live - some would kill for the chance . . .

just saying

Agree Richmond is a lovely area - but if you are going to be going to central London 5 or 6 days a week it could get very old - esp in bad weather. If you thought is to live more like a local and explore the entire area - I would want a car for that.

The locals might not have cars - it is London after all - or if they do it will be Chelsea Tractors and a MINI for the au-pair.

BTW what's "CBD"?

Yes, and as far as your shopping is concerned, you need have no worries. Anywhere near the station is within walking distance of a full range of shops (unless things have changed markedly in the couple of years since I was last there). It has the feel of a proper small town high street (you can check it out on Google Street View). A little further on and you come to the Green where there is the Richmond Theatre, a rather grand Edwardian theatre which regularly gets pre-West End tryouts. Even nearer to the station is the Orange Tree Theatre, a small and well-regarded theatre in the round.

True, you would find it a bit more expensive commuting into the city for sightseeing and so on, since Richmond is in zone 4, but if your home exchanges are to get a feel of how the locals live, you could be living like some pretty upmarket Londoners.

If it's good enough for Brangelina...

It is a lovely place to live, well most of it anyway. Lucky you!

I posted this in the Lounge as well:

Ten years ago we had friends who lived in the Vineyard in Richmond. We house swapped with them for a month every summer for 5 years. We definitely got the nicer end of the deal. I agree with alan, take it.

I disagree with nytraveler. Richmond itself has a great deal to offer (Richmond Park & Ham House) and it's hard to imagine you'd be hiking into Central London 6 days a week. It is also a perfectly fine base to travel outside of the London area. There is a Waitrose within a short walking distance of the train station. The commute into London is very pleasant.

The only downside I can think of is it's proximity to Heathrow so the noise from planes can be prevalent. But you just don't hear it after a certain point.

Central Business District?

Thanks all - yes, CBD is Central Business District - I guess I got that term from Australian rental sites.

As we mull this over we expect that after the initial flurry of seeing the London sites (which we've seen before, but not for many years) our travels will likely be further afield -- both within the UK and to other parts of Europe to take advantage of some of the fabled low airfares.

Lots to think about! Thanks again!

Does that mean you intend to work while you are in the UK, in which case you'll need to check the visa situation NOW.

Oh - London doesn't have a "Central Business District" - see the earlier reference to "villages"

The phrases "gift horse" and "mouth" present themselves.

I imagine you can't find anyone offering anywhere significantly more central. This is because almost no-one any closer would dream of forfeiting the £4,000 to £8,000 a WEEK they'd get for a six month let

You're trying to swap for a house in London, not some low rent minor European provincial tourist trap. As presumably you've discovered, no-one's going to let a South Ken house out for free when the world's swarming with developing country kleptocrats, Megacorp expats, Arabs seeking a habitable climate and rich Frenchpeople escaping Hollande's 75% income tax determined to pay absurd sums to live in the world's most popular bolt-hole for those with more money than morals.

Some might swap for a couple of weeks because for short periods swapping's less hassle.But once the period equates to some expatriate's proposed stay here, few will turn down a minimum gross income of £100,000. It's Richmond or somewhere just as far out. And few such places are remotely as nice or well endowed with tubes buses and trains

HOWEVER, though Richmond's fine for getting into central London (as we call it in English) and for local shopping (which I imagine is what the bizarre term "marketing" means in whatever dialect you speak), it's tricky getting many other places by public transport. I've never met anyone live there without a car. Which stays out on the street during the week while they're travelling into town, but is used to travel almost anywhere else. By North American (or Roman) standards, buses and trains from Richmond to other destinations, and around Richmond, are excellent.

But that's not saying a great deal: you'll very likely be getting a car sooner or later.

>> local shopping (which I imagine is what the bizarre term "marketing" means in whatever dialect you speak)<<

Which reminds me, did you ever get your money back from the charm school?

Again re CBD - generally just used as shorthand for the central part of town....my attempt to get as much info into the few characters allowed in the Forum titles.

Re Visa - no, not working/retired.

Re "what the bizarre term marketing means in whatever dialect you speak" - oh, how I've missed the Europe Board

Re "You're trying to swap for a house in London, not some low rent minor European provincial tourist trap" - thanks for elucidating me on that. In this particular case the people wanting to swap have unique geographic requirements that we just happen to match....serendipitous, actually. (OK use of language?)

There is really no such thing as a CBD in London so throw that idea out of the window! London is made up of many many smaller districts of which richmond is a lovely one a bit farther out if centre! No one really lives in the city - which would the closest to a CBD.