Things to do in Brighton UK?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Next week is my “spring” break (well, the school calls it Reading Week, to avoid complaints that it’s nowhere near being springtime!) and once again, I am taking advantage of my husband’s business trips to travel a bit. Last December it was Seattle, and this year, it’s Brighton, England.

I’ll be arriving sometime Sunday afternoon/evening and staying at the Hilton Metropole. I’m only staying until Saturday the 28th, though. While we will have a rental car, my husband will likely have it much more often than not, since his work site is outside of town, so I might be relying more on transit or doing things that are withing walking distance. I have no clue what my husband’s work schedule will be like, and neither does he.

So, what is there to do in Brighton?

One friend recommended the Café Belge for lunch, but that’s the only place she’s been to, so can’t really compare it to anywhere else. We do like beer, so finding a nice pub sounds good to us too. Any Dopers want to get together?

I know that a day trip to Dieppe is possible, and it really interests me, but is it better to try and do that on my own, or use a tour? What’s worth seeing, what isn’t? How much might that cost us?

I am not really looking to shop, but I could do some shopping or at least walking around town if the weather is decent enough. I don’t want to spend too much money, I’m mostly just going for fun, and to see my husband, who has been gone for a few weeks on another trip (and will be arriving at Heathrow a couple hours after me).

I figured I might as well ask here, since currently, there is no plan other than “go to Brighton” and mooch off of the company-paid hotel and the food per-diem!

Thanks for any and all suggestions!

2

I actually didn’t go into it because of a lack of time, but from the outside of it, the Royal Pavilion looks like all kinds of awesome.

3

The main attraction at Brighton is the Royal Pavillion - it was the Prince Regent’s little get away-place in the late 18th and early 19th century, built largely to his own personal and idiosyncratic design. If you’re only there for a day, it’s well worth the trip.

I don’t think the ferry to Dieppe runs from Brighton. Dieppe is a nice day trip, but I think it would be more fun in the summer, when it’s warmer.

4

I understood from the OP that she’s going to be there a week?

It’s a pretty town - you can spend at least one day just wandering around without spending any money. On another day, you could catch a bus down the coast and see the countryside. That would be cheap.

If you catch a train a bit further down the coast (east) you could get to Hastings which is a nice town. A bit further than that and you start getting the white cliffs which can be impressive - Beachy Head, Seven Sisters.

5

Also, it’s supposed to have a legendary nightlife from what people tell me. Pretty trendy place.

6

You can wander around “The Lanes” which is a pretty part of town. They are down near the sea front and basically a series of really narrow passages with funky shops.
Brighton has lots of pubs and lots of students, its full of life even in winter. Enjoy!

7

[Shill for London]

Or you could hop on the train and visit London for a day whilst you’re staying, it’s only 1 hour away after all.

[/Shill for London]

Also I can’t think of a better place in the UK to decide that you want to try out homosexuality, if that’s at all appealing.

8

If you’re in Brighton looking for decent beer, you can’t do better than the Hobgoblin pub at 31 York Place.

Also, if you like hippy tat shops then The Lanes is the place for you.

As said upthread, the Pavilion is worth a visit and there is a museum and art gallery in the pavilion grounds. If you fancy getting out of town, Rottingdean and Kemp Town are worth a look.

Your best bet is to go to the local tourist information office and see what they can tell you.

Have fun, and don’t bother going up to London, it’s shite…

9

Draws sword

Prepare to defend thyself knave!

Er, I mean, wench!

10

When I was working as an expat Aussie in London I once answered my workmates queries about what I was doing for the weekend by telling them I was going to Brighton with my GF (now wife, as it happens). This was met with much sniggering and ribald commentary, and complete :confused: on my part.

Someone took pity on me and explained that Brighton is the “traditional” place that one jokes about as the venue of choice for Londoners sneaking away for a dirty weekend with their illicit other.

What that means you should do in Brighton, UK I will leave to you.

11

Yes, I’ll be there for a little less than a week (and not really any weekends!), but it should be enough to walk around and have a bit of fun. I’m not particularly interested in exploring homosexuality (I am looking forward to “exploring” my husband, though!), though the gay party scene seems to be the main thing I have heard about this town! It doesn’t bother me in the least.

The pavillion looks pretty cool; I think I’ll go see that. It sounds like wandering around and just “being” in Brighton can be enough to have a good time. I am very much looking forward to it.

As for London, depending on my husband’s schedule, going to spend a day there might be something we’ll do. I’m unsure if I want to go up on my own, but I’ll consider it. Since he’s arriving at Heathrow at about 2pm Sunday, we did consider getting the rental car and going for a drive to see the city and maybe eat in London before making our way to Brighton, but given as how his current project in Spain is a steaming pile of shit that will never meet the proposed deadline, he might be working so much overtime/nights today and tomorrow that he won’t be up for it. We’ll have to see. Brighton isn’t really our first choice of places to visit in the UK, but that’s where his company puts him up (which is good, because the actual work site is in Burgess Hill, and apparently there really is fuck-all to do there!)

I have seen the famous white cliffs of Dover, from a ferry from Calais, actually. It was years ago, and my family drove/took the ferry from Germany (where we were living) to Ireland, which my dad wanted to visit since he is of Irish descent. We saw very little of England and Wales, but I do remember thinking that the cliffs looked pretty cool. Ireland was wet but green. My little sister had stinky sandles, and one Bed and Breakfast had the biggest dog I have ever seen in my life (a wolfhound). Good trip, but I really don’t remember much!

Anyways, thanks for the suggestions so far. I’ll try out that pub, and definitely get some of the most current touristy information. Honestly, hubby and I love trying out new beer so much, we might just do a week-long pub crawl (around his work schedule, of course!)

I discovered that Brighton has day-long transit passes, and a decent system, apparently, so that give me more freedom than having to walk everywhere. I’m happy about that!

Keep it coming, please! :slight_smile:

12

I don’t know what it’s like these days, but there was an insane rave scene when I was there in 2001. There was a rave with about 200,000 people on the beach with Fatboy Slim that was quite the experience. There’s also some very interesting clubs under the promenade that made for some memorable experiences.

13

The Palace Pier is good for ghost train, rollercoasters etc.

There’s a nice Thai place and a tasty but expensive cafe on the main street in Kemp Town. And a rather excellent Asian grocery supermarket.

Some really excellent bookshops round the Lanes.

14

You’ve picked a decent week to come to Brighton - the weather’s improved, so you should be able to wander out and about without freezing or drowning.

I love Brighton, which is fortunate since it’s my hometown. :smiley: Wander away from the town centre (which is where the Metropole is situated) and it’s a great, if slightly odd place to spend a week. The town centre is newish and shiny and just like any other town centre: if that’s what you see, you won’t think Brighton is anything special. Outside of that, we have more than our fair share of oddballs, nutjobs and rather strange folks, who give the place a bit more character. We also have more than our fair share of beautiful buildings and streets that are worth wandering down, which is what I’d do if I had a week with nothing else to do.

The Royal Pavilion is recommended, and the museum next door is worth a wander. I they’ve moved the visitor information centre next door to it, btw. The Lanes are good, but I prefer the North Laine area. As someone else said, wander through Kemp Town - and to the west along the seafront - if only to see the grandeur of the Regency Squares.

The bus system is great, for all I enjoy moaning about it - http://www.buses.co.uk. Day or weekly tickets will get you on any bus, including those out of town. You can take the bus up to Devil’s Dyke if you want to escape into the country. Lewes is ok for a quick trip, and you can make it out as Tunbridge Wells by bus if you want to (not sure if I would).

There are more pubs than you can shake a stick at in Brighton – but again, keep away from the town centre to find the better ones. I’ve lived in the Hanover, Hove, Kemp Town and Clifton Hill areas, and my favourite pubs have always been the little ones tacked onto the end of a row of Victorian terraced houses. We do well on the food front too: there were two vegetarian places in a recent nationwide “Top Ten” list, plus there’s good Indian and modern British places as well.

The ferries to Dieppe leave from Newhaven – about a 50 minute bus ride east up the coast. Not sure what you’d do when you get there though – most people only tend to go there to get cheap fags. Which reminds me – **Illuminatiprimus **is right, we’re all gay in Brighton. Even those of us who aren’t :smiley:

And last time I was in the Metropole they had a nice little health place in the basement with a sauna etc, so you could always pamper yourself for an afternoon.

P.S. Just noticed your husband’s going to be working in Burgess Hill. I grew up there. Tell him from me I’m SO sorry :smiley:

15

See, what did I tell you? :wink:

In all fairness Brighton isn’t completely comprised of gays, but it does have the highest number of gays per capita than anywhere else in the UK. London has more in absolute numbers, though.