Do you want sweeping vistas or seaside views? Before you even start to look for your dream home, think about what kind of location will tick all your boxes.
The UK has a rich variety of rural landscapes from sweeping moorland to chocolate-box hamlets. Picture-perfect commuter living comes at a cost with the most expensive areas including the Cotswolds, Cheshire, North Yorkshire, Surrey and East Sussex. Rural retreats without the price tag can be found a little further away from the big cities and include Shropshire, Cumbria and the Yorkshire Wolds.
Rolling hills
If you want green grassy slopes, lush pasture and clear streams head for south Shropshire, the South Downs, Gloucestershire, Dorset or the Yorkshire Dales. Soaring peaks For dramatic scenery, tranquil lakes and great walks you can't heat the Lake District, Peak District, Scotland or north-west Wales.
Endless skies
If it's vast skies, glorious sunsets and flat plains you're looking for, try Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Lincolnshire.
Miles of moorland
Wonderful windswept isolation is offered by the Pennines, Dartmoor, Exmoor or the North York Moors
Heritage coastline
Jagged cliffs, remote fishing villages and sea air come in spades in Kent, Pembrokeshire, Cornwall, Devon and Northumberland.
Wild woodlands
Find ancient forests and rare species in some of the UK's oldest countryside. Check out the New Forest, the Chiltern Hills, the Forest of Dean or North Wales. |