With over £750m being earned from the tourism sector in Brighton, the seaside city continues to be a popular tourist destination, since the 1750s. Nearly 8 million visitors flock to the city each year, considering its popularity alongside the likes of Edinburgh and Barcelona. Being one of the most renowned and largest seaside resorts on the English Channel, Brighton stretches about 5 miles along with the steep chalk and sometimes the pebbled shoreline of the South Downs and is lined with amusement arcades & souvenir shops making it a culturally vibrant place to visit. Here’s a travel guide to help you find your way around on your visit to Brighton and ensure you partake in its splendid tourism.

By Air:

Brighton’s easy to reach from all the major London Airports. Since it sits on the south coast of England, you’ll most likely land at London Heathrow or Gatwick Airport, two of the chief airports in the capital of the UK. The closest airport to the city is London Gatwick, which is just half-hour from Brighton, while other airports like London Heathrow’s about 47miles, London City is 48miles, London Luton is 74 miles and London Stansted is nearly 76 miles from Brighton. The Shoreham airport’s the city’s local airport, west of the city and is primarily used by private planes.

Alternatively, you can hire a cab that takes approximately 2 hours at an estimated fare of £100, or a train costing £40 with a journey time of about an hour from the Victoria Train Station in the heart of London. A bus journey takes a couple of hours costing anywhere from £6-£14 from the Victoria Coach Station and is perhaps one of the cheapest ways of reaching Brighton.

By Train:

The Brighton Train Station’s to the north of the city, just a few steps away from the beach and is one of the busiest stations in the UK. From the London City DLR station, there’s a train for Canning Town every 10 minutes, from there you take the subway to London Bridge station and then board a train for Brighton. The total journey time amounts to about an hour and 24 minutes. If however, you arrive at London Heathrow, then from the Heathrow Terminals 2&3, you can board a train for London Paddington, proceed to Victoria via the subway and then take a train to Brighton.

By Road:

With a number of access routes available, journey by road to Brighton’s pretty accessible. From the M25 motorway, both London Heathrow and London Gatwick airports are well connected with regular coach connections and it takes roughly 2 hours to reach Brighton by the motorway from Southampton, Dover or Portsmouth

Getting Around:

One of the best ways of getting around the city is to explore Brighton on foot, with the city’s centre being just a square mile and its best place of interest, being the beach located a walking distance of most tourist sites and landmarks. But if you’re looking at traveling longer in Brighton, then the bus services here are impeccable, what with the prices starting at just £2.20 for a single ride and an unlimited day’s ticket costing just £4. Then there’s the Electric Railway (a historic tram) which links the Black Rock along the beach to the Palace Pier Jetty and costs about £4. There are several taxi and black cabs operational within the city, with over 40 taxi ranks and can be hailed on the street, unless you find a rank closer.

Spring (March-May):

Months of March through May make spring season rather cold, what with humidity and temperatures ranging from 18°C-10°C. With nearly 5 to 6 days of significant rainfall during this time every month, spring is the second busiest period for tourism in Brighton and perfect for touristy things to do!

Summer (June-August):

Summer season is rather cool with comfortably high temperature and moderate rainfall of approx. 6 days every month. The period of June through August is Brighton’s peak tourist season and hence one may find lodging and accommodation rather expensive during the time.

Fall (September-November):

The autumn months of September through November have an average temperature ranging from 20°C to 9°C, makes it chilly owing to the wind and humidity levels. Rain or snowfall occurs to a significant volume between 5-11 days a month slowing down tourism and influencing hotel tariffs to cost less as well.

Winter (December-February):

Brighton’s winter season is relatively cold with the average temperature oscillating between 10°C and 7°C, and a fair volume of rain or snowfall that lasts between 7-9 days in a month. Tourism is impacted this time of the year and it is the most inappropriate for warm weather travelers.

Leisure & Sports Activities:

There are a number of leisure and activity centres by Waves with sites spread across East Sussex offering swimming pools, skating grounds, workout sessions and more. Then, there’s a modern city centre called Beauty Secrets in Hove, a multi-award-winning salon with premium facial & body and anti-ageing treatments open through the week. The Yellowave Beach Sports Venue is one of Britain’s first beach sports centres and the city’s the only sandy beach that offers beach activities for all age groups and abilities that include Frisbee, beach rugby, beach volleyball, footvolley and beach soccer.

Nightlife:

With Fatboy slim as its celebrity resident, Brighton’s nightlife’s bound to be hot and happening with some of the coolest clubs in town, right from hard house to bubblegum dance to cheesy tunes and Latin beats. Spanning all tastes and genres, club nights in Brighton have loads to offer with some of the best and upcoming live music that will have you tapping your toes to each beat all night long. Some of the best haunts in the city include Rendezvous Casino, Marlborough Theatre and Pub, Pier Pressure, The Old Market, Grosvenor Casino Brighton Seafront and more.

Tours & Sightseeing:

Make the most of your visit to Brighton with its numerous themed and guided tours that include Walking Tours – from blue badge guides to chocolate trails to ghost walks, or guided cycling tours spanning the wider city and stunning countryside of the South Downs, or take a bird’s eye of the city by taking scenic flights. You can also explore getting an inside view of the city by joining a local resident and enjoying the Brighton Greet Tour!

Brighton Festivals:

Brighton’s annual festivals are delightful, exuberant and not to be missed as they come around just once a year. From the Brighton Festival which celebrates music, dance, circus, theatre, film, literature and the arts across different venues, with a majority of them being hosted at the Brighton pavilion, May is abundant with different events to keep your evenings full! The Brighton Fringe Festival’s a diverse event that showcases cabaret, music, theatre and comedy with several upcoming performances that run concurrently with the mainstream Brighton Festival through May and June across the city. Then, there’s the Brighton pride, one of UK’s most popular LGBT events with the main parade, followed by smaller parties on a weekend in August at the Preston Park.

Brighton, being a seafront resort and party place, has a surprising number of places to eat that are excellent choices for food. Given the city’s fascination for burgers, the New Club & 7 Bees comes with a breakfast menu with melted cheese and a sausage patty with eggs on a glazed brioche bun. Its menu further includes a hit list of pastrami sandwiches, fried chicken, fish tacos, dirty dinner classics and more! Then there’s La Choza, one of Brighton’s go-to venue for best burritos, tacos and quesadillas. From the deep-fried catch of the day to the pit-smoked pork (pulled) and chorizo that’s homemade, everything here is fresh and every morsel is full of life.

For those who’re on a shoestring budget, the coal shed specializes in meats cooked on charcoal-fired josper, which is a grill cum oven with its express menu offerings for lunch and early evenings for fares under £10. Iydea offers a variety of vibrant bites from hot vegetarian servings to side salads with toppings and sauces. The Flourtown is a simple joint that serves light meals and upmarket daytime snacks including scrambled eggs with aged cheddar and avocado, sandwiches jazzed up with homemade spicy sauces, loads of tarts, cakes and pastries, baked fresh on-site, in addition, to open puff pastries and American Breakfast Muffins.

The Snooper’s Paradise is one of the best places to shop at if you love rummaging through retro stuff, with some unique gems, located in the heart of North Laines, while Beyond Retro is a huge market that includes a variety of vintage clothing and accessories, albeit a bit expensive, which you can haggle your way through! One of UK’s long-standing fragrance houses, the Pecksniffs offers a typical range of treatments to pamper your inner Diva/Hunk at exceptional standards. A fragrance consultation will have your perfume formula stored, ready for order at any time, and it can also be incorporated into a Bath & body care range for your wardrobe.

Choccywoccydoodah is one of the city’s finest gems and a must-visit for any Brighton Tourist with its chocolate westies to cakes in all shapes and sizes. Then, there’s Oliver’s, ideal for Harry Potter Fans with a unique offering of wizarding treasures, wands, enchanted jewelry, broomsticks and more! The iO gallery is a unique souvenir shop, run by and for artists’ who’d like to sell their wares with good quality and at affordable pricing to customers who appreciate art inclusive of ceramics, jewelry, paintings & prints to glasswares.