What is it really like to live in Herne Bay?
FindaProperty.com presents a selection of local residents reviews and reports, detailing their own experiences of living in Herne Bay.

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I really like the place, the sea front is victorian ...

... there are lots of independent shops including butchers, bakers, greengrocers. It's really changed over the last 5 years and it a great place to live.

I live in Herne Bay and I love it...

It is quiet and friendly but has enough shops to keep yuo occupied. It's close to Canterbury, Whitstable, Margate, Ramsgate and other interesting places, just in case you fancy a change of scenery.

We moved to Herne Bay from London 12 years ago and we still love it...

The summer festival is a real community event.

Why pay half a million to live in small terraced three-up, two-down in a suburb of the Smoke when you can live the laid back life down here??

Herne Bay is a lovely place to live...

I've lived here for 30 years and my husband has lived here all his life. There is a long stretch of shingle beach which shelves gradually into the sea so it is very safe for bathers - although we do have have life guards on duty in the summer due to blue flag requirements. On a nice hot summer's day it can look like the South of France!

However, the imminent construction of a wind farm on the horizon may blot the view. It is the home of Roller Hockey - Herne Bay have been the British champions as far as I can remember. Many of the local youth don't appreciate what is on offer here despite there being clubs of all sorts - judo; gymnastics; roller skating; sailing; fishing, to name but a few.

The town has grown immensely in the past decade with many people moving down from London. As a result there is a slight problem with secondary school places - there is only one secondary school. The Kent Test (11+) is still operational here and as there is no grammar school here pupils tend to go to school as far afield as Sittingbourne, Ramsgate and Broadstairs with the majority of grammar places being in Canterbury.

There are also some extremely good independant schools in the surrounding area - the Kings School and Kent College in Canterbury and St Lawrence College in Thanet.

There is not much in the way of employment in Herne Bay for those expecting to be paid high salaries - and the commuting to London is horrendous (2 hours if you are lucky on a very crowded train) unless you leave very early and come home really late! There are a few jobs in Canterbury depending on what you do - but even there it takes 1-1½ hours in the rush hour for what would normally only take 12 minutes for a 10 mile journey.

Having said that, Canterbury is a great city - very handy to have on your doorstep. There are a number of multi-nationals, eg M & S, Fenwick, Debenhams, BHS, etc. The shopping centre in Herne Bay is not too good - not bad if you like charity shops and antique/junk shops so you do need Canterbury.

However there are some great butchers and greengrocers. There is a Safeway and a Co-op in the town centre and if you drive, a selection of other supermarkets nearby - Tesco, Sainsbury, Asda.

That about covers it and all in all I wouldn't live anywhere else.

Nice town on the sea...

Next to trendy Whitstable so house prices lower but up and coming. Good for commuting into London by train and road.
Lots of green countryside close by and near to historic Canterbury for culture and shopping.