From Bath to Salisbury - where to live???

I'm going to be working in Wiltshire and am looking at places between Bath and Salisbury. I've heard Bath is a great place, but it's also more expensive and it's hard to find a relatively new apartment there.

I then looked at Trowbridge as the next largest town, but it sounds like it is relatively high in crime and has some poor areas? There is also Bradford-on-Avon but it's a smaller town.

Salisbury could be nice but I'd prefer to be near Bath if possible.

Anyone live near these areas or familiar enough to offer some advice?

Thanks!!

Sorry I didn't see this earlier to advise. Whereabouts are you going to be working? I am help you figure out your commute if you name the town. Believe me, you don't want to be commuting on the M4 everyday if you can avoid it! I live in Chippenham.

You're right, Bath is lovely and grotesquely overpriced. I know a teacher at my school trying to find somewhere to rent there and she's looking at paying £500per month for a ROOM. THat's just ridiculous IMO.

Trowbridge is not a great place to live. It's not super crime ridden but just not particularly attractive or interesting.  Housing is cheap there.

Bradford upon Avon is lovely. Really sweet little town although very small so if you're hoping for somewhere with lots of shops, it's not the place. Houses are a bit on the dear side there but then it's very pretty.

I'm in Melksham, quietish and small, but not very pretty, however Corsham is a lovely little town nearby, and Devizes is also lovely and fair sized. These are two places I would enjoy being, but I haven't gotten around very much since I moved to the area in December. Hard decision to make, as well as finding the right housing, best of luck.

I love Wiltshire. Just about the best place to live. But there are pockets of good and bad. Personally, I wouldn't live in Trowbridge, but I do get my groceries there! (a 24-hour super Tesco).

Bath has a good train station and it's near city centre. (A bus is a good option, too.) My opinion would be to find something that has good train connections to both Salisbury and Bath. Parking is abysmal in Bath.

We've (my husband and I) have chosen to set up our own business in Melksham. We could be anywhere, and in our business, you wouldn't think Melksham was a good spot. That's why we keep doing sanity checks. But we love it here and we're not that far from London (not more than 2 hours by either car or train or bus). And very central to a lot of other areas. It's also gorgeous countryside. The people are great; services great.

From Melksham, I can get to Bath in less than 45 minutes on an hourly bus service. Bristol is best reached by car on the M4, and I can get there in an hour. Salisbury takes about an hour by car. Bristol airport is about an hour, Heathrow is a little less than 2 hours. Oxford, about an hour. Cardiff, a little over an hour.

Any more you can tell us? Where your work is?

Between Bath and Salisbury, you've got a series of five small towns - Market Towns of past times, administered together as West Wilts.  Each is a microcosm; most good but occasional bad spots / parts, but it's the latter that gets the publicity.  Personally, I live in Melksham (and would choose it again over any of the others).
 
Bradford on Avon
Trowbridge
Melksham
Westbury
Warminster

A little bit off the direct line between Bath and Salisbury ... also have a look at
Corsham
Chippenham
Devizes

You'll find links to pictures (and a little more information) and then on to maps from most of the towns I've named above

Thanks for the great replies! I'm going to be working near Warminster which is why I ask. I'm probably leaning mostly to Bradford-on-Avon right now because it looks beautiful but supposedly has bad traffic. I'm also considering Trowbridge and Bath still, there's a nice new apartment complex in Trowbridge.

I suppose you need to define "bad traffic".  I used to take my children to swim lessons there so I know a bit about the commute. It has only one main road into town which is on a rather steep hill. It does get very clogged at the commute times but nothing such as like American traffic jams,as at the end of the day, it is a rather small town.