Brighton, the Great British Seaside.

It’s bright, a bit brash, but bohemian and with an easy going vibe, where you can let as much (literally) hang out as you want.

Right down on the base of the country, on the South coast, sits Brighton. It’s only about an hour out of London, accessible by regular, fast trains and by, what is one of my favourite Motorways (come on, we’ve all got fave motorways haven’t we ;o) the M23, it’s a popular seaside location. Especially for those in the South East. For us coming down from up North, it’s a bit more of a trek, but we can do it in 4 and a half hours on a good day, or rather a good night which is when we usually travel back, to avoid the M25 rush hour. We spend a lot of time down there, as we have family there. My Brother and his partner live there, so we get to see them and also spend some time in what has become one of our favourite places…. Winner !

Mr Boo on the beach

Brighton is well known as one of the countries most famous seaside towns, even though it is a city, but seaside city just doesn’t sound right. It merged with next door neighbour Hove in 1997, they became a city when the Queen declared so, as part of the millennium celebrations. With a vast, wide pebble beach, pier and all the usual seaside attractions it ticks all the boxes, but there’s more to Brighton than that. Famed for it’s LGBTQ community, this gives a real “open to all” feel.

Dig a little deeper than the usual seaside attractions and it has a reel bohemian vibe to it. We really like it. You kind of feel a bit free-er down there. As someone who stands out a bit from the crowd, that is a nice feeling. You can be yourself a bit more down there.

The full squad. All together

We’ve visited in all seasons, obviously summer is the peak and on a hot Summers day the beach is busy, the city is busy all day and right into the night. The seafront here is probably as close to the feeling of a European beach resort as you’ll get in this country. We go down a lot, because my Brother lives just to the East of Brighton in the quiter area of Saltdean, which means we can have a Brighton weekend away, but we get to avoid the crowds, but still venture in to the main strip when we want. We’ve visited in winter a few times, it’s quieter and filled with mostly locals, but it’s more relaxed which allows you to really explore some different things and wander round the backstreets at your own pace. A winter storm can make things really exciting as the wind blasts in off the Channel. We’ve been there when the wind was literally blowing you off your feet and the waves were crashing into the shore. I am a massive weather geek so this was a highlight for me ;o)

Rainbow kite vibes

So here’s a bit of a snapshot of things to do in Brighton.

We have to start with the beach. We love being close to the ocean. It just does something to us. We’ve said it before and if you read more on our blog… I’m sorry, but we’ll say it again, we do love to be beside the seaside. So this is always going to be something we do a lot. The beach is a pebble one, so a little tip is to invest in some aqua shoes. Otherwise you will be walking a bit ooch, ah, ouch as you go for a dip. The beach can get very busy, especially close to the centre, however a little walk either side of the pier area and it becomes much more spacious. As my brother lives in Saltdean, we spend a lot of time on that beach. It’s quieter, more family oriented, but still with a good fun feel.

They go from friends to foes in seconds

There’s lots to do on Brighton beach. Paddle boarding, sea canoeing and zip lining are just a couple of options. A walk along the front can feel very full on. There’s shops, stalls, bars, restaurants and more, so this means people and lots of them. There’s a host of beachfront restaurants, sitting outside one of them, with the hot sun shining, surrounded by holiday makers really feels like you are on holiday. My little recommendation is Lucky beach café, good coffee and amazing brunches. Check them here https://www.luckybeach.co.uk

White cliffs, blue skies

If you draw a smiley, it's not vandalism.

Sundown fun

If the beach gets a bit much, it’s well worth a wander round the city centre, obviously there’s all of the usual shops on the main streets and malls, but you can’t go to Brighton without visiting the famous Laines. The Laines really are something else, it’s a decent sized area a few blocks back from the seafront and a short walk from the train station the area is easy to find. Laid out along narrow lanes, it’s in a grid style and is mostly pedestrianised, so is easy to navigate and a joy to walk through the streets, filled with independent traders. There’s a whole host of unique stores, think vintage clothing stores, antique shops, art galleries and so much more, there’s something to see for all. We love to look in the clothes stores and also some seriously cool little stores selling amazing pieces of art. Finding somewhere to eat is no problem at all, with indie cafes, restaurants and a whole host of street food stalls. There’s plenty with outside seating, so you can take advantage of the warmer climate and take some time out to people watch under the bunting flags that criss cross the roofs. I love my shopping, so I could easily spend the whole day wandering around here. It really feels as fun as shopping used to, before all of the city centres started to look the same.

Street art vibes down the Lines

Brighton is really starting to become a hot foodie destination, with a wide variety from fine dining to street food. There’s a somewhere good to eat on almost every corner. On one of our recent trips we took advantage of this and booked a mini holiday, within a mini holiday… A bit of us time, we went on a date woohoo. A few weeks beforehand, Clare’s birthday meal was cancelled at the last minute as right before we were about to set off for a local restaurant, our daughter decided that she didn’t feel well and we had to cancel. So to make up for this, we asked my Brother and his partner to babysit for the night, I booked us a hotel and we headed out for a night of cocktails and fine dining. Now, such a rare treat deserves it’s own post, so you can read more details about our night of cocktails and fine dining in full here.

A great choice for families is the Shelter hall https://www.shelterhall.co.uk it’s a seafront food market and has a host of food stalls inside. It’s big, airy and bustling, which is great if you’ve got kids with you as their noise is drowned out. There’s a great choice including pizza by the awesome VIP pizza (who also have a couple of restaurants we love), Fried chicken, Blue Taco and a Zest by Hanoi kitchen. I went for a signature bowl with beef brisket, served with noodles which was good, spicy authentic Asian food. There’s cocktails too and all in all, it’s a great spot for food, especially if you’re in a group and can’t decide what to have.

Shelter hall

Berties review of VIP pizza.

If you do have kids and are in Brighton, or pretty much any seaside resort, you know that you will never, ever get away without a trip to the pier. You will get nagged by them to go on the pier, don’t try and fight it, just give in. Buy a load of tickets, change all of your spare cash into 10ps for the slot machine and throw yourself in. it’s all good fun. There’s all of the usual suspects, arcades, trying to win a teddy bear by throwing wonky darts, overpriced candy floss etc. You know what you’re going to get and you might as well enjoy it.

Looking moody in the winter

Down near my Brothers house in Saltdean is the Lido. It’s an outdoor pool, that recently reopened. It has a cool art deco feel to it. I really want to say how much I love it, but well, I do, but it’s a bit, well weird. It could be, and it should be so good, but it just seems like it’s wasted. It has so much potential but it just doesn’t hit the spot. Since 2014, the lease has been owned by The Saltdean Lido Community Interest Company. The site was down to be used for a housing development, but it was saved and can now be continued to use as a Lido, which is a great achievement. The building is grade 2 listed and it’s a great looking one. I do love a bit of art deco styling and this has it in spades. Since it’s reopening in 2017 the main building has been boarded up and it just feels like nothing much has happened. I know that running projects like this by committee is always going to be more long winded than if a private company was in charge, but it just feels liked nothing much is going on with it, which is such a waste for an amazing space. I don’t profess to have any kind of insider knowledge about the plans for it. I have spoke to a few people in the local area and the plans sound very uninspiring. The events page on the site, at the time of writing shows something for the platinum jubilee and a dog swimming event. Which all sounds very underwhelming. I’d love to see some really exciting developments like a gym, a cool restaurant, a bar, some interesting events like a pool party, street food stalls, craft beer events etc. I don’t know, just something a bit more exciting. We have spent an afternoon there and it was good, but there really wasn’t much to do. The little hatch selling coffee and food wasn’t up to much and it feels such a shame to see the building boarded up with not much going on. We tried to boom again recently and it was just a really awkward experience, with strange timings so we just didn’t bother. I really hope that in the future they can really make something of the place.

A warm welcome is guaranteed

We really recommend a trip to Brighton, now matter whereabouts in the country you are from. It’s actually even pretty easy to get to from most places on the train. We’ve took the train down before and it was pretty stress free. You can easily make even more of an adventure out of it by spending a little more time in London as part of the tube journey across. We went Manchester Picadilly to Brighton 2 hours 1 mins, quick hop across London on the tube, 30 mins, then a 50 min journey from London Victoria and you arrive right in the centre of the city at the train station. Surprisingly painless.