Having lived in the UK for two decades I did a first on my visit back this (northern hemisphere) Autumn - visit Brighton, for two nights no less.
I've always viewed it as a bit too far, a bit too much effort and not enough draw. Plus you travel through the centre of London to get there. Nowadays, the effort is much less, with direct trains from Cambridge to Brighton in just a few hours. So travel we did.
I've had lots of school friends travel to Brighton and tell me about how amazing it was, so I thought I'd try it, and I came away from it feeling very meh over it.
We stayed at the incredibly awful Royal Albion Hotel in Brighton. I've stayed in some pretty crappy places, but this one is miles worse than any of them. There was literal sewage soaked into the carpets, the windows were so dirty they were almost opaque, plus fairly sure there were fleas in my bed. Not jilted at all, and it costs between GBP70-149 per night!
On day 1 we arrived at the hotel and immediately went for a walk, first through the streets nearby, where our first stop was at the Royal Pavilion. A stunning palace, seemingly out of place in its Asian-architectural style.
Then we walked towards Brighton Pier, Brighton's draw card. A place of arcades, gambling, fair ground rides and high-sugar food stalls. Basically a pier of vices.
Took a few photos on the foreshore as well as the streets of Brighton.
We were able to trundle along quite a bit of Brighton before we headed in, ready for day two of exploring. On the agenda, the Brighton i360 degree thing on a pole viewing platform, followed by the interior of the gorgeous pavilion. British Airways wants you to know they invested in this and for GBP25 you too can ride the up and down in 25mins. Plus there's a cocktail bar in case going up for the views wasn't your main plan. No toilets though, because it is a literal air prison.
The views were pretty awesome, if a little grey and the whole thing is surrounded by shaped glass, meaning taking decent photos without any reflections is almost impossible.
The i360 is pretty subtle isn't it? Can hardly notice it on the Brighton skyline...
As you can probably tell, the weather was just pants, so we decided to, hesitantly head over to the Pavilion and pay the fee to have a look inside. We were quite sceptical...
We couldn't have been more surprised by this building's interior.
There was the fancy dining room and kitchen
There are many lights
Maybe it was the grim weather, the sea spray, the hotel we stayed in, the ever present smell of urine and vaping in the street, but I just didn't get it (Brighton). Maybe it was 39 year old me comparing the place to reviews from my then teenage friends, but then they are pretty old reviews to be fair.
I really enjoyed the Pavilion though! If you ever go, it's the only you need to see.
