Where to live in Scotland

Depends on whether or not you have kids (and their ages), what your other interests are, your desire for employment (and whether you can work remotely) and, specific to this forum, what kind of riding you prefer. For instance, the Spey Valley ticks a lot of boxes but the road riding is pretty limited due to geography.

We live up in Moray. It’s great. It has everything we need and good transport links. The riding is good Road/MTB and weather is very good.
Having moved up from lincs/cambs area it is warmer in the winter which is hard to believe but not as hot in the summer. Just nice really.

Cumbernauld FTW

Although failing that 'east' is always my recommendation if you are concerned about weather. Border's are lovely although far from the sea.

if I had nothing to worry about I'd be heading out Ballater or Braemar way. They are a fair distance from any big towns but they are nice wee places. Theres also Aviemore or if you want a bigger place close by somewhere close to Inverness.

Dunblane.
Bit pricey, but within easy reach of everything, right on the A9, half hour from Glasgow, 45 mins from Edinburgh, easy access to the trossachs, half hour to perth, hour to dundee.
It’s a nice place.
And if you catch the bus to Glasgow/Dundee, you may even be lucky enough to meet me 👍👍

I live in Lochaber, riding from my door is great. Road riding is pretty limited due to lack of roads. Facilities for anything other than outdoor pursuits are limited. Weather is generally shit, midges are generally shit. Everything is 2 hours drive, I'd prefer if it was a bit further. There's nowhere else in the world I'd rather live.

Having just heard the news, don't. It's going to be a **** show if Sturgeon gets her way.
Or can I swap my house in the Tweed Valley for yours in Yorkshire?

Somewhere else in North Yorkshire like Pickering or Helmsley?. Riding out your door and noticeably drier than just a bit more West.

Otherwise, I'd happily live in Peebles - but I've only ever been a (frequent) visitor.

I too live in Lochaber and will be happily here for the rest of my life.

To me the place to live is a few miles out of a town on a quiet road.

Having just heard the news, don’t. It’s going to be a **** show if Sturgeon gets her way.
Or can I swap my house in the Tweed Valley for yours in Yorkshire?

Having just heard the news, I'm now considering a move to Scotland before they gain independence from the racist shower of shit currently running the country

For riding straight from the door it would be Strathspey or Deeside for me. Depends what else you want/need. I tried to influence my wife into moving to Braemar but she wasn’t having it. Too remote and a long trip every day on the school bus for the kids.

Everyone has their own checklist which we often have to make compromises on.

We went through this about 2 1/2 years ago - sold up in Hampshire and moved north at the beginning of COVID. I grew-up in Scotland but Mrs DB is from Kent. We have met many people who have moved north in recent years and only encountered a couple of people who were anti -more a resentment of ‘incomers’ due to problems with holiday properties and rentals for local workers. The only suitable rental place we could find was in Moray, a converted steading a 1,000ft up and 5 miles from anywhere - as we found out in the winter when we got snowed in (a lot) That said, we were about 40 minutes from the coast and I could ride the 10 miles off-road south to Glenlivet, do a lap of the trails and ride home again.
When looking for a permanent move, we must have looked at every property for sale in Scotland online, from the borders to the Outer Hebrides. Peebles and Tweed Valley were on the preferred list, but the popularity of the area meant it was fairly pricey for what we wanted. In the end we had a house built in Tobermory on the Isle of Mull and have no regrets - there is a great community here, beautiful scenery and abundant nature, but it rains (a lot). We have a small business, selling online, at markets and B2B so not restricted on location. Downside of island life is it does get busy in summer (relatively) food selection is worse and more expensive, so a monthly trip to the mainland to stock-up is needed. Obviously, location may be driven by access to travel - stormy weather can mean no ferries and no post for a few days. It really depends on what your priorities are - I would travel around a bit, maybe both summer and winter to get a better feel for each place.

Having just heard the news I'm glad I'm already North of the Border.

Inverness / surrounding area for the win.

Having just heard the news I’m glad I’m already North of the Border/

AFAIK the SNP are pro-immigration so they're hardly going to close the borders if they're successful in gaining independence.

Somewhere in the Dunkeld/Pitlochry/Aberfeldy area would be my choice. Close enough to Perth/Dundee/Edinburgh yet with the Cairngorms on the doorstep, hundreds of trails in the area, less midges than out west too (apparently...).

With the above!

Recommending what we're doing, Dumfries and Galloway.
The main point for us is the price. We can afford a house there (though we're building a new one).
We looked at the Borders, everywhere from Duns to Hawick, but coudlnt find anything we liked and that was affordable.
Dunkeld/Pitlochry area is great, but more expensive, and a real pain to get to see ageing parents in the Midlands.

For facilities, riding, access and prices, I'd be looking at Dumfries and Galloway.

What is the motivation for the move?

We had the choice of going almost anywhere in Scotland and chose the Tweed Valley.
Been coming up here for years and wanted to move up as we love this area.
Wish we'd been in a position to move before we did.
No regrets what so ever.
I have no desire to go back to the Midlands again.

Border’s are lovely although far from the sea

eyemouth isn't too far from the sea...

We had the choice of going almost anywhere in Scotland and chose the Tweed Valley.
Been coming up here for years and wanted to move up as we love this area.
Wish we’d been in a position to move before we did.
No regrets what so ever.
I have no desire to go back to the Midlands again.

Whilst I miss seeing you around from time to time, this is great to hear 🙌🍻🍻🍻🍻

@sc-xc
Cheers Tom.
Pleased to read you've got back in to biking again.😎

Can't keep an average man down Stu 😂

Just avoid the west coast, Ayrshire is weird, Glasgow not much better, the borders are fine in areas, but those areas tend to be expensive commuting areas from Edinburgh, or for retirement. Stirling areas is a bit meh as well, great access to a lot of places, but not much going on in itself, it really depends what you're after, i agree about the likes of Aberfeldy, lovely place, but it is quiet, and again more about retirement or expensive estates, Dunkeld is a pensioners area from my time around there, same with Pitlochry, but that has more of the tourism. Further north than Pitlochry is pretty much unchartered teuchter areas, be wary of those places!

Currently enjoying life in Angus after 12 years in Shetland. Much better weather, easy access to lots of places, even has lots of trees and rivers!

In Lochaber too, don’t know any different so unlikely to ever leave. The weather gets me down but when it’s nice it’s magic. Seems to have been pretty crap for the last wee while with no sign of it getting better anytime soon!

We moved up from Kent last year. Rented in Perth for 6 months but then bought our current place in the Howe of Fife, just over the Perth & Kinross border.

I think its a great location. Around 30 mins to the outskirts of Edinburgh and less than an hour to the centre. 30 mins to Perth and St Andrews. 45 mins to Dundee and Dunkeld. 2 hours gets you to Glasgow, Oban (access to the islands), Aviemore or Braemar.

Great riding on the doorstep, both MTB and Road. Close to good beaches and lochs.

The weather is fine over this side. Its one of the sunniest and driest parts of Scotland. I think when we were looking to move i checked the stats and this area has on average about 10% less sunshine hours and 10% more rain than Kent and it feels about right. Its cooler but still generally very pleasant. The mid winter darkness was probably the worst thing. I love visiting the west but personally would struggle with the rain and midge but its pretty accessible as mentioned.

I think a good case can be made for lots of areas though. We’d certainly consider tweed valley, east lothian, tayside/angus, Perthshire, Dunblane, Aviemore area, Inverness/Moray coast.

D&G ... The countryside isn’t that inspiring

Tough crowd!
Where you parked in the Gretna Retail Outlet?

Thanks all, a great set of comments and a lot to think about.

A bit more about us in answer to questions: no children or work commitments (WFH, pretty much retired couple in our 50s). As for why consider a move north: I'm originally from Scotland, spent my childhood in Edinburgh and Ayr where my mother still lives. Wouldn't touch the latter with a shitty stick but have been impressed with recent visits to Edin (seems very different to the city I remember from about 40 years ago, maybe that's me though) and if I had to choose a major city it would be high on the list. But it's hard to see the out-the-door options being that great, Pentlands and that's about it?

We've never spent more than about 10y anywhere and are approaching that here, in a big old house that we'll certainly want to leave at some time anyway (no rush). Old parent close by but that will end at some point. It's not an urgent thing, more "could the grass be greener elsewhere?"

I don't know anything about the NE part of Scotland really, never even been to Dundee or Aberdeen. Have been in Cairngorms etc for walking, it looks like roads are sparse and we aren't really looking for middle of nowhere, especially thinking ahead 20y from now!

Recently I went on a 75 mile road ride, less than 10 of which was quiet A/B roads and hardly saw a soul most of the way. On a sunny Saturday in May.

Having just heard the news, don’t. It’s going to be a **** show if Sturgeon gets her way.
Or can I swap my house in the Tweed Valley for yours in Yorkshire?

Brill, see ya.

We're near Melrose, came up from the South East 10 years ago. Love it here.

I can ride road/gravel/MTB from my door and my OH can do the same with her horse.

Also in Moray, also in late 50s (just), WFH (semi retired).
Cairngorms to the south. Moray Firth on doorstep.

There are better places, possibly, but we've made decision to stay put - as you say looking 20 years hence not sure want to be on edge of town let alone middle of nowhere, nice though that sounds.

decent road, gravel and MTB riding, twixt the sea and the hills.

Loads of good road riding around Edinburgh if that's your thing. As I said, a lot fewer options once you get into the Highlands, mainly due to geography.

We looked at the West Coast options a few years ago and decided that there was just too little infrastructure - pubs / supermarkets and so. We also had a teenager to consider and didn't want to be constantly ferrying her back and forth for a social life. Aviemore worked as a good compromise for us. Facilities aplenty, MTB/gravel riding from the door (in some ways too much as I've been less inclined to explore further afield). There is a very active "incomer" community as so many folk have moved here for the outdoor variety. With good transport links and high-speed broadband there are a lot of WFH folks too.

Inverness - Elgin corridor is an option we'll be considering at some point I think. Forres might be favourite at the moment.

I'm in D&G

With no work or family concerns id be Inverness or North Aberdeenshire

If you have a spare £800k+ to spend then what about Scotlands house of the year 2019 here, a mile from kirkcudbright and its a stunning house, such a shame that Lesley has to sell it but she's moving back up to her house in Edinburgh. My mate does the garden and housekeeping duties/painting etc so if you do buy it please keep her on.

A house like that, and no proper garage. Jeez...

Still, move that house 300 miles south and it'd be a couple of million I'd guess.

If you have a spare £800k+ to spend then what about Scotlands house of the year 2019 here, a mile from kirkcudbright and its a stunning house, such a shame that Lesley has to sell it but she’s moving back up to her house in Edinburgh. My mate does the garden and housekeeping duties/painting etc so if you do buy it please keep her on.

Lovely house, but i've never enjoyed being around Kirkudbright, there's quite a large firing range just down from this house as well, so hopefully triple glazed 😂

We're moving to Forres from Bristol in a month or two. Love it there, decent climate, sandy beaches, lots of interesting forests and roads for riding in and on, plus perhaps some skiing within driving distance.

Seems to be enough town like conveniences such as pubs, schools, health services, leisure centre etc. Also some interesting alternative communities around such as Findhorn and even the army/RAF people to keep things interesting and not too inward looking.

Also importantly for someone that has always been close to an airport and a city, 25 minutes from Aberdeen (and the airport has direct flights to the usual places).

I love Bristol, but there's something about the place that feels right. I haven't even seen the house we're buying 😂

thebunk

Also importantly for someone that has always been close to an airport and a city, 25 minutes from Aberdeen (and the airport has direct flights to the usual places).

You'll be doing well to get from forres to Aberdeen in 25 minutes. Good choice of place to move to tho!

Assume he meant Inverness?

You’ll be doing well to get from forres to Aberdeen in 25 minutes.

You might manage it on new years day...

Not taking biking into account, I really like Glenshee/ Braemar area, i like the solitude and lack of people. And all the deer and fungus! I also spent a week near Fearnmore on the West coast, loved it there but the weather was shite, but no more shite than Wales' West Coast. Snow in November made up for it though, as does the night sky, when you do get a glimpse. That would make the extra hassle of travelling 14 miles to the nearest shop worth it, in my book.
I cant think why someone would move to Scotland and not take advantage of the riches you can only get there, like the sheer scale of mountains and low pop density outside of the big cities, but thats just me, im very solitary by nature.
Mate ,I wish I had the option to go, but my trade and family ties keeps me grumbling in the (warm) rain for a few years yet. Good luck with wherever you choose.

Edinburgh has a lot of advantages. Big enough to have all the facilities of a city. Small enough to ride out of in half an hour. Out of the door riding you have the pentlands and a few other bits. Good access for trains.

Its ruddy expensive as a city. The Edinburgh suburbs are pretty soulless imo. Forme living car free its a very good compromise

Doh. Yes, Inverness 🤦

A house like that, and no proper garage. Jeez…

Think outside the box, convert a room into an internal workshop.

Edinburgh has a lot of advantages. Big enough to have all the facilities of a city. Small enough to ride out of in half an hour. Out of the door riding you have the pentlands and a few other bits. Good access for trains.

Its ruddy expensive as a city. The Edinburgh suburbs are pretty soulless imo. Forme living car free its a very good compromise

Would concur with all of this. We love the benefits of city living but also being able to escape to the countryside and Edinburgh is brilliant for that, we are pretty central but 20 minutes from my door and I am in the Pentlands, within half an hour in the car you can be in the Tweed Valley or on a beach in East Lothian. Even if you just want to go for an hour long blast on the road bike you can piece together a decent route with minimal traffic without leaving the confines of the city. The city is safe and plenty green space and activities for the kids.

Cost can be an issue, and we have definitely made an active decision to compromise on living space for location, but it doesn't feel quite so bad having been in the city for so long so we don't know any different, and although we will pay an eye watering price when we move house, we'll also get an eye watering price for what we already have. MUCH harder though if you are coming into the city from a cheaper area.

Wow that Kirkcudbright house is a hell of an eyesore, but as importantly, we'd probably be looking for less of a house. I've never been that keen on seaside living, perhaps scarred by Ayr but also it cuts out half the directions for cycling/running! It would be different if I was a keen swimmer or sailor perhaps.

Yeah, we concluded that a move to the West Coast would necessitate buying a boat. It's also noticeable that there are a lot fewer MTB and road cycling options.

I've lived in Edinburgh, Inverness and the tweed valley.

Edinburgh - cons were noisy, polluted, awful traffic, very very expensive housing, difficult to ride or run anywhere interesting direct from the door (except for running in holyrood park, I found the pentlands pretty dull), I also found it _really_ unfriendly after moving there from yorkshire. Pros were good restaurants/cafes (presumably good retail opportunities but thats not really my thing), good public transport.

Inverness - Pros - good road cycling (car drivers weirdly seem to be more respectful to cyclists there), easy access to lots of amazing places (even just using public transport), friendly place, loads of other folk into the outdoors, affordable housing. Cons - it's really far away from my family, everything in the supermarket or even online is more expensive, (you often have to pay extra for delivery with an IV postcode), I found the local area (say within about 20 miles of Inverness) a bit flat and uninspiring.

Tweed valley - Pros - amazing running, cycling, MTB, etc. from the doorstep, friendly, housing is affordable (although not cheap), lots of cool festivals like Tweedlove, EWS, etc. Cons - public transport is a bit iffy, gets super busy in the summer, no rock climbing (or indoor climbing) locally, the highlands are further away.

Midgies are far less of a problem in the eastern strip from eastern Perthshire through Angus, Deeside/Aberdeenshire and Moray. We've none at all here in our garden in the middle of a farm & woodlands. I live out to the north of Dundee as it fits a huge range of priorities and options.
MTB in the Dee valley is better (in my humble view) than the Tweed valley, which is a bit too samey, 'winch & plunge'. We have lots of different styles of trail and some really challenging mountain days close by; xc from the doorstep and an easy ride from the door up into the Sidlaws or west to Lundie.
Road riding across all of these areas is superb; Angus roads are in generally very good condition. Easy access to steeper riding at Ballo/Dunkeld/ Pitlochry/ Aberfeldy, when it's time for that. Lundie, Sidlaws, Pitfichie, Drumtochty, Scolty all close by. Aboyne, Ballater & Braemar- Amazing trail building community scene and proper mountain riding in the eastern Gorms can easily give a week of solid big mountain days out. Ben Alder, the Feshie munros for contrast; Trossachs, Badger Divide or An Turas Mor for epic gravel... I could go on for hours. A few hours drive and you're in Kintail or Torridon.
Running: the Scottish ultra marathon & trail scene is really vibrant at every level, many international runners choosing to live here. Annual West Highland way race is a world class event that's also really inclusive.
Snowsports: Glenshee and associated backcountry is probably the best balance across the country, in terms of weather, snow cover and epic backcountry touring as well as a good selection of lift served..
Watersports: what's your poison? Sea kayaking; steep spate rivers; Canadian canoes in lochs & big rivers for expeditions..? Swimming in clean lochs & rivers..?
Dundee has a really positive outlook these days, culture, education and development. Mainline trains to Glasgow, Edinburgh & Aberdeen; flights to London.
What are you waiting for?

Moved to Glasgow 5 years ago, great city to live in, amazing access to hills and alot cheaper than Edinburgh.

This says it all really:
https://johntdata.silvrback.com/glasgow-vs-edinburgh-which-city-is-better-for-munro-bagging

MTB in the Dee valley is better (in my humble view) than the Tweed valley, which is a bit too samey, ‘winch & plunge’. We have lots of different styles of trail and some really challenging mountain days close by; xc from the doorstep and an easy ride from the door up into the Sidlaws or west to Lundie.

That's a bold statement... Do you mean local riding, ie from the door/within a 20 min drive is better than the tweed valley, or do you mean riding in the general area (so including dunkeld/aberfeldy/pitlochry plus the several Munro's close by, plus the southern bit of the Cairngorms) is better?

If you lived in any of the tweed valley towns, you've got about 6 or 7 trail areas within cycling distance, with everything from blue flow trails to EWS level enduro trails.

The former statement I'd agree with, if you include riding within a 30 mile area then it's far better than the tweed valley - but I'm interested to know if the local riding is up to the same level.

I know that steep forests really work for a lot of riders. Whilst I enjoy the occasional day at Golfie or Inners, I prefer to mix up my riding with all sorts of other days out, especially mountain rides so for me I'm happier with the variety of being close to Dunkeld, the southern Gorms munros, the Angus Glens & all the Drumtochty/ HBR type riding you could possibly wish for. Going out into the hills is an important part of my riding, much the same as while I do enjoy a day of lift served skiing, I'm happier on a long tour that might take in some summits and some steep gully skiing too. Hope that makes sense and explains why I think that while there's a huge choice of steep woodland trails in the Tweed valley, I find it all a bit samey and would find living there restrictive. Love it when I'm there but it's not my personal, first choice of how to spend a day on the bike. Does that make sense? Give me a day on Big MacDhui, Bhuird, Lochnagar or Ben Avon. Tour de Cairngorms bikepacking..
Road bike? Deeside circuit from here; 125 or so miles round, usually done anti-clockwise so east to Edzell, up over the Cairn o Mount, south Deeside to Braemar, up over the Glenshee ski road and a wee sting in the tail, the Drumderg road back to GlenIsla to pass Alyth on the way back to the house.
We're utterly spoilt for choices up here in Angus and I've not even mentioned the trails at nearby Kinnoul, Fife, Pitmedden or the Ochils yet... plus Tentsmuir for shelter in the winter and watching sea eagles.

gets super busy in the summer

I find it really weird you say this about the tweed valley but you don't mention AUGUST in Edinburgh being the worst 4 weeks in the world to live somewhere.

I can't say i really notice it being that busy in the tweed valley despite livign on one of the main routes in the peebles/inners section

Moved to Glasgow 5 years ago, great city to live in, amazing access to hills and alot cheaper more pleasnt/fun/friendly/interesting than Edinburgh.

takes your pick, I would happily move back to Glasgow if city living was required. Edinburgh is great but its nowhere near as great as Glasgow and doesn't quite draw me back like Glasgow does.

Yep Aberdeenshire would get my vote. Fantastic place, everything any decent human could ever want, big mountains, solitude, world class locally built MTB trails all over the place, coast, international airport, large city nearby if thats your thing etc etc. As above Ballater or Braemar and most of the Dee Valley would get my vote.

I'm surprised at the love for Braemar. I mean, I really like the place - for a weekend away. We go 2 or 3 times every year, but I can't imagine living there.

Just for reference:
Riders in Stirling and surrounding areas have been quiet on this thread because they've been too busy riding bikes.

Think about it 😉

In summary then:
Priorities may lead your choices in a particular direction; all the areas described below have access to great trails, most have other advantages too, like snowsports, watersports or grerat road riding. There are great restaurants everywhere and artisan food suppliers in every county.
There's a lot of good places to base yourself, starting from the Tweed valley, via Stirlingshire, the Trossachs, Perthshire, Angus, Aberdeenshire all the way to Moray and the lower Spey valley.
Further west gets progressively wetter and midgier. Braemar is a bit higher and colder than the rest of Deeside; Newtonmore is similar in the Spey.
Deep into the Highlands restricts options for road rides but increases access to high mountain rides, although more so in the eastern ranges.
Remoter settings mean smaller communities and having to adapt to shopping for food supplies with some planning.
All of the cities have a decent vibe and culture along with their obvious disadvantages.
Almost everyone who lives in Scotland rates being here highly or very highly; the politics is also a fair bit to the left of Westmonster and the current government here has a clear social conscience. Not perfect, just one hell of a lot better than that collection of self-serving cockwombles in the south.

I would say that Banchory would suit all needs. Scolty/Bogendreip/Hill o' Fare on your doorstep, Upper Deeside 15/30 minutes away, as is Drumtochty. Cairngorms less than an hour and all the quiet roads you can handle. Near to Aberdeen, easy access to airport and road network south, lots of amenities in the town and Aberdeen is only 20/25 minutes to the East and there is a good bus service that can get you home from a night out quite happily.
The weather is pretty decent in Deeside, can be cold but dry trails are certainly not uncommon and there is a wide variety of riding.

It's great to hear a lot of people making the most of their local areas. I've lived in enough places to know you can cut your cloth according to what's available and am sure we could enjoy a number of the options. But OTOH we had an entirely free choice when we returned to the UK from living abroad, and did manage to pick a fantastic location already which I haven't regretted for a second. Maybe a change would be good for us at some point. 10y in one place seems a long time to me, I've previously felt ready to move at that point (roughly).

I guess we will revisit as remaining parents pop off. Realistically, we aren't likely to move imminently with an ageing FiL just 30 mins away right now.