How did you decide where to retire?

Staying put. We live in a small village and the public transport is very poor but the community makes up for that. People without cars manage with the buses that we do get or we help each other out.

If I had to move I'd go further out, not into town. Can't stand the noise and traffic any more (not that the countryside is that quiet!). Orkney is my current favourite destination. Have already told DS that I don't want to end my days in the south east even though I was born in Surrey.

It was easy: we looked at the amount of money we would get through selling our flat and the size of our pensions, which are not generous, and looked at what houses, insurance etc. cost in different parts of the country.

We chose the cheapest place where we felt we could feel at home.

It has worked out really well.

Decide what you want to spend money on in your retirement. Do you want to be able to travel a lot? If so choose a relatively cheap place to live.

If you intend to stay at home and want to be able to go to theatres, concerts, art exhibitions, then that should influence your choice.

Whatever you do, make sure there are shops within walking distance and good public transport. The day might come when you have to stop driving.

Cornwall and Cumbria are my favourite places,very hilly, when thinking of the future, but beautiful.
Think of access to Doctors etc,bus routes, bus services, nearby shops. A lively Market Town Kendal would be lovely for you.
Do you not want to stay where you are, knowing everyone and the location etc.

My husband and I were not in a position to choose where to retire. We didn't have the luxury of having enough money to move! BUT we had the good fortune to live in glorious Devon so staying put suited us fine.

I retired in 2012 and it took me 4 years to persuade my husband to move (I wanted to go to Scotland) then two years to sell the house. We moved last November and are happy where we are. HOWEVER! We moved from an area where everything was on the doorstep with huge supermarkets and state of the art shopping centres. Now we live in a lovely little market town with a very limited Tesco. Bus services are good but there is the walk to the bus stop to consider. I can get into Edinburgh in 40 minutes on the bus. We have a lot of artisan and independent shops but not a single greengrocer which is odd in such an agricultural area. You will also need to put yourself out there to make friends as they won’t come knocking on the door. I recommend the local U3A for this. Do your research. Go on a mini break to your potential destination but go with a mind to living there rather than a tourist. It will give you a feel. Even look at a few houses that are for sale. Nothing focuses the mind like the thought of spending thousands of pounds! Good luck.

Bluebelle.
Not everyone wants to move on retirement and who can afford to retire at a younger age when it is far easier adapting to change. I don't blame anyone who wants to stay put. 'Better the _ you know'

If I could it would be suffolk, near southwold lots of lovely places to visit never changes,

Spend some time visiting various places to get a feel for them. Definitely do not move to the country, you will be very isolated. Why not choose a market town with good rail connections ?

We bought a caravan and put it on a site in north Devon then after a few years moved it to South Devon. We both fell in love with the area but to make sure we spent hours driving around villages, visited parks, beaches etc. Then we stayed in the caravan in all weathers hail, rain, frost, sun, etc at all times of the year including winter months. Found which shopping areas were best, nearest hospital etc. Took about a year deciding which area to go for. Looked at local crime figures also for roads we liked. Now just put an offer in on a house after a year!

evianers - bonne chance. Meet up before you go?

When we were in our forties we down sized from a four bed house to a two bed bungalow. Our reasoning being, a bungalow in case our knees go. We moved from the city to a village in Devon, we chose our village because there is a train station for travel to Plymouth with plenty of further trains to all over the country, there is also a bus service to our local market town. We may one day get to the point where we can't drive so this was important. In the village we have a doctor, chemist, post office, food shops, hairdresser, pub etc. The community is great, always something going on. People are always happy to stop for a chat, and lovely country walks with our dog.

If I had the money needed I would retire to the Lake District. We are going for our 3rd holiday there at the end of August and find it so beautiful with so much to see and do. There always seems to be something going on in the villages.

Why move? Your question is 'where'... What accommodation do you want/need, afford? Is good weather important? Are you 'outdoorsy'? Without 'ties' we have moved to a house with a better layout and insulation in an area with FAB weather and low prices, friendly and lots going on. The price is poor transport, no city shops, no archery club to join. - You will have your own equivalent. Some long lists to sift and edit!

Where you want to live in retirement is such a personal choice, but good suggestions here. We would love to move to West Cornwall because of its wonderful community feeling, and coast, but are dissuaded because of the relative distance from a major hospital. Even if in good health now you never know what lies ahead. I would compile a short list of places and visit them by train (you mentioned not keen to drive), and spend a few days checking them out. Then try renting in a chosen place for 6 months before taking the plunge.

I used to want to retire to a favourite little seaside town - but that was before the arrival of grandchildren. It would have been much further to go to help with childcare, which we are happy to help with.

So we're happy having stayed put, in a leafy part of outer SW London. The house and garden are not too big to manage, we have more or,less everything on the doorstep, with very good free public transport on top. And we still have room - at a pinch! - for dds, SiLs and Gdcs to stay.

What I would never have wanted to retire to - having often visited friends in such a place - is a very beautiful but isolated rural area, with even the village shop a steep, half hour walk away, so needing the car more or less for everything.

My sister and BiL I think made a good choice - tucked away in a quiet corner of a small Dales town - day to day shops a 2 minute walk away, and countryside walks 5 minutes ditto - they are still keen walkers, though not as active as when they moved there maybe 15 years ago.

@birchermuesli - you obviously live in, or close to CH at one time! My OH worked for that well-known international food company so we retired to Evian-les-Bains just opposite. But having no-one here, have now decided to remove to Dorset. Don't know anyone there either but at least we have SIL and DS within easy striking distance, as well as DS and DGDs two hours away. Knee-deep in packing cases and boxes here........

Birchermuesli- oh lol your name made me laugh. What is the connection? (I am Swiss born and bred ...).

I'd be very careful about where I'd retire as I've known so many many people who went for the rural dream in the middle of no-where, both in UK and abroad- and lived to regret it bitterly.

Friends- courses to keep little grey cells going - culture, as in concerts, Museums, etc, but also public transport, and eventually, availability of services like doctors, A%E, cleaning and caring staff. We both love to drive, but are fully aware this may not always be the case. We have friends who moved to a lovely part of France- to a village where everyone sat int he square at the café in the sunshine - perfect. Then came November and the winds and extreme cold - and absolutely no-one around, nothing. They hit the bottle - it ended up in tears- and this is quite common.

We did something totally crazy 10 years ago- came to visit my very elderly parents, found out the house just up the road I've always loved had just been put on the market - and our life changed massively and totally unexpectedly. We had NEVER intended to come and live here- but the decision was made in days- because of the house. But we have good solid friends here, and we knew that we could tick all the above mentionned boxes, and were able to keep a small place in the UK too. No regrets.

We are retired but still live in the same house we have lived in for 35 years. We might move in a year or so but only in the same area, in fact I don't want to move more than a couple of miles from my neighbourhood and even that seems like a huge decision. The thought of moving completely away from everyone and everything I know scares me at a time in life when it is harder to make friends. I don't drive either so top of my list for a move is good public transport links. Shops and doctors within walking distance
and nearby theatre, library parks etc that are easy to get to.
If I was you I would think very carefully about what matters most to you, make a shortlist of areas and make visits to them all, thinking about how it would be to live there rather than holiday.
Good luck!

Only move an hour away from London. We are in north-east Hampshire. Good buses in most areas. Near countryside. Good towns ie Guildford, Farnham, Fleet. Probably the best of everything.

A friend from London has retired to Worthing - still good links back to London to visit friends plus lots of them are more than happy to visit her to enjoy some seaside! We looked at retiring to Devon but the road links are awful (apart from if you settled around Exeter) plus far too much rain Do you have family anywhere you might like to live, or friends who have moved to other parts of the country you would consider living close to? Always nice to have at least one link when you move to a new area. another friend moved to the country but was plagued by smells of manure, flies, crop spraying and noise of farm machinery, plus got fed up living in her car all the time (it's not as romantic as it's often made out!) Make a list of things you'd like to do more of in your retirement (travelling abroad? in which case you'll need to have easy access to an airport; want to get into sailing? then you need to be moving near the coast or a river; are you a culture vulture? Then find somewhere with a good cultural life, etc.) Get yourself out and start exploring the UK.

Gosh! I have retired but not yet thought about selling marital home (currently rented out) to move...where?
I couldn't decide years ago and still can't make up my mind.
Thought about Fowey and each of the Cornish costal places, especially Menabilly. My thoughts turned to Norfolk and Chester then the Peak District and central York then Wales then...then...
I'm still renting in Godalming ?

It's not what you can manage now, it's what you may not be able to do in later years.
Transport, GP surgery, hospital (for appts) proximity to a variety of shops including opticians if you can't travel far in poor weather and some reasonable local entertainment and social activities.
I wish you luck...I'm still undecided.

BTW
Her Maj has some properties to rent on the Sandringham Estate. One cottage is directly opposite Kate and Will's driveway at Amner Hall. Newly refurbished. Only £700 pm.

Lots of good suggestions but not sure we have really addressed this part of the OP "the idea of making lots of road trips to explore different areas is making me anxious. Currently in London, keen to get out." Any ideas?

Although having a hospital nearby sounds like a good idea I'm not sure it should be a priority. Nowadays they seem to have specialist centres for different things so you might live near one which doesn't cater for your particular need when you need it and you may still need to travel. Bit of a lottery.

Skipton in North Yorkshire. It has everything.
Scenery in spades, access to Dales and Lakeland. Excellent train and bus service. Seriously good local
Hospital ( Airedale) swimming pool, gym, Morrison’s, Tesco, Aldi and M&S and a three times weekly market.
Ancient woodland, a castle, a canal, Cinema, great winter concert season,
Loads of places to walk, eat, drink and be merry!!
Trust me, I live there!

such a personal choice

dh and I moved from Birmingham, to Oxfordshire when we married 50 years ago, (well nearly 50)

moved about a little bit in this area..
when I was about 50, early 50`s kids left home, we moved to Scarborough area... lovely! then eldest ds had first gs for me!! and I just had to be nearer to them, fortunately I was near retirement age, so we came down here to Swindon, where our youngest ds lives also..
never regretted it, though I do miss Yorkshire

been retired 20 years, small house , enough for us two.

just taken some equity release and had bathroom and kitchen redone... so pleased about that

we made the decision we wanted to stay where we have been for the last 20 years... suburbs,,, quite close,,

right for us... just saying

Also decide whether you want to be private or not.
Do you want to see life going on out of your window?
Here in my village we can get into Norwich, kings Lynn and the coast by bus but only during the day.
Our friends moved into Norwich from their small village, bought a house by the river and are close to everything with the buffer of the river in front of them. They love it.