Stevenage in general

Stevenage is similar to areas such as Basingstoke or Southend - lots of locals who have been in the area for ages and parents who went to schools together where their children are now friends. It was set up as the first New Town post war and therefore it is quite ugly for the whole, lots of small flat blocks and terraced homes... some areas are nice though such as by the Lister hospital which has good links to the A1M. The shopping is very poor - the local M&S is now and Outlet, closely following the loss of Littlewoods and Woolies, however there are some small town shops such as BHS, Miss Selfridge, QD etc. There are some pluses though - if you are young there are ...  Read the complete review

Stevenage has always had a bit of a bad reputation as a chavy place to live, and while its not Mayfair it not as bad as people think. For someone commuting into London Stevenage is perfect, trains from the station take between 19-45 minutes (generally 22 mins) into London Kings Cross (and subsequently now to Paris and the rest of Europe) Train travel can be quite expensive, Travel card is £20, daily peak return £17 and monthly season ticket £275. Its Close to the A1(M) giving links to Welwyn Garden City; Cambridge and the North. Close to the M25 (via A1(M)). There are 2 tescos (24hrs), 2 sainsburys, and asda (24hrs) a hospital, a garden center and ...  Read the complete review

Stevenage in Hertfordshire is a nice shopping area, with quite a few good shops. Not in the same league as the bigger shopping centres of course, such as Brent Cross or Lakeside. No, but Stevenage offers smaller branches of shops like Marks and Spencer, Next, BHS Littlewoods, Miss Selfridge, Top Shop, QD and my favourite River Island, amongst others. Just off the A1, it is quite central and easy to get to, and all in all a good day out can be had for shopping. It has a pretty good outdoor market, which is open on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and an indoor market which is perhaps less appealing, in my view. A couple of minutes away by car are two retail ...  Read the complete review