Hi all,
I am relatively new to Fodors Travel Talk Forums but have been reading the many wonderful threads. Such a great group!

My husband and I are planning 4-6 weeks in Europe next September 2020. We both work from home and will have to work from home during this month, so it's not a sight-seeing adventure per se. We have traveled with our family of five (children now in their 20s) to many of the great cities of Europe on whirlwind tours. We were in London, Oxford and Edinburgh in July 2019, Paris in the spring of 2018, Barcelona, Paris and Geneva in the summer of 2017.

However, for this trip, we would like to slow down, find a cute bustling village or small town where we can live and soak up the culture. We are thinking to find a place within an hour or two of Paris or London so we can take advantage of the city on the weekends. We don't want quiet or rural and we will need wifi. I wish a town like Annecy, Colmar or St. Remy, or even a St. Paul de Vence were closer to Paris. I don't know of towns like these near London although I'm sure they exist. Our kids will come visit for a week so we want the town to be relatively easy to get to.

We will rent a 2-bedroom apartment, go to the market, grocery shop and cook, walk, visit bakeries, cheese shops, coffee shops, enjoy pub and/or cafe life in the evenings, then use the weekends to see some of the area sights, visit other towns or go into the city. We like history, museums, castles, chateaus, and gardens.

Thank you in advance for any thoughts or suggestions you might have!

>>I don't know of towns like these near London although I'm sure they exist. <<

In the hundreds -- only a slight exaggeration.

Look in Kent/East Sussex/Surry, or in Essex/Suffolk/Cambridgeshire, or in Berks/Bucks/Oxon (Berkshire/Buckinghamshire/Oxfordshire)

Thanks JanisJ. Yes, I've found Alfriston in East Sussex and Shere in Surry. I just haven't met anyone who has been to either of them. I even thought about Cambridge or Bath as a place to settle for a month... finding the right neighborhood or street off the tourist path. Again, I haven't found a friend who has been to these towns recently either.

The problem is that with a big metropolitan area like Paris, the nearby "villages" are not that bucolic any more, just urban sprawl. And the ones you name are known for all the tourists that go there, they have major tourist attractions (and St Remy got popular because a lot of rich people liked it, not sure why it got picked but it did) and wealthy people. So small rural burgs aren't really going to be like them at all.

You can get to Lyon in a couple hours, I think, so there is a large area that would fit that criteria. Within an hour or two of Paris, I guess I'd think of:

Compiegne
Troyes
Chartres
Auxerre

I think those are all around the same size but Troyes is larger (although Colmar is no small village, it's even bigger). Some other ones I thought of maybe:

Moret-sur-Loing, it's a lot smaller, I'd much rather stay in COmpiegne as I really liked it

I will throw out Moulins, also, which is down towards central France, I really liked it a lot, also. It's also much smaller than places like Colmar and Troyes and Compiegne. It's still got a good bus system though and a few things to see and do, it's not some rural village with nothing to do. It's about 2:30 from Paris though.

Not sure I would stay a month in Bath/. Might in Oxford or Cambridge.

Will you have a car? If so I'd look at smaller towns that still have all the services. You could think about places like Burford which is a large village/small town (car only though)

But without a car you still have limitless possibilities. Just in Kent for example - Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge, Canterbury, Maidstone, Sevenoaks, etc.

Didn't see Christina's post. >>The problem is that with a big metropolitan area like Paris, the nearby "villages" are not that bucolic any more, just urban sprawl. And the ones you name are known for all the tourists that go there, they have major tourist attractions<<

England is a bit different -- there are MANY bucolic / scenic / nice towns convenient to London by train.

Or -- if you want to be west of London, some of the towns along the Thames have rail service. Henley-on-Thames, Marlow-on-Thames, Maidenhead, or even Windsor.

Not that I care much or think there is any way you'd ever be found out, but you're not allowed to work in any capacity, even as a volunteer, if you travel to the Schengen Zone on a regular 90-day tourist visa.

I agree England holds a lot more possibilities for you than France, but you might look at Provins or somewhere along the train line between Strasbourg and Colmar. In France, with a car your possibilities would increase enormously.

>>but you're not allowed to work in any capacity, even as a volunteer, if you travel to the Schengen Zone on a regular 90-day tourist visa<<

I was going to mention that -- completely forgot thinking of all the ex-London possibilities.

Same goes for the UK -- checking your e-mail now and then or making occasional work calls would be OK but 'working remotely' as a visitor is against the rules.

I had a friend who lived in Broadstairs, East of London on the coast. She commuted daily into London. It was a lovely town and looked to be a great place to live.

Broadstairs would be lovely . . . a little longer journey from London. Ex: Tunbridge Wells in to Charing Cross is about 55 mins; Broadstairs in to Victoria or St Pancras 1:25 to about 1:55

But being on the water is probably worth the extra time IMO . . .

Vannes isn't "close" to Paris.

If you want to be within an hour or two of Paris, why mention Vannes? Unless you consider 300 miles 'close' to Paris.

St Albans is very pretty, has a market, lots & lots of history (Roman Verulamium, The Abbey etc), very easy access to London, making it an expensive and desirable place to live. Lots of pubs. Close to Hatfield House. Perfect for a long stay.

https://www.enjoystalbans.com/

Maybe not be so hung up about Paris as the french "big city", but look in the south too: in or around Toulouse, perhaps?