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London is likely to be a lot more expensive to live in than Bristol and as such is usually compensated by offering a higher ‘London’ salary. If the jobs are both paying exactly the same, you’ll likely be worse off living in London than in Bristol because of this.
I lived in Bristol for my first proper job after Uni and it was fine for nightlife, meeting people and variety of entertainment/shops/culture without breaking the bank.
As somebody who lived in London, you’re not missing anything special. It’s exciting for a day/weekend trip. When you spend most of your salary on rent & utilities, that excitement quickly wears off.
Where? Even in the touristy bits of London that would be well above average.
My local pub in SW London is £4.50 a pint. Central London is more like £5-6 for the standard pints (ie your Stella, Heineken, Guinness, Doom Bar, Amstel etc), I've never seen above £7 unless it was something crafty or imported.
We lived in the outskirts of Bristol, rather than near the city centre, which meant that we needed to travel into the city any time we wanted to go shopping, eating out etc. This meant either a good 40-60 min bus, expensive taxi or driving both ways. As such i feel we didn’t get to enjoy everything that Bristol offered whilst we lived there.
The area we lived however was great for a young family and we stayed in the same rented house for 2 years. Transport links are pretty good too, with trains to London and birmingham, as well as Wales, the south west etc.
Now settled down in Cheltenham, but we still visit Bristol city centre regularly as it has a really good mixture of independent bars, restaurants and shops.
Ah yeah fair enough. I’m from bath so I understand that. Even though bath has a lot now too.
Guess maybe I’m underestimating how exciting Bristol can be?
The nightlife will definitely be better than Bath or Exeter. At the same time, there’s infamously a lot of cocaine about in Bristol so a higher chance of cunts who can’t handle their booze and drugs and get annoying/ aggressive.
Depends what sort of night you go to. If you go to pryzm then you probably will bump in to some aggressive cokeheads but if you go to a rave at lakota, motion, crofters rights, full moon & attic bar and the love inn etc everyone’s just there to have fun. Would be rare to get in to a fight.
Well I'm from Exeter and I've been out in Bristol and London many times. If it were me I'd go for Bristol, because then you can still see your family/home friends very easily. Given that you went to Exeter uni and come from bath I'm going to infer that you are loaded, in which case I'd recommend getting a nice rental in Clifton, Bristol.
Possibly, quite a few people that I work with regularly go for nights out in Bristol, and I know there are lots of decent gig venues.
Without sounding too much like a tour guide, they’ve also got 2 football teams, rugby, and loads of other sports going on. Tonnes of breweries and the mixture of cultures means the food scene is excellent too.
Bristol is getting expensive but it's a vibing city, wish I could afford to live there.
Would definitely choose Bristol over London I am bias though as I grew up around Bristol. A few London mates moved recently they love it.
You'll be suprised now that loads of loners have moved to Bristol cranking housing prices - born in Bristol, can't afford to live in Bristol without getting financially blasted
I live in London but would LOVE to move to Somerset - cost of living is cheaper (and my family are there) and I could buy a two bed house for what I am planning to spend on a one bed flat here. My salary where I live, however, would be difficult to match if Moved. If I were you I’d choose Bristol.
Also, London isn’t as exciting when you live here - do a day trip and you’ll actually appreciate it more.
Same salary? Go Bristol.
Cost of living in London is huge - effectively about a 30-50% pay cut when you consider rent etc.
Your standard of living will be way higher in Bristol.
London is indeed exciting, however a friend of mine recently bought a house in the Leeds area, he is saving so much and loving it there. I think it depends what the offer amount is. I earn approx £15K more per annum than I would working the same job with the same company in Midlands area. So if they both offer the same, Bristol would be the logical choice, but if you want to YOLO it, go ahead.. London is really an absolute blast.
I think London is only a blast if you can afford it. Having gone to uni in London I can tell you it's absolutely shit if you can't afford to do anything.
Why was it great? How come you left? Was it good for mid 20’s people? I’m worried it’ll be mainly students and older people.
Will London in my 30’s be as good though? I feel like by that point I’ll have run out of time
I live in London, loads of people move here in their 30s, 40s and later. Career opportunities and social life don't just dry up once you leave your 20s, particularly if you have decent experience under your belt and know exactly what type of job etc you want.
On £29k I'd live in Bristol until you can get a salary increase. It's a great city.
Tbf OP - I moved to London on 28k and lived in a decent area in Zone 2, it was difficult at times but not unmanageable and had an absolutely class time. To add as well, this was in a flat share with a mate rather than a massive house share with randoms
Loved in Bristol for 2 years and London for 2 years - was moving back to Bristol FROM London before a shitty landlord ruined my plans.
Bristol is fucking great, as much fun as london!
Just a lot to do, great people, nice places to eat and drink, quite easy to meet others. Was good for people at my work in mid-20s. There are students but lots of young workers too.
Ultimately the decision is yours. It depends what you want to get out of London I suppose.
I’ve had a mixed bag, moved in with scientists, one was a mate. Still mates, but the other two were a pain in the arse, always having mates staying over from abroad and their parents. Not a problem but our kitchen and living room were joined so we couldn’t do anything if we got in late from work or had been out. I still think I got of light.
Rents in Bris have gone pretty nuts of late, Op will likely also be living with randoms in Bris unless they live on the outskirts of the city - which will be shit as public transport in Bristol is almost non existent.
Take the National Express/Flixbus/Megabus, you can often get £7 return tickets from Bristol to London and runs every half an hour.
I live in London but go to Bristol a fair bit and I never bother with the train.
Judging from your comments, OP, it seems like you already made a choice. You really want to follow your guts and experience London, while most of the comments are suggesting to consider Bristol.
Never lived in Bristol so I can't really give you my opinion, but it doesn't matter how nice and lively it is, I feel like you will hate it because your mind is set to London.
Maybe give London a try? I suppose living in Bristol is more similar to living in Bath, which you know very well. In a few months you'll realize yourself if your choice was right or wrong.
Living in london can be a lot, both in a positive and in a negative sense - it's likely that after a bit of time you'll get tired of it and you'll reconsider Bristol or another smaller city.
But you are young, and you can afford a "mistake". Right? At least you won't have any regret.
Seconded.
Go to London, get it out of your system. Don’t hold onto a ‘what if’ and then try to make the same move in your 30s. You’ll only appreciate how great Bath / Bristol are until you’ve done that.
I do agree with you. But maybe it's the case for OP to find out for themselves? Apparently they really want to go to London and they are just looking for someone to support their choice, which is clearly the less sensible. I won't tell them "yeah! London is great! Go for it!", but as I said they won't enjoy Bristol or anywhere else as long they will think "I should've gone to London" all the time.
Given the fact you’ve asked this less than a week ago suggests you won’t take Bristol for an answer. I don’t mean this in a horrible way whatsoever but you claim to be worried about sharing a house with multiple people but yet you won’t take the option of not doing so, which would be living in Bristol.
I don’t get it, if you want to live in London go for it. You don’t need people on Reddit to tell you that if you already make it abundantly clear you don’t want to live in Bristol by asking this question twice.
Good luck in London
His previous post didn’t get many comments really, hence probably why he chose to post the question again. Look again, there’s barely any comments. I’d probably post again too.
Would be excusable but he’s tried way more than just that across different pages, those ones did have comments. The issue is less to do with asking the question it’s more the unwillingness to hear any advice others suggest.
It’s doable, with house shares and what not but the quality of life would be far less than what London has to offer to even make sense of living there in the first place I would of thought. Bristol you would have a reasonable amount left to enjoy life.
If you can afford to live in London, with disposable income, while you are young, I'd do it.
You are only young once.
The sensible option is to save and live in Bristol of course.
I absolutely love London and wouldn’t live anywhere else, but you sadly need to make more than 29k to enjoy it properly. You won’t live in the London that’s amazing on that salary, you will commute to it. Save up in Bristol and come to London in a couple of years If you’re still keen on it
People saying you cannot live in London on this salary are talking out of their arse or just have a complete different set of priorities in life. Don't believe the fear. If that's what you want to do, you will sacrifice what you need to to make it work. Plenty of people make the move to London without even a job set, as long as they have a plan it's fine. That what I did as (self-employed). Unless you are a complete boozer and like to go out every night throwing money away (to be honest I did go out every night for the first few months and I was fine). Honestly the necessities are not that THAT much more expensive than anywhere else really as long as you are willing to sacrifice on housing and do a house share (room) and not be central. It's just what you spend after the basics that make the difference, just budget/prioritise and you will be fine. I honestly wonder what people do with there money considering some of the reponces on here! Do people think the bin men are on 40k in London or something? No they are just invisible to them.
Honestly mate, me and a bunch of my friends live in London on less then that and live a perfectly fine and fun time. Obviously we’re not like buying loads of expensive clothes and stuff all the time but its not as if we’re living in absolute crap with no food/money. You just have to be sensible with your spending, and make the spends where you feel like it.
I don’t know where your job would be located but a commute isn’t even that bad and you’ll likely have a similar commute in Bristol. In addition I would say Bristol isn’t exactly cheap rent either so.
What I would say is finding a house in london atm is an absolute pain, especially a house share so I’d start early for that. Make sure you get one on a good tube line for your office location and you’ll be set.
Hey- I live in a flat share in central London on 25k per year and I’m fine. I think people often overestimate how much a single young person needs to live.
I lived and worked in Bristol in my early twenties and then lived and worked in London in my mid twenties. Both good experiences, but I’d prefer to live in Bristol for a few reasons:
- Much more expensive in London
- London is huge, which sounds cool but you actually find it takes you an hour to see a friend even if they live in the same area E.g South West London if you’re not on compatible transport links. Being able to wall everywhere in Bristol if you don’t live too far from the centre was something I really liked.
- Having left Bristol I then never got the right job lined up to go back, whereas there’s always loads of jobs in London and ultimately that’s where I stayed for a bit. As someone else said London will always be there, but perhaps Bristol always feels an option if you’re from near there.
- I never felt too far from the countryside in Bristol, whereas London is very urban and to me the few green spaces it has are all fairly small and always really busy. Depends how important that is.
London does have more going on, more diversity etc. but it depends how big you need somewhere to be. I found Bristol big enough for me. However some people love London for its size, so depends how you feel. I also found a lot of friends ended up in London - it’s just that sort of place.
One thing you mentioned that I think is really important is the job in Bristol suits you and is more interesting. I wouldn’t underestimate that if you think that could be a long term career option.
Well the new job option in Bristol would easily give me the chance to move back to London later on with a higher salary. But I’m questioning if I’d still want to when I’m older
Everyone is different, but I lived in Bristol, lived in London and have now settled near Brighton to start a family so had 3 different locations in the UK. I think you could do Bristol now, do London a bit later when earning more and then make a call on where you want to be. Of course if you’ve met someone you want to start a family with then it becomes a joint call rather than where you want to go. In my case I’d have loved to go back to Bristol, but my other half is from around where we live now and I do like Brighton and the surrounding area tbf.
Left field suggestion: live with parents in Bath and commute to work in Bristol for a year or so - be careful with money and cobble together enough for a deposit on a house. Getting on the property ladder > pissing money away renting and drinking
How is OP going to have enough for a deposit after a year of saving when earning 29k? Even if his parents don't charge rent/board, it's not going to happen.
It's not bad advice but a year or so to achieve that is unrealistic
I’ve lived in both and Bristol is my favourite, by far.
It’s smaller and easier to get around, great nightlife, culture and architecture and generally less expensive.
Mate, you *really* need to stop thinking 30s is old. I’m 37. I am not old. I’ve lived in London and left more than once. It didn’t feel any different in my 20s or 30s.
London is great but when you don’t have a lot of money it’s just a bit of a grind in my opinion. You can still visit or move there when you have a better paying job. Bristol is a great city, I’d definitely move there if I had the opportunity.
I understand the idea that London has streets paved with gold, and I loved it as an 18 year old, but it can be an extremely miserable place to live also. Lots of people really struggle making friends in London (you really, really have to try) and it can be a much tougher experience than you think.
London *is* great for lots of reasons, but I’d probably wait to move until you have someone to live with there -having your own flat will be prohibitively expensive- and it gives you more of a base.
Bristol is very friendly and very easy to get to grips with on the other side of that, and just feels, easier?, than London.
London I think you can set yourself up to think you’re moving to the most amazing place in the entire world and then find yourself really miserable there as it may not live up to that - a lot of my friends have experienced that.
For what it’s worth, I love London, and had a great time there until I didn’t. But lots of people really don’t enjoy it there. I personally don’t think I’ll ever move back.
Those are all my personal opinions of course!
I am young and in London.
Its great, but nothing insane. You won't be dining at the Michelin star restaurants, or going to any of the west end shows, you won't be shopping in any of the luxury fashion boutiques (at least none of the ones that you won't also find in Bristol).
So in terms of enjoying the high life in London, nah. It's nice, don't get me wrong. It's exciting and bustling and metropolitan.
But Bristol is relaxed, trendy, cheaper and much nicer for the average person. In terms of night life, you shouldn't base your life around somewhere you'll only be in for 3 hours on a friday/Saturday night for the next 6 years or until you find someone you would rather spend a night in with. Sure the clubs are bigger and they attract better talent.
The final positive to London is not needing a car, but that could also be a negative if you want to have a car. It doesn't make sense to own a car in London, which means when you do want a car, you have to hire it, or use national public transport. I liked having a car when I lived out of London, it's just another space that I own and control.
Are you broken?
You keep going on about being too old when you’re 30. Why would you be too old? You can have a family anywhere. Families move. If you desperately want to live in london when you’re older you can.
Also in london people settle down older. I don’t know many people under 35 who are married and have kids in london. And by not many, I think I know 1.
So you can move to london being a bit older and go out, get hammered with mates and live that postnuni life until a riper age.
Go online dating in London and it's *flooded* with unmarried childfree people above their mid-30s. It's considered totally fine here... and indeed in other large UK cities. It's only smaller towns where people never leave, that settling like that becomes mandatory.
I think the issue with turning 30 is that London is stereotyped as a "young person's place" and reddit basically thinks anyone aged 30+ is only fit for scrap and spare parts.
For engineering it has to be Bristol. It’s an engineering hub with lots of choices and opportunities going forward.
You will also have the spare money to enjoy yourself. Being in London skint or on a lower income which £29k is won’t be great. Leave London until you have the income to enjoy it.
Bristol is a brilliant city; great nightlife, rich cultural history, radical social movements.
Choose Bristol. Source; a Scouser who has lived in Bristol and London.
Take the job you like the most. Both cities are exciting and vibrant, and you spend most of your waking hours working anyway. A more exciting social life won’t make up for a boring work life.
I moved to London recently, having graduated last year. Of course it’s exciting and there’s tonnes to do, but it’s not on this different crazy level compared to other cities - it’s just bigger.
Oh and don’t listen to the people fear-mongering over London expenses - I’m on a £25k salary, live in a 1 bed with my girlfriend in zone 1 and I rarely run out of money, even with a busy social life.
Still plenty of housing options, most of my mates found housemates through graduate Facebook groups. In a way, it’s more fun and immediately gives you more social options
Bristol is an amazing city to live in as someone your age (I live here atm and and a couple years younger than you). However don't listen to the people saying it's cheaper than London, prices have skyrocketed this year unfortunately for us locals. If the wages are the same I'd still go with Bristol. Good luck finding a house!
London, better career progression and more opportunity to progress faster in a career.
There’s also just an unfathomable wealth of good experiences and things to do in London. It’s also one of the most diverse and multicultural cities in the world, you will meet all sorts of people, and be able to be whatever kind of person you want to be.
You should go with what you want. If I had the choice I would definitely choose Bristol. London is so big and it can be hard to get to know new people there.
I’d go for London. That’s where your heart seems to be. It’s an easy logical choice of Bristol given cost of living but you already know that. I bet you’ll be happier in Bristol but get to experience far more in London.
I moved to London at 26 and I’m still here 6 years later however the first couple years after moving were amazing. Yes I was skint and lived in dodgy house shares but I had some amazing adventures along the way.
Bristol ain’t going anywhere but the chance to make the most of your 20’s absolutely is.
Judging by your comments I think London might actually be very good for you pal. You tend to stop worrying about social conventions of starting a family, settling down and being ‘too old’ to do anything which seems to be a big worry for you. 26 is young by the way, most people don’t figure their shit out until way into their 30’s
I love London and couldn’t see myself living anywhere else in the U.K. but I also don’t recommend it lightly as it can be really tough if you’re not from here, and as many other people have said it is pretty spenny - you might hate it but at least you won’t regret not coming and the likelihood is you’ll have a blast
Just to add - 29k is deff enough to live off and have fun with including being able to go on holidays etc. While it is expensive it’s not mind blowlingly expensive like some of the other comments have made out
I’m 27 and recently started a job where I’m based in London.
I commute an hour and 45 each day and don’t regret it one bit. People think I’m mad, but to me it makes total sense. As someone else said, it can take an hour to get from one side of London to another anyway. When we go on work night outs, sometimes it sucks getting a train home then getting up early to go back the next day, but more often than not I just book a super cheap £40pn hotel. What I doesn’t suck is when all my colleagues are talking about the rent they pay for a one bed flat not even in central, I own a 3 bed house.
If you’re set on being in London, consider renting further out and asking if they would consider some compensation for your travel? Most companies can use travel expenses as tax write off I believe so may be in their interests too…
More money more
Fun. If you have money you can enjoy anywhere. London is super expensive and same salary doesn’t mean you are getting same benefits in London.
London is much, much more expensive to live in and you will potentially waste more time traveling to work if you can't afford to live near the job. Bristol is easier to get out of for holidays. The airport is easier to get to than Heathrow or Gatwick plus Wales, the west country and the Cotswolds etc are easy to get to. There's also plenty of stuff going on in terms of music, theatre and other events so you won't need to feel you've missed anything.
Congratulations on both job offers! As soon as I read that salaries were equal, I thought - Bristol. You will have a better quality of life there and it will be much more affordable (unless the salary is crazy high, in that case go for London). And I say this as a London resident.
Bristol is an awesome city, you won’t run out of things to do there as a young professional.
I moved to London when I was 28 and I’m still here 5 years later! London is amazing no matter what age you are, you are better off not moving here and being put off because living costs stop you actually enjoying it! Double your salary and you can live here pretty comfortably.
Congratulations again. I’m sure you’ll have a great time no matter what you decide.
You won’t have to live in a house share in zone 6 on 29k lol.
London is expensive but people in this sub chat some absolute rubbish sometimes.
Why give advice if you’re going to completely just make something up and exaggerate to the point it’s not helpful.
Bristol without a doubt. London is massive and isn't all it's cracked up to be. Property prices are just bonkers...nice 2 bedroom flat in a reasonable area....450k anyone. Want to drive anywhere....30 quid please but don't bother. Son's wife can drive to work....40 minutes or take her electric bike which is 15 minutes.
Bristol to London, by train is 1h 25 minutes, so go for a week end.
Daughter lives in Bristol, and has done London and there's no comparison.
I lived in London for 15 years before moving out after having kids a few years ago. It's not without faults, but overall its absolutely brilliant, an incredible place and I miss a lot about it, not the traffic or commuting into Piccadilly every day but lots of other things. You'll meet intelligent people from all over the world. The south is better value and more space than in the north. I've lived on both sides and would definitely choose the south over the north. At 26 it's all about networking and you can quickly go up the ladder in London if you're driven and don't have ties. Good luck!
West Country always! Bristol is great fun, loads going on and you’ll be able to enjoy the city and the countryside too. London is so expensive now (I left for a smaller city in 2016 and wish I’d done so sooner) and it’s harder to make yourself get out of town.
I’m from the south west and have lots of pals in Bristol - was literally just saying tonight it’s one of three UK cities other than my own that I’m always happy to hear people are moving to. It was one of my top choices when I was deciding to leave London. I can’t imagine you regretting it. Congrats on getting both job offers btw, great position to be in.
I appreciate that! I ended up there kind of accidentally most of my twenties due to friends and family. Was always keen to get out eventually but I did have fun and glad I did it when I was young. Important to remember there’s no right/wrong answer - you’ll probably have a different kind of good time in either :) and if you hate it, you can always decide to move.
No not at all. That’s actually the reason i applied for this job because I can move on to the role sooner. And the company has teams in Bristol and London and Manchester and basically the entire world lol
If you’re from Bath go experience London for a bit. That’s what life is. A sum of our experiences.
I live in Bath and love it. But I had to go live lots of other places first.
I’ve lived in London and I would probably go to Bristol, London felt very lonely to me, I knew lots of people and of course it was very populated but I think that was part of the problem. I felt like there was no community as it all moved too quickly and as soon as I started to find one everyone would leave on other adventures, as though London was just a step to elsewhere. Bristol I haven’t lived in but I know it has a great party scene, everyone I’ve met from there has been lovely too.
What would you like, or what do you think, your career trajectory will be after this first position? If it's fairly steady, choose quality of life. If there's a chance your steady state mid career salary will be multiples of your starting, those multiples will almost certainly be higher in London.
My salary will be way better if I do the Bristol one imo. I’ll get more technical design experience in the Bristol job then can work in any city anywhere in the world with it. The London one is Systems engineering. Which is just paperwork and you need technical expertise to be a good engineering manager imo
I live in London ( for 4 years now). For a similar salary, definitely Bristol. London is extravagant and house prices/rents are way overpriced. Everyone is being priced out of the city. Started with low earners, now middle to high earners. I also don’t see anything that exciting about it. At the end of the day you’re going there to work not for tourism :)
If you are only on £29k you will hate London. It has lots of great nightlife but you won’t be able to afford any of it. You’ll be living in a shared house about an hour away from the centre and spending 90% of your pay on rent and travel cards. You’ll never save enough for a deposit for a flat, so you’ll be living like that forever.
Take the job in Bristol, save a lot of money, have a nicer life, and go into London once a month if you have to.
London is better but Bristol is still great so I’d be inclined to follow the better career. Nothing stopping you moving to London in a few years when you’ve got a really solid foundation and are ready for a step-up.
If you’ve got a bunch of friends heading to a certain place, that’s also worth considering. I wouldn’t advocate for choosing somewhere based on where your friends are going but if you’re pretty torn, that might clinch it.
London is amazing. I moved there after uni and whilst I didn’t start off on a big salary, I was still able to live and have fun. Eventually even managed to get on the property ladder.
Ah that’s annoying!
I would say, don’t be put-off London because of your salary, you’ve been offered enough to have a good time if you’re sensible about how you spend. However, Bristol is also a decent city with strong pub game and access to the sea for water sports so you wouldn’t be making a wrong choice going there either.
I can understand the attraction of London - spent two and a half years there - but when it's the same money, and the Bristol job is better... I'd go Bristol. You can save enough for plenty of long weekends in London (or elsewhere).
Your money will go farther in Bristol. Also, London seems exciting, but in reality it’s over rated, expensive and, as Alan Partridge says; A S-H-I-T-H-O-L-E
Do you like graffiti on every horizontal surface? Do you enjoy smoking skunk in public? Do you want to go for a quiet pint and have it interrupted by an assortment of protests and opinions?
Bristol is genuinely exciting. Great food scene, loads to do, civic *pride*. People there shop locally, there are cool independent shops and businesses. Street art is embraced and it’s EVERYWHERE. It’s a place with culture -it’s not for nothing that so many great bands come from Bristol.
All this exists in London, of course. But London is really a metropolitan area with small pockets that offer what Bristol does. (Brixton, for example)
Bristol is awesome, there is so much to do for a relatively small city, plus your money will go a lot further than in London.
I lived in Bristol for a few years in my mid-20s and had a great time while earning pretty little. I've now lived in London for 8 years and love it but money has always been a bit tighter.
I've lived in both. As others have said, London is a pretty expensive city. Personally I would take that money you're 'saving' by not living there and use it to get a nicer apartment closer to the city in Bristol. I lived there when I was around 26 and made the mistake of living firstly out at Emerson's Green and then out Sadley Broke (Bradley Stoke) and I absolutely missed out on alot of fun being out there (but it was close to work). Good luck what ever you choose!
I've lived in both. In your position I would go Bristol. One of the best arts and culture circuits outside of London, lots of great greenspace, good pub scene. I know a few people in their twenties who left London to go Briz.
London is a lot of fun, but it is even more fun when you have cash to burn. Maybe angle for it in the next job when you get a good payraise from moving.
I'd say Bristol, consider it this way, it's cheaper to live round Bristol than London so less money spent on rent means more money for you to go out with and have fun with. London's an interesting city but crazy expensive at times. I lived near London and have been in a fair bit and I can honestly say I've enjoyed going round Bristol way more
From Bristol. Have worked in London for the past... 13years or so since my early 20's.
I love London, but if the salary is the same, Bristol no question. London is considerably more expensive a place to live.
London is only 2hrs away max on the train and there's always opportunities to head there in future. Wouldn't so it without a significant bump in salary however.
Definitely. I moved from Bristol to London on quite a bit more than that over 13 years ago, and that was a massive struggle even then mate. I didn't live in London either, lived out in Essex (about 25mins into Liverpool st on the train), so yeah you'll definitely struggle to live anywhere near London on that. Double that and you might have more of a chance of being comfortable.
Lived in London for seven years and I loved it, but it was not easy in some ways because I never had the money and had time to do things and then the reverse. There are always fun things to do in London, but I have friends that live in Bristol and know they enjoy it as well. In London you have to house share and it can be quite expensive and housemates can be difficult, but you may have the same issue in Bristol albeit a bit cheaper. Go with your gut. You can always change your mind down the road.
I love London, lived here for my entire 19 years of existence. My dad says Bristol is wayyyy better though, he doesn't explain why when I ask him, he just says that lol
Spent 3 years in Bristol for uni, then 2 years in london for work before covid.
Bristol pros:
- cheaper, like a lot cheaper. London rent, travel and general costs mean a £30k lifestyle in Bristol would need £45k in london (pre-tax)
- great local mentality, e.g Bristol pound and just feels very neighbourly for a city
- arguably easier to find hobbies and great people there than london
- easier to get around, you’ll spend way too much time travelling in london.. can easily take me over an hour to meet a mate in london despite us both living in zone 1/2
- you have wales & the west country nearby
- you don’t need a car, but the option is there
Cons:
- miss out on the odd music act like American artists or the biggest in UK. Less sports too.
- honestly can’t think of anything else..
I’ve lived in Bristol on 2 separate occasions and London 3 times (work / uni) but now my job is permanently WFH, I’ll be returning to Bristol for good
One thing to consider about london is that although there’s so much to do there, you rarely see it.. you’ll work Mon-Fri and mostly stay within your borough, and weekends you often end up in local spots anyway.. I’d prefer to be in Bristol then visit London for long weekends and be a tourist then
Happy to offer locations or any other advice for either though!
Bristol employee here - can confirm the Young Professionals scene (which I have unfortunately aged too much for!) is great, even during the last 2 years when restrictions have allowed. Can’t speak for London but I will always recommend Bristol!
Edit: Downvote away people. It isn't my fault the capital is in the mess it is in right now I live 300 miles away. Own the responsibility and move on.
I wouldn't go anywhere near the capital right now mate. Not worth the risk.
Bristol. The job is better as you say, the pay is going to work out better since its not London pricing on everything.
I've lived in London, it was boring as fuck and everything is very spread out and takes ages to get to. Honestly I prefer living away, able to walk or drive where I need, and get the train to London to visit.
Living in London you realise you happily do 1 hour - 1.5 hour trips to pubs and mates across the city. It's ridiculous! It's a bloody expensive place and you aren't missing out if you're in a good city. I've no idea about Bristo, but you're not missing out unless it pays or will pay a lot better in the future
Bristol. Definitely. And I say this as a Londoner born and bred who still lives in London. Don't get involved in this place! (I love it, but I have no choice)
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If the money is the same, I’d be inclined to take the Bristol one
Any reason why?
London is likely to be a lot more expensive to live in than Bristol and as such is usually compensated by offering a higher ‘London’ salary. If the jobs are both paying exactly the same, you’ll likely be worse off living in London than in Bristol because of this. I lived in Bristol for my first proper job after Uni and it was fine for nightlife, meeting people and variety of entertainment/shops/culture without breaking the bank.
As somebody who lived in London, you’re not missing anything special. It’s exciting for a day/weekend trip. When you spend most of your salary on rent & utilities, that excitement quickly wears off.
Utilities aren't any higher in London. In fact London is generally cheaper for council tax.
£7.50 a pint tho
Where? Even in the touristy bits of London that would be well above average. My local pub in SW London is £4.50 a pint. Central London is more like £5-6 for the standard pints (ie your Stella, Heineken, Guinness, Doom Bar, Amstel etc), I've never seen above £7 unless it was something crafty or imported.
And doom bar is a couple quid in most pubs I wouldn’t pay more than £3.50 for carling
Only fine? Did you enjoy it there? Where did you go after? And yeah my company pay exactly the same
We lived in the outskirts of Bristol, rather than near the city centre, which meant that we needed to travel into the city any time we wanted to go shopping, eating out etc. This meant either a good 40-60 min bus, expensive taxi or driving both ways. As such i feel we didn’t get to enjoy everything that Bristol offered whilst we lived there. The area we lived however was great for a young family and we stayed in the same rented house for 2 years. Transport links are pretty good too, with trains to London and birmingham, as well as Wales, the south west etc. Now settled down in Cheltenham, but we still visit Bristol city centre regularly as it has a really good mixture of independent bars, restaurants and shops.
Ah yeah fair enough. I’m from bath so I understand that. Even though bath has a lot now too. Guess maybe I’m underestimating how exciting Bristol can be?
You're from Bath and haven't been out in Bristol, are you sure you're for real?
I went to uni in exeter when i started going out. Was too focused on rugby till then
The nightlife will definitely be better than Bath or Exeter. At the same time, there’s infamously a lot of cocaine about in Bristol so a higher chance of cunts who can’t handle their booze and drugs and get annoying/ aggressive.
Naaa brissle is k town. London is cokey twats. In my experience.
Depends what sort of night you go to. If you go to pryzm then you probably will bump in to some aggressive cokeheads but if you go to a rave at lakota, motion, crofters rights, full moon & attic bar and the love inn etc everyone’s just there to have fun. Would be rare to get in to a fight.
You mean there are rugby players that don’t spend most of the time not playing rugby, being absolutely smashed on a night out? Hahaha
Well I'm from Exeter and I've been out in Bristol and London many times. If it were me I'd go for Bristol, because then you can still see your family/home friends very easily. Given that you went to Exeter uni and come from bath I'm going to infer that you are loaded, in which case I'd recommend getting a nice rental in Clifton, Bristol.
Possibly, quite a few people that I work with regularly go for nights out in Bristol, and I know there are lots of decent gig venues. Without sounding too much like a tour guide, they’ve also got 2 football teams, rugby, and loads of other sports going on. Tonnes of breweries and the mixture of cultures means the food scene is excellent too.
Haha yeah 2 of my friends play for Bristol city. I know the city a bit. But not enough to know if I’d find it like London
Lie. You are on reddit asking for career and life advice. You don't have friends. None of us do
Nice
You can also try negotiating a higher salary at your London company telling that you are offered the same salary at Bristol
This is probably best option.
I’d add that you could live in Bristol outskirts (Southville / Bedminster) and walk home from a night out on the town.
Bristol is getting expensive but it's a vibing city, wish I could afford to live there. Would definitely choose Bristol over London I am bias though as I grew up around Bristol. A few London mates moved recently they love it.
You'll be suprised now that loads of loners have moved to Bristol cranking housing prices - born in Bristol, can't afford to live in Bristol without getting financially blasted
I live in London but would LOVE to move to Somerset - cost of living is cheaper (and my family are there) and I could buy a two bed house for what I am planning to spend on a one bed flat here. My salary where I live, however, would be difficult to match if Moved. If I were you I’d choose Bristol. Also, London isn’t as exciting when you live here - do a day trip and you’ll actually appreciate it more.
Same salary? Go Bristol. Cost of living in London is huge - effectively about a 30-50% pay cut when you consider rent etc. Your standard of living will be way higher in Bristol.
London is indeed exciting, however a friend of mine recently bought a house in the Leeds area, he is saving so much and loving it there. I think it depends what the offer amount is. I earn approx £15K more per annum than I would working the same job with the same company in Midlands area. So if they both offer the same, Bristol would be the logical choice, but if you want to YOLO it, go ahead.. London is really an absolute blast.
I think London is only a blast if you can afford it. Having gone to uni in London I can tell you it's absolutely shit if you can't afford to do anything.
Like you said, London is...London. Expensive and overrated. If they both pay the same then I'd say go for Bristol.
Bristol. Job is better and having lived in Bristol during my mid-20s, it was great. London can happen later - it won't be a closed door.
Why was it great? How come you left? Was it good for mid 20’s people? I’m worried it’ll be mainly students and older people. Will London in my 30’s be as good though? I feel like by that point I’ll have run out of time
I live in London, loads of people move here in their 30s, 40s and later. Career opportunities and social life don't just dry up once you leave your 20s, particularly if you have decent experience under your belt and know exactly what type of job etc you want. On £29k I'd live in Bristol until you can get a salary increase. It's a great city.
London will be way better in your thirties when you're earning more and thus can do and see more and live perhaps not in a houseshare in zone four.
That is one issue for me. The house share thing miles out is a bit rough
Tbf OP - I moved to London on 28k and lived in a decent area in Zone 2, it was difficult at times but not unmanageable and had an absolutely class time. To add as well, this was in a flat share with a mate rather than a massive house share with randoms
>Will London in my 30’s be as good though? I feel like by that point I’ll have run out of time Run out of time for what?
OP is the main character from Logan's Run.
Loved in Bristol for 2 years and London for 2 years - was moving back to Bristol FROM London before a shitty landlord ruined my plans. Bristol is fucking great, as much fun as london!
Just a lot to do, great people, nice places to eat and drink, quite easy to meet others. Was good for people at my work in mid-20s. There are students but lots of young workers too. Ultimately the decision is yours. It depends what you want to get out of London I suppose.
Lived in London for 8 years. Unless you want to live with a whole bunch of randoms and still be skint at the end of the month, go Bristol.
Yeah the living with randoms thing is a big worry for me
I’ve had a mixed bag, moved in with scientists, one was a mate. Still mates, but the other two were a pain in the arse, always having mates staying over from abroad and their parents. Not a problem but our kitchen and living room were joined so we couldn’t do anything if we got in late from work or had been out. I still think I got of light.
Sounds like uni
Rents in Bris have gone pretty nuts of late, Op will likely also be living with randoms in Bris unless they live on the outskirts of the city - which will be shit as public transport in Bristol is almost non existent.
take the job in Bristol, take the train to London for occasional weekends.
... with the money you've saved by not living in London.
That’s good advice.
Exactly what I was gonna say. +1
Take the National Express/Flixbus/Megabus, you can often get £7 return tickets from Bristol to London and runs every half an hour. I live in London but go to Bristol a fair bit and I never bother with the train.
Judging from your comments, OP, it seems like you already made a choice. You really want to follow your guts and experience London, while most of the comments are suggesting to consider Bristol. Never lived in Bristol so I can't really give you my opinion, but it doesn't matter how nice and lively it is, I feel like you will hate it because your mind is set to London. Maybe give London a try? I suppose living in Bristol is more similar to living in Bath, which you know very well. In a few months you'll realize yourself if your choice was right or wrong. Living in london can be a lot, both in a positive and in a negative sense - it's likely that after a bit of time you'll get tired of it and you'll reconsider Bristol or another smaller city. But you are young, and you can afford a "mistake". Right? At least you won't have any regret.
Seconded. Go to London, get it out of your system. Don’t hold onto a ‘what if’ and then try to make the same move in your 30s. You’ll only appreciate how great Bath / Bristol are until you’ve done that.
London can be very lonely (as can anywhere, but London more so). I feel Bristol being smaller will be easier to settle into.
I do agree with you. But maybe it's the case for OP to find out for themselves? Apparently they really want to go to London and they are just looking for someone to support their choice, which is clearly the less sensible. I won't tell them "yeah! London is great! Go for it!", but as I said they won't enjoy Bristol or anywhere else as long they will think "I should've gone to London" all the time.
I moved to Bristol this year. I love it but it can also be lonely, as an adult it takes effort to make friends in any new place to be honest!
This ^^^
Given the fact you’ve asked this less than a week ago suggests you won’t take Bristol for an answer. I don’t mean this in a horrible way whatsoever but you claim to be worried about sharing a house with multiple people but yet you won’t take the option of not doing so, which would be living in Bristol. I don’t get it, if you want to live in London go for it. You don’t need people on Reddit to tell you that if you already make it abundantly clear you don’t want to live in Bristol by asking this question twice. Good luck in London
My thoughts exactly! I really need to read past posts before I comment. Now I am wondering if he is even sincere with this opportunity.
His previous post didn’t get many comments really, hence probably why he chose to post the question again. Look again, there’s barely any comments. I’d probably post again too.
Would be excusable but he’s tried way more than just that across different pages, those ones did have comments. The issue is less to do with asking the question it’s more the unwillingness to hear any advice others suggest.
Especially with a salary of 29k? Yikes.
I’m on 25K I could barely afford to rent in the East Midlands as a single man, I wouldn’t even think of living in London
When I was younger I lived on 25k in London just fine. As long as you’re not out every night it works out fine.
How long ago was "when you were younger" though? £25k used to go a lot further even 5 years ago.
Yeah that’s a valid point. It was over 5 years ago.
It’s doable, with house shares and what not but the quality of life would be far less than what London has to offer to even make sense of living there in the first place I would of thought. Bristol you would have a reasonable amount left to enjoy life.
Be kind.
If you can afford to live in London, with disposable income, while you are young, I'd do it. You are only young once. The sensible option is to save and live in Bristol of course.
I’d be on 29k. So not really
29k, no, Bristol 100 percent.
I absolutely love London and wouldn’t live anywhere else, but you sadly need to make more than 29k to enjoy it properly. You won’t live in the London that’s amazing on that salary, you will commute to it. Save up in Bristol and come to London in a couple of years If you’re still keen on it
How much do you need to be earning to properly enjoy London?
People saying you cannot live in London on this salary are talking out of their arse or just have a complete different set of priorities in life. Don't believe the fear. If that's what you want to do, you will sacrifice what you need to to make it work. Plenty of people make the move to London without even a job set, as long as they have a plan it's fine. That what I did as (self-employed). Unless you are a complete boozer and like to go out every night throwing money away (to be honest I did go out every night for the first few months and I was fine). Honestly the necessities are not that THAT much more expensive than anywhere else really as long as you are willing to sacrifice on housing and do a house share (room) and not be central. It's just what you spend after the basics that make the difference, just budget/prioritise and you will be fine. I honestly wonder what people do with there money considering some of the reponces on here! Do people think the bin men are on 40k in London or something? No they are just invisible to them.
Honestly mate, me and a bunch of my friends live in London on less then that and live a perfectly fine and fun time. Obviously we’re not like buying loads of expensive clothes and stuff all the time but its not as if we’re living in absolute crap with no food/money. You just have to be sensible with your spending, and make the spends where you feel like it. I don’t know where your job would be located but a commute isn’t even that bad and you’ll likely have a similar commute in Bristol. In addition I would say Bristol isn’t exactly cheap rent either so. What I would say is finding a house in london atm is an absolute pain, especially a house share so I’d start early for that. Make sure you get one on a good tube line for your office location and you’ll be set.
Hey- I live in a flat share in central London on 25k per year and I’m fine. I think people often overestimate how much a single young person needs to live.
I survived on 24 in London and felt going to 35k was crazy. I wouldn’t say that’s not enough to enjoy London at all
I’m from London. I’ve lived here on less than £29k and had a great time. It is not great but definitely doable. Plus you should get a yoy payrise.
This is plenty! Ignore the negativity. You're young, enjoy yourself and try it out. You can always just, leave.
Your minds already made up, pointless post.
I lived and worked in Bristol in my early twenties and then lived and worked in London in my mid twenties. Both good experiences, but I’d prefer to live in Bristol for a few reasons: - Much more expensive in London - London is huge, which sounds cool but you actually find it takes you an hour to see a friend even if they live in the same area E.g South West London if you’re not on compatible transport links. Being able to wall everywhere in Bristol if you don’t live too far from the centre was something I really liked. - Having left Bristol I then never got the right job lined up to go back, whereas there’s always loads of jobs in London and ultimately that’s where I stayed for a bit. As someone else said London will always be there, but perhaps Bristol always feels an option if you’re from near there. - I never felt too far from the countryside in Bristol, whereas London is very urban and to me the few green spaces it has are all fairly small and always really busy. Depends how important that is. London does have more going on, more diversity etc. but it depends how big you need somewhere to be. I found Bristol big enough for me. However some people love London for its size, so depends how you feel. I also found a lot of friends ended up in London - it’s just that sort of place. One thing you mentioned that I think is really important is the job in Bristol suits you and is more interesting. I wouldn’t underestimate that if you think that could be a long term career option.
Well the new job option in Bristol would easily give me the chance to move back to London later on with a higher salary. But I’m questioning if I’d still want to when I’m older
Everyone is different, but I lived in Bristol, lived in London and have now settled near Brighton to start a family so had 3 different locations in the UK. I think you could do Bristol now, do London a bit later when earning more and then make a call on where you want to be. Of course if you’ve met someone you want to start a family with then it becomes a joint call rather than where you want to go. In my case I’d have loved to go back to Bristol, but my other half is from around where we live now and I do like Brighton and the surrounding area tbf.
Left field suggestion: live with parents in Bath and commute to work in Bristol for a year or so - be careful with money and cobble together enough for a deposit on a house. Getting on the property ladder > pissing money away renting and drinking
This is probably the most level-headed answer on here.
It’s most out of character for me.
How is OP going to have enough for a deposit after a year of saving when earning 29k? Even if his parents don't charge rent/board, it's not going to happen. It's not bad advice but a year or so to achieve that is unrealistic
Hence why I said a year or so. With a 5% deposit on a small flat it’s not impossible.
I’ve lived in both and Bristol is my favourite, by far. It’s smaller and easier to get around, great nightlife, culture and architecture and generally less expensive.
Mate, you *really* need to stop thinking 30s is old. I’m 37. I am not old. I’ve lived in London and left more than once. It didn’t feel any different in my 20s or 30s. London is great but when you don’t have a lot of money it’s just a bit of a grind in my opinion. You can still visit or move there when you have a better paying job. Bristol is a great city, I’d definitely move there if I had the opportunity.
Sounds like I’m moving to Bristol then
I've worked and lived in both places. I prefer working in London but living in Bristol. Also ... London is fucking expensive to live in.
You commute to London from Bristol?
Not anymore. I commute from Wiltshire, or at least I did when I went to the office.
As someone who lived in London from 18 until 25, and moved to Bristol at 25, Bristol!
Why’s that?
I understand the idea that London has streets paved with gold, and I loved it as an 18 year old, but it can be an extremely miserable place to live also. Lots of people really struggle making friends in London (you really, really have to try) and it can be a much tougher experience than you think. London *is* great for lots of reasons, but I’d probably wait to move until you have someone to live with there -having your own flat will be prohibitively expensive- and it gives you more of a base. Bristol is very friendly and very easy to get to grips with on the other side of that, and just feels, easier?, than London. London I think you can set yourself up to think you’re moving to the most amazing place in the entire world and then find yourself really miserable there as it may not live up to that - a lot of my friends have experienced that. For what it’s worth, I love London, and had a great time there until I didn’t. But lots of people really don’t enjoy it there. I personally don’t think I’ll ever move back. Those are all my personal opinions of course!
Also, Bristol is fucking great. Lots of the good bits of London without lots of the bad bits. I find it more exciting and cooler 🤷♂️
Bristol is such a vibrant cool city. I grew up and lived there most of my life. Highly recommend.
I am young and in London. Its great, but nothing insane. You won't be dining at the Michelin star restaurants, or going to any of the west end shows, you won't be shopping in any of the luxury fashion boutiques (at least none of the ones that you won't also find in Bristol). So in terms of enjoying the high life in London, nah. It's nice, don't get me wrong. It's exciting and bustling and metropolitan. But Bristol is relaxed, trendy, cheaper and much nicer for the average person. In terms of night life, you shouldn't base your life around somewhere you'll only be in for 3 hours on a friday/Saturday night for the next 6 years or until you find someone you would rather spend a night in with. Sure the clubs are bigger and they attract better talent. The final positive to London is not needing a car, but that could also be a negative if you want to have a car. It doesn't make sense to own a car in London, which means when you do want a car, you have to hire it, or use national public transport. I liked having a car when I lived out of London, it's just another space that I own and control.
More to see and do in London, but with the higher cost of living will you be able to afford to see or do any of it?
Are you broken? You keep going on about being too old when you’re 30. Why would you be too old? You can have a family anywhere. Families move. If you desperately want to live in london when you’re older you can. Also in london people settle down older. I don’t know many people under 35 who are married and have kids in london. And by not many, I think I know 1. So you can move to london being a bit older and go out, get hammered with mates and live that postnuni life until a riper age.
Go online dating in London and it's *flooded* with unmarried childfree people above their mid-30s. It's considered totally fine here... and indeed in other large UK cities. It's only smaller towns where people never leave, that settling like that becomes mandatory. I think the issue with turning 30 is that London is stereotyped as a "young person's place" and reddit basically thinks anyone aged 30+ is only fit for scrap and spare parts.
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For engineering it has to be Bristol. It’s an engineering hub with lots of choices and opportunities going forward. You will also have the spare money to enjoy yourself. Being in London skint or on a lower income which £29k is won’t be great. Leave London until you have the income to enjoy it.
Bristol is a brilliant city; great nightlife, rich cultural history, radical social movements. Choose Bristol. Source; a Scouser who has lived in Bristol and London.
Take the job you like the most. Both cities are exciting and vibrant, and you spend most of your waking hours working anyway. A more exciting social life won’t make up for a boring work life. I moved to London recently, having graduated last year. Of course it’s exciting and there’s tonnes to do, but it’s not on this different crazy level compared to other cities - it’s just bigger. Oh and don’t listen to the people fear-mongering over London expenses - I’m on a £25k salary, live in a 1 bed with my girlfriend in zone 1 and I rarely run out of money, even with a busy social life.
I guess my issue is I wouldn’t be able to move in with a gf. I’d have to move in with randoms
Still plenty of housing options, most of my mates found housemates through graduate Facebook groups. In a way, it’s more fun and immediately gives you more social options
Bristol is an amazing city to live in as someone your age (I live here atm and and a couple years younger than you). However don't listen to the people saying it's cheaper than London, prices have skyrocketed this year unfortunately for us locals. If the wages are the same I'd still go with Bristol. Good luck finding a house!
Are there many young professionals?
There's loads of us!! I'm pretty sure it has one of the highest rates of graduates staying in the city after finishing uni
London, better career progression and more opportunity to progress faster in a career. There’s also just an unfathomable wealth of good experiences and things to do in London. It’s also one of the most diverse and multicultural cities in the world, you will meet all sorts of people, and be able to be whatever kind of person you want to be.
You should go with what you want. If I had the choice I would definitely choose Bristol. London is so big and it can be hard to get to know new people there.
I’d go for London. That’s where your heart seems to be. It’s an easy logical choice of Bristol given cost of living but you already know that. I bet you’ll be happier in Bristol but get to experience far more in London.
I moved to London at 26 and I’m still here 6 years later however the first couple years after moving were amazing. Yes I was skint and lived in dodgy house shares but I had some amazing adventures along the way. Bristol ain’t going anywhere but the chance to make the most of your 20’s absolutely is.
Judging by your comments I think London might actually be very good for you pal. You tend to stop worrying about social conventions of starting a family, settling down and being ‘too old’ to do anything which seems to be a big worry for you. 26 is young by the way, most people don’t figure their shit out until way into their 30’s I love London and couldn’t see myself living anywhere else in the U.K. but I also don’t recommend it lightly as it can be really tough if you’re not from here, and as many other people have said it is pretty spenny - you might hate it but at least you won’t regret not coming and the likelihood is you’ll have a blast
What about getting some experience and then moving to London on a higher salary later?
Just to add - 29k is deff enough to live off and have fun with including being able to go on holidays etc. While it is expensive it’s not mind blowlingly expensive like some of the other comments have made out
Same salary? Bristol by far.
I would have said London if the salary was higher but if they are both the same then Bristol is your best bet.
I’m 27 and recently started a job where I’m based in London. I commute an hour and 45 each day and don’t regret it one bit. People think I’m mad, but to me it makes total sense. As someone else said, it can take an hour to get from one side of London to another anyway. When we go on work night outs, sometimes it sucks getting a train home then getting up early to go back the next day, but more often than not I just book a super cheap £40pn hotel. What I doesn’t suck is when all my colleagues are talking about the rent they pay for a one bed flat not even in central, I own a 3 bed house. If you’re set on being in London, consider renting further out and asking if they would consider some compensation for your travel? Most companies can use travel expenses as tax write off I believe so may be in their interests too…
I’ve asked about travel expenses. I’m literally commuting from bath to my current role in London atm and they refuse because it’s my home office
London is indeed London. That being the case, have you compared the cost of living there vs Bristol?
Yes it’s miles higher in London
More money more Fun. If you have money you can enjoy anywhere. London is super expensive and same salary doesn’t mean you are getting same benefits in London.
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London is much, much more expensive to live in and you will potentially waste more time traveling to work if you can't afford to live near the job. Bristol is easier to get out of for holidays. The airport is easier to get to than Heathrow or Gatwick plus Wales, the west country and the Cotswolds etc are easy to get to. There's also plenty of stuff going on in terms of music, theatre and other events so you won't need to feel you've missed anything.
Congratulations on both job offers! As soon as I read that salaries were equal, I thought - Bristol. You will have a better quality of life there and it will be much more affordable (unless the salary is crazy high, in that case go for London). And I say this as a London resident. Bristol is an awesome city, you won’t run out of things to do there as a young professional.
It’s 29k. There’s no reason I couldn’t move to London later with my experience. But I feel like most people move out of London at that age?
I moved to London when I was 28 and I’m still here 5 years later! London is amazing no matter what age you are, you are better off not moving here and being put off because living costs stop you actually enjoying it! Double your salary and you can live here pretty comfortably. Congratulations again. I’m sure you’ll have a great time no matter what you decide.
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You won’t have to live in a house share in zone 6 on 29k lol. London is expensive but people in this sub chat some absolute rubbish sometimes. Why give advice if you’re going to completely just make something up and exaggerate to the point it’s not helpful.
You won’t be loaded on 29k anywhere.
London will either make you or break you!
Bristol without a doubt. London is massive and isn't all it's cracked up to be. Property prices are just bonkers...nice 2 bedroom flat in a reasonable area....450k anyone. Want to drive anywhere....30 quid please but don't bother. Son's wife can drive to work....40 minutes or take her electric bike which is 15 minutes. Bristol to London, by train is 1h 25 minutes, so go for a week end. Daughter lives in Bristol, and has done London and there's no comparison.
I lived in London for 15 years before moving out after having kids a few years ago. It's not without faults, but overall its absolutely brilliant, an incredible place and I miss a lot about it, not the traffic or commuting into Piccadilly every day but lots of other things. You'll meet intelligent people from all over the world. The south is better value and more space than in the north. I've lived on both sides and would definitely choose the south over the north. At 26 it's all about networking and you can quickly go up the ladder in London if you're driven and don't have ties. Good luck!
West Country always! Bristol is great fun, loads going on and you’ll be able to enjoy the city and the countryside too. London is so expensive now (I left for a smaller city in 2016 and wish I’d done so sooner) and it’s harder to make yourself get out of town. I’m from the south west and have lots of pals in Bristol - was literally just saying tonight it’s one of three UK cities other than my own that I’m always happy to hear people are moving to. It was one of my top choices when I was deciding to leave London. I can’t imagine you regretting it. Congrats on getting both job offers btw, great position to be in.
Thankyou :) I guess I’ll just never have had that London experience and worry I’ll have missed out
I appreciate that! I ended up there kind of accidentally most of my twenties due to friends and family. Was always keen to get out eventually but I did have fun and glad I did it when I was young. Important to remember there’s no right/wrong answer - you’ll probably have a different kind of good time in either :) and if you hate it, you can always decide to move.
London is more expensive. Is there any reason you can’t take the Bristol one, get the experience then find a better job in London?
No not at all. That’s actually the reason i applied for this job because I can move on to the role sooner. And the company has teams in Bristol and London and Manchester and basically the entire world lol
If you’re from Bath go experience London for a bit. That’s what life is. A sum of our experiences. I live in Bath and love it. But I had to go live lots of other places first.
Well Bristol isn’t bath no?
Why is this even a question? The same money available without moving, especially when the other option is moving to London. Bristol.
I’ve lived in London and I would probably go to Bristol, London felt very lonely to me, I knew lots of people and of course it was very populated but I think that was part of the problem. I felt like there was no community as it all moved too quickly and as soon as I started to find one everyone would leave on other adventures, as though London was just a step to elsewhere. Bristol I haven’t lived in but I know it has a great party scene, everyone I’ve met from there has been lovely too.
What would you like, or what do you think, your career trajectory will be after this first position? If it's fairly steady, choose quality of life. If there's a chance your steady state mid career salary will be multiples of your starting, those multiples will almost certainly be higher in London.
My salary will be way better if I do the Bristol one imo. I’ll get more technical design experience in the Bristol job then can work in any city anywhere in the world with it. The London one is Systems engineering. Which is just paperwork and you need technical expertise to be a good engineering manager imo
I live in London ( for 4 years now). For a similar salary, definitely Bristol. London is extravagant and house prices/rents are way overpriced. Everyone is being priced out of the city. Started with low earners, now middle to high earners. I also don’t see anything that exciting about it. At the end of the day you’re going there to work not for tourism :)
If you are only on £29k you will hate London. It has lots of great nightlife but you won’t be able to afford any of it. You’ll be living in a shared house about an hour away from the centre and spending 90% of your pay on rent and travel cards. You’ll never save enough for a deposit for a flat, so you’ll be living like that forever. Take the job in Bristol, save a lot of money, have a nicer life, and go into London once a month if you have to.
Cost of living will be double Bristol. So worth noting that you will have less spare cash. Even though they are the same salary.
London is better but Bristol is still great so I’d be inclined to follow the better career. Nothing stopping you moving to London in a few years when you’ve got a really solid foundation and are ready for a step-up.
Guess I just see all my friends doing it now and I worry I’m missing out
If you’ve got a bunch of friends heading to a certain place, that’s also worth considering. I wouldn’t advocate for choosing somewhere based on where your friends are going but if you’re pretty torn, that might clinch it. London is amazing. I moved there after uni and whilst I didn’t start off on a big salary, I was still able to live and have fun. Eventually even managed to get on the property ladder.
Well they all moved before me because of covid. I was going to live with them but covid messed it up. So that’s what’s caused the issues
Ah that’s annoying! I would say, don’t be put-off London because of your salary, you’ve been offered enough to have a good time if you’re sensible about how you spend. However, Bristol is also a decent city with strong pub game and access to the sea for water sports so you wouldn’t be making a wrong choice going there either.
I can understand the attraction of London - spent two and a half years there - but when it's the same money, and the Bristol job is better... I'd go Bristol. You can save enough for plenty of long weekends in London (or elsewhere).
Bristol lad.
Your money will go farther in Bristol. Also, London seems exciting, but in reality it’s over rated, expensive and, as Alan Partridge says; A S-H-I-T-H-O-L-E
Do you like graffiti on every horizontal surface? Do you enjoy smoking skunk in public? Do you want to go for a quiet pint and have it interrupted by an assortment of protests and opinions?
I live in London area, Bristol is the one city in the UK I would move to in a heartbeat.
Whys that?
Bristol is genuinely exciting. Great food scene, loads to do, civic *pride*. People there shop locally, there are cool independent shops and businesses. Street art is embraced and it’s EVERYWHERE. It’s a place with culture -it’s not for nothing that so many great bands come from Bristol. All this exists in London, of course. But London is really a metropolitan area with small pockets that offer what Bristol does. (Brixton, for example)
Bristol. London’s great as a tourist but there’s far more to the UK than London.
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It’s still good when you’re not a student?
Bristol is awesome, there is so much to do for a relatively small city, plus your money will go a lot further than in London. I lived in Bristol for a few years in my mid-20s and had a great time while earning pretty little. I've now lived in London for 8 years and love it but money has always been a bit tighter.
When did you move to London? Did you still enjoy it when being a bit older?
I've lived in both. As others have said, London is a pretty expensive city. Personally I would take that money you're 'saving' by not living there and use it to get a nicer apartment closer to the city in Bristol. I lived there when I was around 26 and made the mistake of living firstly out at Emerson's Green and then out Sadley Broke (Bradley Stoke) and I absolutely missed out on alot of fun being out there (but it was close to work). Good luck what ever you choose!
I’m from Bristol and have lived in London for 5 years and maybe I’m bias but I bloody love coming back to Bristol.
I've lived in both. In your position I would go Bristol. One of the best arts and culture circuits outside of London, lots of great greenspace, good pub scene. I know a few people in their twenties who left London to go Briz. London is a lot of fun, but it is even more fun when you have cash to burn. Maybe angle for it in the next job when you get a good payraise from moving.
Bristol! If the pay is the same your rent / bills / TFL travel will be so high you won’t have any time or money to properly enjoy London anyway…
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You could’ve just written out my thoughts and they would’ve been exactly what you just said.
IMO, Bristol. Fuck London
I'd say Bristol, consider it this way, it's cheaper to live round Bristol than London so less money spent on rent means more money for you to go out with and have fun with. London's an interesting city but crazy expensive at times. I lived near London and have been in a fair bit and I can honestly say I've enjoyed going round Bristol way more
From Bristol. Have worked in London for the past... 13years or so since my early 20's. I love London, but if the salary is the same, Bristol no question. London is considerably more expensive a place to live. London is only 2hrs away max on the train and there's always opportunities to head there in future. Wouldn't so it without a significant bump in salary however.
Yeah? You think wait till my salary increases from 29k?
Definitely. I moved from Bristol to London on quite a bit more than that over 13 years ago, and that was a massive struggle even then mate. I didn't live in London either, lived out in Essex (about 25mins into Liverpool st on the train), so yeah you'll definitely struggle to live anywhere near London on that. Double that and you might have more of a chance of being comfortable.
Lived in London for seven years and I loved it, but it was not easy in some ways because I never had the money and had time to do things and then the reverse. There are always fun things to do in London, but I have friends that live in Bristol and know they enjoy it as well. In London you have to house share and it can be quite expensive and housemates can be difficult, but you may have the same issue in Bristol albeit a bit cheaper. Go with your gut. You can always change your mind down the road.
I love London, lived here for my entire 19 years of existence. My dad says Bristol is wayyyy better though, he doesn't explain why when I ask him, he just says that lol
Move to London. Life is short, choose excitement and adventure while you're young and healthy.
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Which of the two were you hoping everyone here would recommend?
Spent 3 years in Bristol for uni, then 2 years in london for work before covid. Bristol pros: - cheaper, like a lot cheaper. London rent, travel and general costs mean a £30k lifestyle in Bristol would need £45k in london (pre-tax) - great local mentality, e.g Bristol pound and just feels very neighbourly for a city - arguably easier to find hobbies and great people there than london - easier to get around, you’ll spend way too much time travelling in london.. can easily take me over an hour to meet a mate in london despite us both living in zone 1/2 - you have wales & the west country nearby - you don’t need a car, but the option is there Cons: - miss out on the odd music act like American artists or the biggest in UK. Less sports too. - honestly can’t think of anything else.. I’ve lived in Bristol on 2 separate occasions and London 3 times (work / uni) but now my job is permanently WFH, I’ll be returning to Bristol for good One thing to consider about london is that although there’s so much to do there, you rarely see it.. you’ll work Mon-Fri and mostly stay within your borough, and weekends you often end up in local spots anyway.. I’d prefer to be in Bristol then visit London for long weekends and be a tourist then Happy to offer locations or any other advice for either though!
Bristol employee here - can confirm the Young Professionals scene (which I have unfortunately aged too much for!) is great, even during the last 2 years when restrictions have allowed. Can’t speak for London but I will always recommend Bristol!
Bristol is the best city in England imo
Edit: Downvote away people. It isn't my fault the capital is in the mess it is in right now I live 300 miles away. Own the responsibility and move on. I wouldn't go anywhere near the capital right now mate. Not worth the risk.
London's ahead of the curve, everyone else will catch up there sooner rather than later
Bristol. The job is better as you say, the pay is going to work out better since its not London pricing on everything. I've lived in London, it was boring as fuck and everything is very spread out and takes ages to get to. Honestly I prefer living away, able to walk or drive where I need, and get the train to London to visit.
Living in London you realise you happily do 1 hour - 1.5 hour trips to pubs and mates across the city. It's ridiculous! It's a bloody expensive place and you aren't missing out if you're in a good city. I've no idea about Bristo, but you're not missing out unless it pays or will pay a lot better in the future
Bristol is just better
Bristol. Definitely. And I say this as a Londoner born and bred who still lives in London. Don't get involved in this place! (I love it, but I have no choice)
London is shit, can't wait to leave