Where?
The county town of Hertfordshire, 20 miles north of London.
Why now?
While Hertford is close enough to London for a comfortable commute two or three days a week, it is far from suburban. It’s a lively, attractive town with a 600-year-old architectural mix: timbered medieval, handsome Georgian and pretty terraced Victorian cottages near the rivers, of which there are three, plus a canal with houseboats. There are many good schools, both state and private, with Simon Balle All-through School (ages 4-18) and Abel Smith primary both rated outstanding by Ofsted. More riverside apartments are going up at Lea Wharf in the town centre, a significant development replacing a 1980s shopping center that will add waterfront restaurants to the already generous choice for eating