towns in Sussex, Hants or Dorset not blighted traffic

Bridport is a lovely town. Near the sea, a good arts scene, fantastic market and lots going on all in beautiful country. Traffic much worse in summer but the beauty of the coast compensates.

When we first relocated from France to UK, we lived in Shaftesbury - lovely old-fashioned town with [mostly] lovely people. Buses run regularly to Salisbury [hospital] and to Gillingham which has loads of various shops. Only reason we moved was to be closer to the children.

I regularly travel to Portsmouth from Torquay at various times of year to catch ferries and hold ups are common around Dorchester, especially in the summer. As Joseanne says, the A35 is single carriageway in many parts which doesn’t help.

We came within a whisker of missing our ferry crossing on one of our trips to France this year because the A35 was at a standstill. I would avoid being near that road as it is single carriageway.

Where are you living at the moment? Are any of the towns you mentioned possible to reach for a day, or if not, why not have weekends away at those you fancy ? A b and b shouldn’t be too expensive this time of year and a couple of days would enable you to get a feel for the place, including the traffic situation at different times of the day.

Where we choose to live is such an important decision so I can understand why you don’t want to get it wrong.

Hoped for more suggestions but looks like a thumbs up for Emsworth! Will investigate but finding it hard to find somewhere decent that's dog-friendly.

I think the nature of the beast is good public transport equals traffic I’m afraid as the better services are usually in built up areas with more customers, therefore viable.

Dorchester & Wimbourne are also on my list of 'possibles'. Only husband drives so public transport important to me (when not being the traffic!)

Ho hum.

Will you be using a car, bus or taxi.

You will be the traffic.

Chichester and Emsworth are both great towns to live in. Yes the traffic in Chichester can be bad at certain times but mostly fine. The ring road is bad but us locals rarely use it as no need to. Emsworth is lovely because it is on the water and also has a railway station with frequent trains . Move to the area, you won’t regret it!

vickymeldrew We're in Orpington so maybe not far away from you?

My mother-in-law lived near Dorchester.
Yes, there were a couple of annoyingly busy roads but we found no day-to-day problems even if we visited in the summer though the journey south wax often busy.

Maybe there are people here on Gransnet who can confirm?

Why not visit the towns you mention and check them out over a day. A lot of pleasant days out in Autumn, what more could your want?

I travel through Chichester frequently, but although the ring road is a nightmare, I'm not sure locals use it. It does have good rail and bus links.
Emsworth became much quieter once there was a dual carriageway between Chichester and Havant built, but I assume has a smaller pool of homes for sale than Chichester, and therefore more expensive.
Sea, South Downs, shops, fast rail links to London - look at Chichester again.

GillieP - your post is timely for me. My DH and I are looking to relocate from south london to somewhere closer to the south coast. We have been looking for a while now, but everywhere is bursting with people and traffic!

Romsey, my home town.

Stayed in Chichester recently, traffic nose to tail.