Brighton: #MyHomeTownIsYourVacation
Sometimes it’s easy to forget, when you’re sitting in the office with grey clouds filling the skies, that you actually live in a travel destination. To you, the streets you walk each day and the cafés you nip into for coffee on a Saturday morning are just standard, mundane even. But for those venturing on a European road trip or world tour, visiting your town or city may be a huge highlight of their time abroad.
As a travel blogger it’s easy to get stressed and bogged down about not having content to write about when you’re not out gallivanting the globe (you can tell this is an issue of mine with my huge content gaps!), but it’s important to remember the best bits about where you live and use your insider knowledge to improve someone else’s travel experience, just as you’d expect when trying to find tips and advice for your next journey.
With this in mind I obviously want to focus on my amazing (current) city: Brighton!
Based in the south of the UK, Brighton is a fun, eclectic, colourful city that is well worth a visit when coming to England. Although, just an hour from London by train (and even less if you come directly from the airport on the Gatwick Express), Brighton is worlds away from the big smoke. Being on the coast, the air is fresh, spirits are high, fish and chips are never far away and there is much fun to be had!
There are plenty of classic tips for any visit to Brighton so I will of course highlight these, but I also want to mention a few of my personal faves having lived here for a few years so that you can do something a little different during your time in the city and (hopefully!) have a memorable trip :-)
Classic Must Dos
Visit Brighton Pier – Cash in your pounds for buckets-full of 2ps for hours of enjoyment at Brighton Pier. No trip to the English seaside would be complete without enjoying the merriment of 2p machines, sticking your head in a cut-out signs, having chips stolen out of your hands by seagulls and going on rides where you have to hold on for grim death. Okay, okay, I know this doesn’t sound like the most appealing activity but once you get past the tacky lights and sticky carpet and embrace that piers are a quintessential part of British holidays, I guarantee you’ll have a good time!
See Brighton Pavilion - The mini Taj Mahal, enigmatically placed slap bang in the middle of the city, is a must-see for anyone visiting Brighton. Beautifully designed and steeped in history, the Brighton Pavilion is a great sight for architectural lovers, history geeks or anyone simply looking for top-notch photograph for Instagram! If you’re lucky enough to visit on a sunny day, head up to the tea rooms on the balcony for a relaxing pot of tea and a scone (again quintessentially British!).
Wander round the Lanes/Laines – The “Lanes” and the “North Laine” are very different places, and the confusion between the two is a classic bug-bare for traditional Brightonians… However, both are filled with unique and interesting shops that are well worth a wander. For high end boutiques, antique jewellers and the famed ChoccyWoccyDooDah, head to the Lanes found just metres from the seafront. There are great eateries here like Food For Friends, Curry Leaf Café and Brighton Burger so you can easily spend an afternoon relaxing in this area. For hipster cafes, vegetarian shoe shops, flea markets and quirky bars, the North Laine is the one for you The Office is known for its fantastic selection of gins, Kooks Café is great for an early evening glass of wine and The Mash Tun is perfect for a pint.
As you can probably tell, I like to eat and drink my way around every destination I visit, and living in the city is no different!
My favourite finds pretty much focus on bars, cafes and restaurants but I’ll throw in a couple of other mentions too so you don’t think I’m completely food-obsessed.
Brunch – You may already have it in your head that you want to enjoy brunch overlooking the sea, but strangely enough this can be somewhat hard to find in Brighton. The New Club just on King’s Road offers buttermilk pancakes and a first-rate bloody Mary (the dream!). That will set you up nicely for the day before you pound the seafront in search of the uber-photogenic beach huts of Hove.
Graffiti – Brighton has some amazing street art adorning bars, restaurants, electricity meters (basically anything that will stay still long enough to be painted!). Some of my favourites are the in the North Laine where you can also enjoy a spot of Geocaching. Don’t miss the famous mural on the side of the Prince Albert pub (just under the train station) and see if you can name all the celebs.
Cheap Eats - For cheap and cheerful Asian cuisine, Pompoko and Shogun Ramen are hard to beat. For less than £10-15 you can be filled to the brim with delicious yet fairly healthy tucker. Why not go to both over the weekend and let me know who you think has the best gyoza…!
Duke of York’s Cinema – If you’re just visiting Brighton for the weekend you may not want to waste your time inside the cinema, however, if you’re travelling for a longer stint the cinema is a bit of a luxury every now and again. Leaps and bounds better than an Odeon or Cineworld (no offence), at the Duke of York’s on Preston Circus you can slump back on a comfortable sofa with a glass of wine in hand and watch award-worthy films.
Fine-dining – Although Brighton is yet to gain its first Michelin Star, there are a number of restaurants who should certainly be in the running. Top of my list would be the incredible 64 Degrees. Seasonal ingredients, creative chefs and an intimate atmosphere all add up to an unforgettable dining experience. Silo too, with its zero-waste policy and home-milled bread is also a contender. Head here for a homely brunch or a delectable plant-based dinner and beer brewed on-site. Finally The Set at The Artist Residence offers exquisite tasting menus and The Cocktail Shack is the perfect place to have a tipple such as the delicious Green Tea Phone Home.
I hope you’ve enjoyed my tips and if you’re planning a visit to Brighton don’t hesitate to get in contact for more top tips :-)