Brighton
Gay capital of England? Alternative lifestyle? Beach? Yep... Brighton is too cool for school. But it doesn’t shove it’s coolness in your face. There is a kind of laid back knowingness amongst the locals that their town is hip, and on the weekday that I visited, there weren’t even really many tourists running around with cameras to reassure them of that. Art is casually displayed along the seaside boardwalk. The main street is not all glitz and glamour; it’s lived in. Brighton knows it can be a bit messy around the edges and the tourists will still come. And they must be coming, because construction work is happening all over the place.
Enough with the trying to personify a place in order to make one’s self sound suitably hip. What is there to see? Well, the seaside is an obvious attraction. A far cry from the golden sand of Sydney’s surf beaches, Brighton beach is very stoney. There’s even an artificial sandpit so the kids can still build sandcastles rather than just hurl large stones at one another. But I’m yet to find a beach that is not beautiful in it’s own right, and the beach at Brighton is nice, even when the water is only reflecting grey storm clouds rather than a clear blue sky. There are shops all along the beach, with a wide range of bars, eateries, art galleries, sea shell shops and amusements for children. You can grab some fish and chips for lunch and kick back on the beach… just watch out for the seagulls, small children and stones.
The Brighton Pier is really famous, and is great entertainment for kids… and kids at heart. There is an arcade with lots of coin pusher machines (I put 2 pounds worth of pence pieces through!), as well as carnival rides, carnival food and of course, carnival atmosphere. There were rides for small children, through to a rather scary 100m tall spinning thing that looked quite thrilling.
Brighton is a great place for dining, with lots of reasonably priced eateries around the main town centre. One of the great features of the place is the little lanes filled with little shops selling alternative clothing, jewelry, food stuffs and bric-a-brac.
It was nice on the day I visited with few crowds, but I imagine on the weekends, and during the summer holidays, it would be pretty frenzied and busy. While I was not there at night, Brighton’s vibrant nightlife is well known and there are many pubs around the main beach area. It only takes an hour and fifteen minutes on the train to get to Brighton from London’s Victoria station.
Enough with the trying to personify a place in order to make one’s self sound suitably hip. What is there to see? Well, the seaside is an obvious attraction. A far cry from the golden sand of Sydney’s surf beaches, Brighton beach is very stoney. There’s even an artificial sandpit so the kids can still build sandcastles rather than just hurl large stones at one another. But I’m yet to find a beach that is not beautiful in it’s own right, and the beach at Brighton is nice, even when the water is only reflecting grey storm clouds rather than a clear blue sky. There are shops all along the beach, with a wide range of bars, eateries, art galleries, sea shell shops and amusements for children. You can grab some fish and chips for lunch and kick back on the beach… just watch out for the seagulls, small children and stones.
The Brighton Pier is really famous, and is great entertainment for kids… and kids at heart. There is an arcade with lots of coin pusher machines (I put 2 pounds worth of pence pieces through!), as well as carnival rides, carnival food and of course, carnival atmosphere. There were rides for small children, through to a rather scary 100m tall spinning thing that looked quite thrilling.
Brighton is a great place for dining, with lots of reasonably priced eateries around the main town centre. One of the great features of the place is the little lanes filled with little shops selling alternative clothing, jewelry, food stuffs and bric-a-brac.
It was nice on the day I visited with few crowds, but I imagine on the weekends, and during the summer holidays, it would be pretty frenzied and busy. While I was not there at night, Brighton’s vibrant nightlife is well known and there are many pubs around the main beach area. It only takes an hour and fifteen minutes on the train to get to Brighton from London’s Victoria station.
posted by Ashlee at 11:34 pm
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