What is the best town/city to live in near London in England?

I've always wanted to go to England and I have the chance to go there for a year. Now, the problem is deciding where. I would like to stay in a town close to London but more "small townish" than London is. I'm an American female who lives in a slightly small town in the southern states, so I'm not exactly use to big city living. Thanks for the help! A bit further out please....maybe like 30 minutes or so.

Public Comments

1. Outskirts of London or a bit further out? Okay, Guildford, Windsor, Luton, Bedford, Redhill, Sevenoaks, Orpington, Dartford, Amersham, Chesham, Watford...there are loads. Guildford and Windsor are cool, Surbiton is nice, Woking too.
2. Lands End, Scotland...
3. Try Windsor or Richmond. Both are really nice places to live and not to big and within half hour of the city by train/underground. --------------------- http://www.windsor.gov.uk/transport/transport_index.htm
4. Kingston-upon-Thames, although it's expensive. South West London's really nice, but pricey.
5. windsor is a lovely area on the outskirts
6. Try Guildford
7. I live 60mins from London and 20mins from Oxford. Around this area? Although I must say, it's a bit of a cr*p place to live.
8. i have family that lives in HADLEY WOODS and its pretty small, mostly residential, but, im not an expert in the area, just try google-ing Hadley Woods + england or something
9. Guildford in Surrey might be suitable, but it's more than 30 minutes to Central London.
10. Guildford is the best for me because it is fairly central to everything .eg. London,Heathrow,Coast etc. It is also small enough not to have lost it's identity.
11. c london is the best of ever or go harrow uffffffffff very nice city
12. Check out this powerpoint presentation of a county called Essex, it is next door to London,, I think you may like it http://www.phrank.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/essex.pps
13. Forget London Danni, Come and live in Yorkshire with the Gent. We're freindlier and don't eat Jellied eels. You might have to take a 50% pay cut though love.
14. stay were you are this countrys crap expensive
15. Bucks is nice, places like Chalfont, Chorleywood and Amersham are all in Bucks, they are beautiful little towns with lots of history and character. They are on the tube line, so you can get into central london in about 1/2 an hour by taking the metropolitan line, but at the same time, you only need to travel for a few minutes to be in the countryside. I hope to live there when I am a bit older, it is really nice. Anyway, I hope you enjoy your year here! By the way, I was reading the other answers and agree with lots, (places like Windor are gorgeous too, but if you want to come into London lots, make sure you are near a tube line wherever you choose because the buses aren't great and you can't easily drive all the way in)
16. ESSEX DEFINATELY, ITS THE NEAREST PLACE & BEST IN ENGLAND!
17. Despite all the jokes, I did enjoy living in Essex. Try to find something along the "one" rail line, so you can go into London easily when you want. Chelmsford, Cambridge, Colchester.
18. a lot depends on travel time Ipswich in Suffolk is only 1 hour 10 minutes from London by train, its beautiful, is the oldest english town (settled about the time JC was being crucified) and lots of Pilgrims went from there to settle some place called USA Ipswich has lots of international folks, so you'd fit in Go to Essex if you'd like to be an Essex girl Dont go to the southern counties, they are full of BS
19. Glasgow, keep away from the English, there is only one thing worse than English and thats London English!!
20. Try Tower Hamlets. Very quaint and unique.
21. St Albans
22. How much can you afford?
23. cardiff in south wales....
24. Land send
25. stay where you are please
26. Inverness in Scotland-London is just too big! Inverness is a small town and easy to naviate. It gets lots of American tourists also. Beautiful scenery and friendly people. I just had 10 days holiday up there from England.
27. Chelsea
28. Dont know any.
29. try hounslow it has so many immigrants you will blend in un-noticed.
30. i like Southend on Sea
31. cambridge