A Brighton city break is as satisfying as a cartonful of chips while sat on its — pebbly but scenic — beach. At just an hour by train, it’s the perfect distance for a quick weekend away from London. It combines seaside kitsch with cosmopolitan shopping and dining, and has creative cachet thanks to its renowned arts college and vibrant LGBTQ+ scene.
It’s gone from fishing village to Victorian wellness escape to a place that always feels party-ready. And, in typically inclusive style, everyone will find some fun here. Follow our guide to 48 hours in Brighton and get caught up in its colourful jubilance…
Friday evening
Gung Ho! Photo by Ellen Richardson
It’s easy to find the centre of the action in Brighton after emerging from its train station — head downhill along Queen’s Road and the sea quickly appears before you. If you get thirsty on the way, make a pit stop at The Hope and Ruin to drink among odd upcycled furnishings (DJ decks made from discarded washing machines, for instance) and see a raucous gig, or roll your suitcase to Bootlegger to squeeze in happy hour. Prep for a late one with small plates: book way before you arrive to try Burnt Orange’s wood-fired, Med-encompassing eats; or Palmito’s fusion fare, which does more for global unity in one dish than the UN.
Friday isn’t a one-then-done night here: see who’s warbling away at the Brighton Music Hall (we like the beach-hut-style private cabins), then opt for sleek surrounds at the Seahorse. Inland, Medusa is lit like a fairy glen and serves rum- and tequila-laced cocktails powerful enough to fell a mythical beast.
If you want to pace yourself, see stand-up at Komedia (or hit the smaller Secret Comedy Club) and grab a nightcap with a board game at the Artist Residence Brighton’s genuinely cool hotel bar. Bay windows look out to the sea, it’s hung with prints and paintings by the likes of David Shrigley, Dave White and Pure Evil, which sets the cool creative tone for the rooms upstairs, each decorated by one of the owners’ artist friends. If the bijou garden area is open, take your fragrant Orange-Blossom Old Fashioned or Fressa Negroni with a dash of strawberry.
Saturday morning
If you’re snoozing at Artist Residence (front-facing rooms look on the sunrise side), you’re a 10-minute stroll from Lucky Beach, whose brunches will buoy you up with bacon and candied-chilli butties, hash browns under a parmesan avalanche and passionfruit bellinis (a daintier hair of the dog).
Alternatively, Lost in the Lanes serves brunch till a leisurely 3pm (we recommend the ‘dirty’ croque with chilli crisp and garlic, and the banoffee-honey French toast), while a little further away in Kemptown, Café Rust is a collab with William Morris Antiques, where the furnishings are as tempting as its sourdough Benedicts and Welsh rarebits.
Saturday afternoon
Cult Hero
If brunch has cured you, head to the shorefront for a gentle jaunt on the Volks Electric Railway. Or rides that’ll throw you around on the Palace Pier, Brighton Zip‘s 300-metre zipline, kayaking and stand-up paddle-boarding. Then share small plates — plus doughnuts and fudge for pudding — at the Flint House, where the chef mixes global flavours with the confidence of a culinary DJ. It’s tucked into the tangle of the Lanes too, so you’re poised for shopping.
Pick up offbeat homewares at &Halt, Abode or Dowse — if Henry Moore-esque vases and smiley-face lamps are your thing — or tot up a must-buy list with minimalist seating and storage at Workshop Living as you sip something from its coffee lab, or Loaft, which operates in similar high style. Snoopers Paradise is a bottomless pit of vintage treasures and trash. Fill niches in your record collection at Cult Hero, the Record Album which sources rarities, or Resident Music for reissues. The Stanley Road Store sells sustainable fashion; Sugarhill’s profits from playfully patterned sweaters and midi-dresses support worthy causes; and radical reads line the shelves at the Queery and Feminist bookstores. Alternatively, Beach Box Spa offers a more serene way to spend the afternoon: relaxing in a shore-set sauna pod, with an add-on salt scrub, aromatherapy ice balls to throw on the coals, or a face mask.
Saturday evening
Start with an apéritif on No.124 by Guesthouse, Brighton’s seafront terrace. Then take the time to let a tasting menu play out, perhaps The Little Fish Market’s, where the signature ‘egg and soldiers’ is a smoked haddock and passionfruit-purée trompe-l’œil; or Furna’s, which starts and ends on high notes (from spicy Carlingford oysters to rice pudding and rhubarb parfait). Then ‘hic’ off Brighton’s wine-bar list, sipping your way round those orbiting Victoria Gardens: from Ten Green Bottles to L’Atelier du Vin to The Wine Cellar.
Sunday morning
i360
Starfish Loves Coffee embraces Australia’s sociable brunch scene, mixing up its menu with Creole chicken and waffles, fig and coconut rice pudding and still-life-like açai bowls. Or, in Montpelier, Nowhere Man is colourful and cheery, with pancakes and bagels, and cute tote bags to match.
The onion-domed Royal Pavilion might look like the shell of an Aladdin-themed fairground ride, but it was once a pleasure pad for the royal family, built by George IV and furnished to his extravagant taste — his niece Queen Victoria was indeed not amused, and sold it shortly after acquiring it. But if you like its exotic motifs, you can buy a giraffe standing-lamp or parrot-emblazoned tea-towel in the shop next door. Head back to the beach to ride up the i360 observation tower, a floating silver doughnut with panoramic views from the top of its perch.
Sunday afternoon
For lunch, eat crab-filled baps and molluscs from the Brighton Shellfish & Oyster Bar shack in a deckchair, or upgrade your experience with champagne and caviar at Riddle & Finns’ rotunda. Not a seafood fan? Get your fill of al pastor and cochinita pibil tacos at Casa Azul (vegan options available too). Of course you could go big on your last day, booking a table at chef Rafael Cagali’s Michelin-minted Maré in quieter Hove; it earnt its star for Dorset crab on crumpets, barbecued brill with pil-pil clams and lobster rice with ox tongue, among more local seafood and meats.
Wander along Madeira Drive to see neon artist Andy Doig’s luminous studio (he occasionally holds one-day courses). See what’s showing at antique indie cinema, the Duke of York’s Picturehouse, or where White Wall Cinema is popping up for a screening. Draw sometimes has live nude models to sketch in various Brighton venues, too.
Grab a cone from Boho Gelato (past flavour combos have included sweet dukkah and sour-lemon candy, and mango and IPA…) and while away some time in Kemptown’s secret garden. If you’re visiting between November and March, look out for starling murmurations around the mournful skeleton of the West Pier as the sun sets.
Sunday evening
No.124 Guesthouse
No.124 Guesthouse’s Pearly Cow restaurant has a ‘fire and ice’ dining concept, so you might have monkfish carpaccio, followed by smoky, wood-fired sirloin. Time your meal right and you may be able to squeeze in a deep-sea scrub, reflexology session or reviving soak in a copper tub at the hotel’s Field Trip Spa too.
If you venture out, the The Salt Room is in a suspiciously touristy location, front and centre along the seafront, but it’s the real deal for fine fishy dining (sister Italian restaurant Tutto is also well-loved). Or wash down tacos with coconut or hibiscus margs at Halisco. Stroll along the beach to compete over free arcade games at Loading Bar, then polish off your weekend with punny cocktails and Jamaican ska in eccentric-living-room-style bars the Plotting Parlour and the Black Dove.
Need to know
Transport If you’re arriving from London, the Thameslink train to Brighton will whisk you there in around an hour from several major stations in the capital. If you’re flying in, London Gatwick is handily a stop along that route too. And the city has good rail connections along the South Coast. You won’t really need a car in Brighton, since it’s walkable and green-minded, with limited parking.
When to go British summer time (June to August) is the hotspot in the calendar, but this city has so much to offer — and, honestly, the beach is quite uncomfortable to sunbathe on — that it’s suitable for year-round getaways. Try to time your stay to sync up with Brighton Fringe (throughout May) or Pride (in early August).
What to buy Some quirky decor and accessories from the likes of Pussy Home Boutique or Blackout; something random from the Brighton Flea Market; something hippie-ish from Yashar Bish. Isabel Marant pieces from Tribeca and a sourdough loaf from Breadwinners to support asylum-seekers and refugees.
Insider tips Hop on a Beryl BTN e-bike to explore — there are several berths in the centre along King’s Road and Madeira Drive, or by Brighton Palace Pier and Old Steine. And expand your wanderings — there are interesting pubs, cafés and shops to be found deep in Hove, towards the Marina and up into Seven Dials or Preston Park.
See more of our 48-hour city guides