48 hours in Brighton

Forty-eight hours in Brighton can never hope to even scratch the surface of this brilliant and at times bonkers city, but from piers to pubs, a couple of days here can still be full of bewilderment.

First things first: where to stay? I’ve only got one answer to that as it was where I stayed with my wife and two daughters: Artist Residence.

You might be familiar with Artist Residence, whose Bristol hotel is on one corner of Portland Square in St Paul’s. The Brighton hotel is their original location, with co-founder Justin Salisbury dropping out of university to help run what was originally the family B&B and later transforming it into a bohemian bolthole.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cg7VCEBqFLn/

Our Sea View Lookout Apartment on the fourth floor had views over Regency Square towards the ruined West Pier and the British Airways i360 (more on that later).

The four of us fitted in with ease, Mersina and Lois sleeping in the bunk room with two full-size single beds, and my wife Joanna and I in the double bedroom next door while not chilling out in the living space or the rainfall shower.

We thought about barricading ourselves in and never leaving – surviving on the Tunnock’s Caramel Wafers that were waiting for us when we arrived – but this was our base for exploring Brighton so we ventured into the city.

Inside Artist Residence, with a guest LGBTQ+ duck

Beach volleyball classes are just one of the activities by the beach

What to do in Brighton?

• Brighton Palace Pier, Madeira Drive, BN2 1TW

The West Pier that can be seen from Artist Residence may have mostly fallen into the sea after a fire, but fortunately Brighton has got two piers. The Palace Pier is what you’ll recognise from the postcards and music videos. Lose your money in the two-pence machines, have your fortune told, or ride rollercoasters or a ghost train.

• Sea Life Brighton, Marine Parade, BN2 1TB

Sea Life Brighton

The world’s oldest aquarium is worth a visit as much for its building as it is for the sea life inside. Brighton Aquarium was conceived and designed by Eugenius Birch, the architect responsible for the West Pier. It opened in 1872 and despite some major changes inside over the intervening years still has a beautifully restored Victorian arcade. Ride the UK’s first indoor glass-bottomed boat on a 750,000 litre tank or walk through the underwater tunnel.

• British Airways i360, Lower Kings Road, BN1 2LN

The British Airways i360 gives you, yes, a 360-degree view of Brighton from 450ft in the air

Riding up a 450-ft high pole in a glass donut should most definitely be on your Brighton bucket list. It goes without saying that the British Airways i360 has stunning views of Brighton and beyond. Make your trip even more memorable with a drink from the Nyetimber Sky Bar.

• Brighton Zip, Madeira Drive, BN2 1TB

If you prefer to travel horizontally at speed rather than vertically at leisure, then take a trip to Brighton Zip. Let the nerves start to jangle as you walk up the steps to the platform 30m above the stony beach. Before you know it, your turn will come: step off the tower and shoot down the 300-long zip-wire.

• Brighton Fishing Museum, 201 Kings Road Arches, BN1 1NB

Return to the days when Brighton was a small fishing village at the Fishing Museum

Return to the days when Brighton was a bustling little fishing village before it was transformed into a fashionable seaside resort. This small museum within two arches tells the story of a seaside community through film, photography, paintings and memorabilia.

• Rampion Visitor Centre, 76-81 Kings Road Arches, BN1 2FN

Hold on tight when you climb up to the top of an offshore wind turbine

On a clear day, it’s possible to see more than 100 wind turbines located in the sea eight miles from Brighton. Find out more about the Rampion Offshore Wind Farm in a visitor centre located in some more arches next to the beach. Put on a VR headset to travel out to a turbine by boat and then climb up right to the very top.

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Read more: Brilliant new boutique hotel in Bristol has been worth the wait

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Where to eat and drink in Brighton?

• Nanninella, 26 Preston Street, BN1 2HN

Our favourite food discovery in Brighton was Naninella, just a stone’s throw from Artist Residence on the buzzing Preston Street. Despite arriving just before closing time to this traditional Neapolitan pizzeria, we were still greeted like old friends and enjoyed delicious pizzas that almost matched the quality of Bertha’s in Wapping Wharf – for me the makers of Bristol’s best pizzas.

• The Breakfast Club, 16-17 Market Street, BN1 1HH

The Full Monty fry-up at the Breakfast Club

The clue to the Breakfast Club is its name. This place – a caf not a cafe, as posters are keen to point out – does breakfasts and they are banging. If you can’t choose, try the Full Monty. The Breakfast Club is also a perfect place to kickstart an explore of The Lanes, Brighton’s famous network of alleyways and hidden squares, containing some wonderfully quirky shops.

• Knoops, 42 Market Street, BN1 1HH

Get the finest hot chocolate at Knoops

Bristol has a much-heralded claim of being where the solid chocolate bar was invented. If you prefer your chocolate in its traditional liquid form, Knoops – which began just down the East Sussex coast from Brighton in Rye – can create the perfect hot chocolate drink just for you. Choose your precise percentage of chocolate, milk and extra flavours.

• Bond Street Coffee, 15 Bond Street, BN1 1RD

All the coffee served here is roasted by Horsham Coffee Roaster a few miles north of the city. A choice of two single-origin coffees are available for all espresso based drinks as well as a single origin filter coffee. It was mid heatwave when we visited, so I enjoyed a much-needed cold brew.

• Small Batch Coffee, 111 Western Road, BN1 2AA

Inside Small Batch’s cage next to Norfolk Square

Small Batch is a small business with four locations in the Brighton area as well as a coffee cart at Brighton station. (If you’re reading this and work for a train company, please reinstate a direct service from Bristol Temple Meads to Brighton.) I discovered the Small Batch cafe next to Norfolk Square while looking for a place to do a bit of work myself, and even managed to secure myself a free slice of a brand new carrot cake in exchange for an honest review: delicious, but maybe too much frosting to cake ratio.

• Wolfox Lab, 109 Western Road, Hove, BN3 1FA

Wolfox in Hove has a stripped down coffee menu

A ride on a sky blue BTN BikeShare bike took me to Hove and to this stripped-back cool cafe from a business that I then couldn’t miss throughout Brighton, who are promising soon to enter the craft beer market having evidently cornered the speciality coffee market in Brighton.

• The Black Lion, 14 Black Lion Street, BN1 1ND

The Black Lion (left) and the Cricketers (right) both claim to be Brighton’s oldest pub

What is the oldest pub in Brighton? A quick Google revealed that unsurprisingly there is no easy answer. Fortunately, both contenders are literally next door to each other. In the red corner, the Black Lion, where I enjoyed a pint of Beach Session IPA from Brighton’s own Lost Pier brewery.

• The Cricketers, 15 Black Lion Street, BN1 1ND

The Cricketers’ interior is pure Victoriana

There has been a pub on this site from 1547. The notorious Jack the Ripper is reputed to be a former customer, with the Cricketers also finding infamy in the novel Brighton Rock by Graham Greene. Its interiors are pure Victoriana: etched glass, a panelled counter and adjacent snugs linked by an archway.

Where to stay in Brighton?

• Artist Residence, 33 Regency Square, BN1 2GG

Each room at Artist Residence is individually designed, with the company’s aesthetic beginning here when Justin gave artists free board in the former B&B in return for their services. Be sure to check out their cafe and bar to enjoy coffee to cocktails from breakfast to bedtime in bohemian Brighton.

There’s no place like Brighton

For more inspiration before a visit to Brighton, visit www.visitbrighton.com

All photos: Martin Booth

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