This travel guide is filled with ideas on how to plan your holidays in Brighton. This amazing city is so popular with Londoners that it gained the nickname ‘London by the Sea’. It’s famous for having the pebbly beaches, beautiful pier, the Royal Pavilion, the country’s tallest viewing point i360, the largest Pride festival in the UK and London to Brighton Bike Ride.
Table of Contents
What to Visit in Brighton
Brighton is the seaside town located in the county of East Sussex on the southern coast of England, about 76 km from London. It’s got the direct access to the English Channel, the beautiful cliffs and four pebbly beaches that are 8,7 km long. The city covers almost 83 square km with the population of 607,000 people.
Don’t leave Brighton without seeing:
- Brighton Pier
- Brighton Beach
- Kemptown Beach
- Cliff Nudist Beach
- Hove Beach
- Wreck of West Pier
- British Airways i360
- The Lanes
- North Laine
- Royal Pavilion
- The Old Steine
- Brighton Museum and Art Gallery
- St James Street
- Kemptown Village
- Cultural Quarter
- Toy and Model Museum
- The Booth Museum of Natural History
- Brighton Marina
- Volks Railway
- Fabrica
- Lighthouse
- Grand Parade
- Phoenix
- Ink D
- Jubilee Square
- Roedean School
- University of Sussex
- St Bartholomew’s Church
- Embassy Court
- Brighton Fishing Museum
- Sea Life Centre
Read more: What to See and Do in Brighton – Top Tourist Attractions
Hiking in Brighton
It’s no surprise, the best walks in Brighton are ones taken on the beach. Other hiking trails from Brighton are centred around the South Downs and those include the South Downs Circular Route, Sussex Hospices Trail from Brighton to Southease, Kipling Roedean and Rottingdean Trail, Stanmer Woods and the Devils Dyke to Saddlescombe Campsite.
Beaches in Brighton
If you like the pebbly coastline, Brighton is the place to go. This seaside town has many beautiful beaches such as the Brighton Beach, Kemptown Beach, Cliff Nudist Beach and the Hove Beach.
Read more: The Most Beautiful Beaches in Brighton
Daily Excursions From Brighton
- Lewes
- Hever Castle
- Arundel Castle
- The Seven Sisters
- South Downs National Park
- The National Trust in Sussex & Kent
Where to Stay in Brighton
Brighton has really lovely areas to stay and the most popular are Kemptown, London Road, Preston Park, Seven Dials, Hove, the Lanes and North Laine. If you want to stay near the beach, you should book one of the seafronts hotels. My choice of places to stay in Brighton:
- Brighton Harbour Hotel & Spa
- The Grand Brighton
- Drakes Hotel
- Jurys Inn Brighton Waterfront
- Malmaison Brighton
- The Old Ship Hotel
What to Eat in Brighton
The must-eat in Brighton is the famous fish and chips. Being right at the seaside, there’s always plenty of fresh cod and halibut produce. Once in town, you should also try the most traditional English cuisine:
- Scotch Eggs – hard boiled egg wrapped in the sausage meat, coated in breadcrumbs and fried.
- Piccalilli – English version of Indian pickles, salty, sour and spiced.
- Marmite – food spread made from yeast extract.
- Crumpets – English muffin with butter of jam.
- British Scones – dense biscuits served with butter or jam.
- Chip Butty – white bread sandwich with chips and ketchup inside.
- Meat Pies – steak and kidney pie, steak and ale pie, pork pie, chicken and leek pie, served hot or cold.
- Cornish Pastry – meat, veggies (plenty of potatoes) mixed in a gravy sauce, wrapped in the pastry and baked in the oven.
- Full English Breakfast – bacon, sausage, grilled tomatoes, mushrooms, eggs, fried beans, hash browns and toasts.
- Sunday Roast – roasted joint lamb, beef or pork, served with Yorkshire pudding, vegetables and gravy.
- Afternoon Tea – tiny finger triangle sandwiches with no crust, filled with cucumber and cream cheese.
- Bangers and mash – sausage, mash potatoes, gravy and peas.
- Sausage Toad – sausage in Yorkshire butter, served with veggies and gravy.
- Fish and Chips – cod in beer butter, chips and mushy peas.
- Beef Wellington – beef steak coated in mushroom mixture and wrapped in the puff pastry, served with mash potatoes and asparagus.
- Shepperd’s (Cottage) Pie – mash potatoes crust and meat base baked in the oven.
- Chicken Tikka Masala – roasted chunks of chicken cooked in the spiced tomato cream sauce.
- Sticky Toffee Pudding – moist sponge cake made of dates in a toffee sauce, served with vanilla custard or ice cream.
- Ale – traditional English beer.
How to Get Around Brighton
Exploring Brighton can be done on foot. It’s a small town and all the things worth seeing are nearby. If, however, you wish to travel to the further areas, forget renting a car as it’s best to use the local buses.
By Plane
There is no airport in Brighton, but if you fly to London Gatwick, you can take a train and arrive in Brighton in 25 min.
How to get from London to Brighton?
By Bus
National Express operates from London Victoria Coach Station to Brighton on the daily bases. The typical journey takes up to 3 h and costs £9 one way.
By Train
There are 4 different train services from London to Brighton: Southern, Thameslink, Gatwick Express and Great Western Railway. The train departs from London Bridge, Victoria or St Pancras International Station. There are 2 train stations in Brighton - the Brighton Stn (the main one) and the London Brighton Road. The best way to book your tickets is to use the trainline.com. The typical journey takes around 1 hour and costs £10 one way.
By Car
If you choose to drive from London to Brighton, you will most likely take A23 which, after passing Crawley, turns into M23 dual-carriage. Brighton is located around 103 km from central London and takes up to 1 h 40 min to get there.
By Taxi
If you want to get to Brighton by taxi, you can book Uber or Addison Lee. The average price for the trip is £85 and takes up to 2 hours.
Brighton is a small town and you can easily explore it on foot. If, however, you want to get to the more remote places, you should take local buses.
Buses
The bus services in Brighton is provided by Brighton and Hove Buses (buses.co.uk). The single fare is £2.70, the all day CitySAVER is £4.70 and the all day networkSAVER is £5.50. Long stay visitors should obtain 'The Key' which is the electronic smartcard. There's also The Big Lemon bus service available.
Trains
There are two train station in Brighton: the Brighton Station (main one) and the London Road Station. Local trains stop at the following stations: Hove, Preston Park, Aldrington, Falmer, Moulsecoomb.
It's hard to find a scooter hire companies around Brighton area. Electric bikes and traditional bicycles are in high demand and you'll find plenty of those who rent them.
Brighton Beach Bikes (brightonbeachbikes.co.uk) offer the choice of regular, tandem or mountain bikes. The prices start from £6 per hour. BTN BikeShare (btnbikeshare.com) allows you to rent a bike for 3p per min (or £72 per year) with £1 access fee.
The typical taxis you find in Brighton are the teal ones (green and white) with the council logo on the side door. Those are the most expensive. The main taxi ranks are located at the Brighton train station and the East Street. The cheapest option is Uber or the prepaid cabs as the price for 3 miles is less than £10. Recommended mini cab companies in Brighton:
- Brighton Taxis 4U (+44 1273 730 730, taxi4u.co.uk)
- Streamline (+44 1273 20 20 20, streamlinetaxis.org)
- Radio Cabs (+44 1273 20 40 60, brightontaxis.com)
Brighton Travel Guide – Cost and Budget
If you want to see Brighton on the low budget, you must consider at least £40 a day. That’s only if you stay in the cheap hostel, order Kebab or McDonalds, use the CitySAVER bus ticket and see the main attractions.
If you’re on the mid – range budget, you will be able to stay in a nice hotel in Brighton, dine in traditional pubs and restaurants, book the mini cabs and use the Hop On Hop Off service or pay for the entries separately.
If you want a luxury in Brighton, your daily budget should be around £240. That gives you the opportunity to stay in one of the top seafront hotels, choose the finest places to eat, use the taxi a lot and book a private local host tour plus the British Airways i360.
| Accommodation | Food | Transport | Attractions | Avg Daily Cost | |
| Backpacker | £15 | £10 | £5 | £10 | £40 |
| Mid-Range | £40 | £40 | £10 | £15 | £105 |
| Luxury | £100 | £100 | £20 | £20 | £240 |
Brighton Travel Guide – Best Time to Visit
Generally, the best time to go to Brighton is summer from June to August. That’s when you want to stay on the beach and enjoy the sunshine. The daily temperatures are 17°C to 21°C and the sea warms up from 14°C to 17°C.
TIP: Summer festivals in Brighton – the Soundwaves (June), Paddle Around the Pier.
If you travel to Brighton in spring (March to May) or autumn (September to November), you will experiences the mild weather. There are average temperatures ranging between 10°C and 17°C and the occasional showers that usually don’t last long.
TIP: Spring festivals in Brighton – the Brighton Festival and the Brighton Fringe (May), the Great Escape. Autumn festival in Brighton – Brighton Live Festival.
Overall, the winter in Brighton is cold and windy. The months between December and February are the wettest with the average temperatures between 6°C and 8°C.
TIP: Winter festival in Brighton – Burning the Clocks on 21st of December which takes place on the longest night in a year.
High Season (Jun – Aug)
- Brighton beaches are full
- Hotels are most expensive
- Up to 21°C, Sea 14°C to 17°C
- Hot summer months
Mid (Mar-May, Sep-Nov)
- Less tourist in Brighton
- Hotels prices go down
- Temps 10°C and 17°C
- Spring and autumn
Low Season (Dec – Feb)
- Hardly on tourists
- Hotels are the cheapest
- Temperatures up to 8°C
- Wet and windy winter
Brighton Travel Guide – Average Monthly Temperatures
Generally, Brighton is the the hottest in summer from June to July. Those months bring the sunny weather and the average temperatures between 17°C and 21°C with July being the hottest. In contrast, Brighton is the coldest in winter from December to February. Those months bring mild temperatures between 6°C and 8°C with February being the coolest.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
| High Temp (°C) | 7 | 6 | 8 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 21 | 20 | 17 | 14 | 11 | 8 |
| Low Temp (°C) | 3 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 13 | 16 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 7 | 5 |
| Sea Temp (°C) | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 16 | 17 | 17 | 15 | 13 | 11 |
Brighton Travel Guide – Average Monthly Precipitation
Generally, Brighton is the wettest from October to February during autumn and winter season. In fact, January is the month when it rains the most with up to 79 mm and 12 days of showers. In contrast, Brighton is the driest from March to September during the spring and summer season. The month with the least rainfall is July with the average 45 mm and 6 days of showers.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
| Rainfall (mm) | 79 | 65 | 46 | 51 | 37 | 55 | 45 | 37 | 51 | 78 | 64 | 70 |
| Rainfall (days) | 12 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 11 |
Brighton Travel Guide – Practical Information
This part of my travel guide is full of tips on what to expect during your travels to Brighton. For more information on language and local time, religion, electricity plug, internet, currency, visa, safety and health matters in Brighton, just follow my guidance below.
Population and Language – Around 607,000 people live in Brighton and the official language is English.
Religion – 43% Christian, 42% No Religion, 2.2% Islam, 2.6% Jedi Knight.
Local Time – There is 1 time zone in Brighton, UTC+0 hour.
Electricity – Brighton runs on 230V voltage. There is 50Hz and the plug type G (three pin plug). Getting an adapter is recommended.
Internet The internet in Brighton is available all over the town. The free Wi-Fi is offered in the hotels, restaurants, pubs and other public places. It’s recommended to buy a cheap sim card (around £0.99) and the mobile internet on arrival. Best prepaid (pay as you go) sim cards in Brighton are: EE, Vodafone, Three and O2. The standard monthly tariffs start from £10 a month.
Money and Currency in Brighton
In Brighton the ATMs are widely available. There are two types of cash machines: free and pay-to-use. The typical charge in Brighton is £1.50 to £2 per transaction. Visa, MasterCard and Credit Cards are accepted pretty much everywhere. Having some cash is always advisable.
Currency – The official currency in Brighton is Pound Sterling (£) (GBP).
Visa Requirements for Brighton
Visa – The UK left the EU on 31st of December 2020. EU citizens don’t need a tourist visa to travel to Brighton if staying up to 6 months. Irish can travel anytime they wish with no limits to how long they want to stay. Australians, Canadians, New Zealanders and Americans don’t need a visa to Brighton if their trips are less than 90 days. Your passport needs to be valid for at least 6 months before your travels.
Safety in Brighton
Safety Brighton is generally a safe destination to travel. When in the area, remember the West Street should be avoided at night because that’s where the drunk weekenders tend to gather. The drug users often meet up around London Road and the Level. Some outskirts like Whitehawk and Moulsecoomb also have bad reputation. Brighton attracts many homeless people but they are usually harmless. The city is very popular with the LGBT couples which are welcomed all all over Brighton and Hove. The lifeguards patrol the beaches from the end of May until the first week of September. In emergency, you should call the Coastguard by dialling 112 or 999. Football fans should be aware of the possible riots, especially when the Brighton & Hove Albion and Crystal Palace teams are scheduled to play.
Emergency Numbers – In Brighton an emergency free numbers to dial are 999 or 112. The numbers for the particular emergency services in Brighton: Police – 101 (Non Emergency), Fire – 112, Medical Services (Non Emergency) – 111.
Health and Travel Vaccinations in Brighton
Health – Traveling to Brighton requires doesn’t require any additional vaccinations. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that everyone is covered for the diphtheria, tetanus, measles, mumps, rubella and polio, hepatitis A, hepatitis B regardless of their destination.