So many lovely Dorset and Somerset villages, but which one?

A very good friend, a couple of years younger than you RosieDay, moved to a small village after living in a town all her life. This village has one (expensive) shop, no doctor or pharmacist and a quaint bus service. I bit my tongue as the village seemed so inappropriate for her potential needs.
Apologies if this sounds negative. I'll get off my soapbox now.

There is also an amazing care home at Pound bury. A dear friend of mine moved into it some years ago.
As mentioned up thread, you may find your neighbours there. This happened to my friend. His next door neighbours moved to a house in Poundbury. My friend discovered that he could wave to his former neighbours, from his bedroom window, as they were in their kitchen.

Compton is a beautiful place to retire to

My brother lives in Loders which has retained its peace and quiet but is near enough to West Bay to enjoy the Jurassic Coast. It has a pub but no shop. They enjoy it but lead a quiet life from choice. If it were me I would choose a market town (that still has a market) for all the amenities you will need esp GP surgery.

Lovely Lyme Regis

We have a favorite pub at Uploders BigBertha it’s a beautiful area, as long as you can drive.

Not a village but a small town , I’d recommend Bridport where you can live at walking distance from the good supermarkets. Still have useful independent shops like butchers too, as well as a reliable plumbing company and good local buses.

I addition to a shop I’d look for somewhere not hilly, with a decent bus service and a local GP surgery.

Bridport has a lot going for it whether you drive or not. There's a Georgian and older High Street full of independent and chain shops and a Waitrose. There's the independent 'Electric Cinema' which shows films and other performances. The countryside is gorgeous around the town and half a mile away is West Bay and, adjacent, Hive Beach, with an amazing fish restaurant/cafe and the beautiful cliffs where 'Broadchurch' was filmed.

Sorry, CC, you beat me to it. I didn't see your post before I wrote my own.

I love all the Dorset villages but just to throw in a curved ball, if you want something with a more suburban feel and all amenities on the doorstep…and a very different feel to rural France, how about Poundbury….

Stillness, see posts up-thread about Poundbury 😊

Bridport is full of energy and the lovely West Bay is just along the road.

Tisbury, actually in Wiltshire but almost in Dorset. Ridiculously beautiful countryside, thriving arts, also Messums, shops including farmshop, pub obviously, and best of all a mainline station to Salisbury and London.
I don't live there but my best friend does .

Chew Magna is very nice, lots happening, shops, doctors - a few years ago voted the best village to live in in England! South of Bristol. Will not be cheap........

Just thinking, if you want to still make the journey from Portsmouth over to France, you might want to be further East than some of our suggestions. The A35 is a nightmare to get to the ferry port.

Broadstone in Dorset is hard to beat. Close to Poole, on an excellent bus route, buses every few minutes into Wimborne, Poole or Bournemouth and surrounding suburbs. Broadstone has many independent shops, a leisure centre, two GP surgeries, library, M&S food hall, two butchers, two bakers (but not a candlestick maker 🤣) numerous little restaurants, two pubs, coffee shops and countryside galore. I know because I live in Broadstone and it’s great.

The small city of Wells is lovely.

Applegran

The small city of Wells is lovely.

Love Wells

Another vote for Wells. I’ve lived here for nearly 40 years & it has everything anyone could wish for. A lot of people who were at school here often return to live & have their own families. I believe it is also the no.1 tourist attraction.

If you're looking for a village rather than a town, then Sidbury in Devon, with its local pub, long established butcher/grocers and ancient parish church, is completely unspoilt and surrounded by beautiful countryside. Fabulous country and riverside walks! Easy access to Honiton mainline (Waterloo) and Exeter (Paddington) mainline stations.

Ashley Cross. A small village between Poole and Bournemouth. Railway station - 2 hours to London. Busus run every 7 minutes or so between Bournemouth and Poole. Good pubs and restaurants. Between Gervais Close/Church Road and toward the coast is the best area.

Wow, masses of good ideas! Not so many for Somerset though, and there are lots of great locations, Wells is one, though it has no trains (if that might be important). I'd suggest somewhere just outside Taunton, perhaps?

In Dorset, goodness, so many great places, you'd need to decide if the tourist crowds for chunks of the year will be a nuisance, and if not, which end of the coastline (assuming seaside is good), you'd prefer? Over by Poole & Bournemouth, or near Dorchester & Weymouth, along by Bridport & West Bay, or even further west by Lyme Regis or Charmouth? Swanage or Wareham perhaps? Or inland, Sturminster, or Sherborne, that had a vote or two, and it's very nice. If you like shows, lots of good acts appear at the Bournemouth International Centre.

I'd actually suggest somewhere near Exeter (yes, Devon I know!), a terrific city, but lots of smaller places within easy reach, Exmouth, Topsham, Teignmouth, Newton Abbot and more. Jolly good luck!

Wow! Busses every seven minutes in a village (Ashley Cross)!
...I didn't even have that as a girl.
Must surely be on a main road? And even then...

DrWatson 🫢.. you've let the secret out on the best place to be. Your last paragraph! ☀️ ⛱️