...Been here about four years now after moving from Dulwich.

You wouldn't think it's only in zone 5 as it feels like a small village.

The good stuff is: all the restaurants, three great pubs, the common, woods, duck ponds, four miles from Greenwich, 20 mins on train to London Bridge, the people are friendly (generally!), schools are good, Bluewater is a 20 min drive, Bromley 10 mins, etc.

The bad stuff is the traffic can get clogged up and the station is a 15 min walk from the high street. But then again you have four stations all within one mile of central Chislehurst - Elmstead Woods, New Eltham, Mottingham and Chislehurst.

We have young children and the schools are great. A good primary school is Edgebury, try and move to the roads close to the school so you get in the catchment area as it has the best reputation.

Oh, also if you do get the train to London go to Elmstead Woods station its in zone 4 and costs about £15 less a month in travelcards.
Sarah

Chislehurst is an ideal place to live if you want a village feel as well as being close to London.

Then we found Chislehurst and it has been the best decision we could ever have made. The train takes 25 minutes on a good day to Charing Cross, the high street is excellent for resturants, there is a Sainsbury and other more specilaist shops and there are at least 4 really good but slightly different pubs.

But most of all we love the fact that it feels green and open, we have a 500 acre wood at Petts Wood one mile away plus the common and other green areas.

It is also not as expensive as you may think. Look for properties off Green Lane, Belmont Lane/Parade and you can find 3 bed houses for under 250k - it takes 10 minutes by bus or 20 minutes walking to the station from here and two minutes to the high street!

It is an area that really balances the feeling of being outside of London but also has the convenience of being close to London whilist not being just another commuter soulless suburb. Also check out the Common, the conservation area, and the 20 miles of caves.

We've had foxes (not the shabby suburban type), jays, woodpeckers and even bats in our garden. At night we can't hear a thing, except maybe owls and the odd nightingale. I work in central London, and get to the office for 9am - my train goes at 08:21 so it's only a brief journey.