I don't know if it is accurate or not, but I was told by a friend of mine (Londoner) that North London neighborhoods such as Hampstead and St John's Wood have heavy populations of Americans. You probably want to avoid those burroughs :o) My friend's favorite area is Dulwich, in South East London though - he said it resembles many middle America small towns (big leafy trees and small neighborhood feel to it but still close to the city). He told me that the biggest concern and determinator as to which neighborhood you want to try to get into is what age your kids are (which school you want them in). I though, have never seen any of those neighborhoods. Hopefully a couple of our Brit friends on the UT will pop in and offer an opinion.



>>Can you tell me a few decent counties, shires, or suburbs which are about an hour outside of London (by train)
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>>I lived in Caversham (just across the River Thames from Reading) for almost 2 years and I thought it was a great place to live - 30 minutes by train to Paddington. Howevever, Caversham, like most of Berkshire is a pretty expensive place to live....
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>Thanks for the info. Yes, the UK is very expensive. We are not sure what we may or may not do and we're just looking at a lot of different options and places, Australia, New Zealand, and various European countries. It is early days but we like to look around and see what's what. Perhaps Cape Town is the nicest option. Fairest cape in the world afterall :)