Say the name Brighton to any English person and, guaranteed, a smile will come to their face as they recall a weekend of fun and frivolity spent in the city at some point in their youth. Brighton’s reputation as a town where you can let your hair down and enjoy yourself is not a modern phenomenon, back in the early 1800s, George IV, who ruled as Prince Regent when his father George III lost his marbles and then as king when dad finally kicked the bucket, fell so madly in love with the East Sussex seaside resort that he built a magnificent Oriental styled palace there. The Brighton Pavilion, as it is known today, is one of the most spectacular royal palaces in Britain, with rooms filled with jaw-dropping ornaments, furniture and other assorted royal knick-knacks, and if you are a resident of Brighton and Hove, you can see it all for free!
The Palace Pier is, arguably, Brighton’s most famous feature and it is certainly noticeable, at 525 metres in length and comprising an entire funfair, including a rollercoaster, it’s more like an amusement park than a pier. Built in the Victorian times, like many other prominent buildings in the city, like the Grand, Metropole and Hilton Hotels, the pier is the 4th most visited free attraction in the UK and number 1 outside London.
Just a short walk from the Pier you can find The Lanes, an incredible maze of narrow alleyways featuring boutique jewellers, designer clothing stores, pubs, cafes and restaurants. Popular with tourists and locals alike, The Lanes have been a feature of the city for over two centuries. It’s easy to spend a whole day wandering through the interconnected streets, knowing that lunch or a drink in a fabulous old-fashioned pub is always within reach. Brighton effortlessly mixes the charm of the old with the freshness of the new, just a short walk along the seafront from The Lanes brings you to the British Airways i360, a viewing platform that, at 162m, allows you to view the Sussex Coast, the Channel and the South Downs all at once.
Although not famous for sport, Brighton boasts a horse racing course and a Premier League (at time of writing) football team. Brighton and Hove Albion, or The Seagulls as they are known, recently moved to a purpose-built stadium just north of the city and have aspirations to be a force to be reckoned with in years to come.
Another claim to fame that Brighton can boast of is having the first parliamentary constituency in the UK to elect a member of the Green Party as its Member of Parliament. Dr Caroline Lucas was voted in during the 1997 election and has managed to hold on to her seat ever since. Brighton prides itself on being one of the most environmentally friendly cities in the UK, ranked as the greenest city in Europe as recently as 2014.
Before Brighton’s emergence as a tourist destination, sparked by the interest of the Prince Regent, Brighton had led a rather sleepy existence. It only became Brighton in 1810, before that it was known as Brighthelmstone, and was known more for fishing than for parties. These days, however, Brighton, or Brighton and Hove as it should be called since its promotion to city status in 2000 in alliance with its very close neighbour, is synonymous with enjoying life - Brighton was ranked first again last year in the list of Happiest Places in the UK.
It’s not difficult to see why its residents are so happy. Just 47 miles, under an hour on the train, from London, with miles of beaches, a population of young and affluent people, every kind of eatery or drinking establishment you could imagine, magnificent Georgian and Victorian architecture and more sun per year than 95% of the rest of the UK, Brighton is incredibly attractive as both a travel destination and somewhere to consider as a permanent home.