Brighton has been on my doorstep for pretty much all my life, and perhaps that is why I’ve sometimes taken it for granted. When somewhere is so familiar, it is easy to forget why people travel from all over the country, and indeed the world, to experience it.
For me, Brighton has never simply been about the beach, the pier, sticks of Brighton rock or fish and chips beside the sea. Those things are all part of the city, of course, but they have never really explained why I’ve always enjoyed coming back.
Brighton’s appeal is much harder to define. It is in the narrow streets, independent shops, music, graffiti, pubs, clubs, cafés and colourful characters. There has always been a slightly rebellious side to the city, along with a wonderfully relaxed attitude towards people simply being themselves.
Years ago, a tourism campaign described Brighton as “Never Normal”.
It was created at a very particular moment in time, but the more I thought about those two words, the more I realised they summed up the Brighton I’ve known for decades.
Growing Up With Brighton on My Doorstep
Back in the late 1980s, Brighton meant jumping on the train with the lads for a Saturday night out.
We’d head around the North Laine and those wonderfully atmospheric backstreet pubs before inevitably finding our way towards the clubs. In those days that might mean somewhere like the Pink Coconut or The Event, although as the 1980s disappeared into the 1990s, our tastes in music, fashion and venues changed with them.
Out went some of the glitz and in came darker, cooler places such as The Zap and The Gloucester.
There were white socks, pencil-thin leather ties, Depeche Mode and probably several fashion decisions that seemed perfectly reasonable at the time. After a few drinks, the main ambition was generally to enjoy ourselves and perhaps attract the attention of somebody on the other side of the bar.
Those nights belong to another era now, but whenever I return to Brighton there are still little reminders of them.
The venues change, shops disappear and another generation inevitably discovers its own favourite places, but Brighton somehow retains the same slightly alternative personality.
More Than the Seafront
For many visitors, Brighton begins with the seafront, and there is nothing wrong with that.
The beach and pier are part of the city’s identity, and on a warm summer’s day there are few better places in southern England for simply sitting beside the sea and watching the world go by.
But I’d always encourage anyone visiting Brighton for the first time to turn their back on the sea at some point and start wandering.
The Lanes and North Laine are quite different but together reveal another side of the city. There are narrow passages, independent shops, cafés, pubs, vintage clothing, jewellery, street art and the sort of businesses that would look completely out of place in a conventional shopping centre.
This is where Brighton becomes much more interesting to me.
You don’t necessarily need a list of attractions or a carefully organised route. Part of the pleasure is simply exploring the side streets, finding somewhere that catches your eye and stopping for a coffee, beer or something to eat.
Brighton has always rewarded a little aimless wandering.
A City With Attitude
Brighton has never been particularly interested in behaving like everywhere else.
It has long attracted artists, musicians, students, performers, independent businesses and people who perhaps feel more comfortable somewhere that doesn’t expect everyone to fit neatly into the same box.
That openness is a huge part of the city’s personality.
There has always been a bohemian streak, but Brighton can also be gloriously eccentric. Anyone who remembers former world boxing champion Chris Eubank driving around the city’s narrow streets in enormous vehicles will understand exactly what I mean. It was excessive, impractical and slightly ridiculous, but somehow in Brighton it didn’t seem completely out of place.
The city has changed enormously since my first nights out here, yet it hasn’t completely polished away those rougher edges.
And I hope it never does.
Music, Nightlife and Brighton After Dark
Music has always been woven into Brighton’s identity.
My memories inevitably revolve around the clubs and music of the late 1980s and early 1990s, but every generation seems to discover its own version of Brighton after dark.
The city continues to have a strong live music scene, with everything from intimate venues and pubs to larger concert spaces. Then there are the bars, clubs and late-night venues that have helped make Brighton a popular weekend destination for decades.
These days my own Brighton evenings tend to be rather more civilised than they were in my twenties. I’m much happier finding a good independent pub or bar, meeting old friends and spending the evening recounting stories that probably become slightly more impressive with every retelling.
I don’t miss everything about those younger days, but I do enjoy walking through the city and remembering them.
That’s one of the advantages of having known somewhere for so long. Brighton isn’t simply a destination to me; different streets and buildings can trigger memories from completely different periods of my life.
Eating and Drinking Around Brighton
Brighton’s independent character extends to its food and drink scene.
There are restaurants representing cuisines from around the world, excellent vegetarian and vegan choices, traditional pubs, coffee shops, bakeries and a seemingly endless supply of places serving craft beer.
Rather than recommending one particular restaurant that may change ownership or direction in a couple of years, I’d suggest exploring according to where you find yourself.
The Lanes, North Laine, Kemptown and the streets leading away from the seafront all have plenty of choice, and some of my favourite Brighton experiences have involved discovering somewhere by accident rather than heading for a restaurant I’d researched beforehand.
That’s how Brighton works best for me. Have a rough idea of where you’re going, but leave enough room for the city to distract you.
Brighton’s Familiar Landmarks
Of course, there are certain Brighton sights that even somebody who prefers wandering the backstreets shouldn’t ignore.
The Royal Pavilion remains one of Britain’s most extraordinary buildings, an exotic former royal residence that seems completely unexpected when you first encounter it in the centre of an English seaside city.
Then there is Brighton Palace Pier, stretching out into the English Channel with its amusement arcades, fairground rides and unmistakable seaside atmosphere.
The remains of the West Pier provide a very different image. Its skeletal structure standing offshore has become almost as recognisable as the functioning pier further along the beach.
The seafront itself continues to evolve, but walking beside the sea remains one of the simplest pleasures Brighton offers. On a clear day you can walk for miles, stopping whenever somewhere looks inviting.
For me, however, the landmarks are only part of the story. You can photograph the Pavilion and walk along the pier, but you haven’t really experienced Brighton until you’ve spent some time amongst its people and neighbourhoods.
A Different Brighton Every Time
One of the reasons Brighton has remained interesting to me is that it never seems completely finished.
Restaurants open and close, murals change, old clubs disappear and new venues take their place. Areas that once felt neglected become fashionable, sometimes to the disappointment of those who preferred them before everybody else discovered them.
That constant change means my Brighton isn’t necessarily the Brighton somebody visiting today for the first time will experience.
And that’s fine.
I have memories of pubs and clubs that no longer exist, fashions that should probably never return and nights out that seemed far more important at the time than they actually were.
Someone else will be creating completely different Brighton memories today.
The common thread is the city itself: creative, sociable, occasionally scruffy, sometimes outrageous and rarely boring.
Why Brighton Will Always Be Special to Me
When I originally wrote about “Never Normal Brighton” back in 2021, the phrase came from a tourism campaign created during a very strange period in all our lives. The campaign caught my attention because it rejected one of those expressions we were all thoroughly tired of hearing at the time: the “new normal”.
Years later, the circumstances surrounding that campaign have passed, but I still think the phrase itself captured something important about Brighton.
The city has never needed to be normal.
Its appeal has always come from being a little different, whether through its music, nightlife, art, fashion, food or simply the characters who call it home.
These days, when I head into Brighton, I’m no longer the young bloke in white socks hoping to impress somebody after a few drinks. I’m far more likely to be meeting friends for a decent meal or finding a good pub and reminiscing about the places we used to frequent.
But the feeling I get from Brighton hasn’t changed as much as I have.
There is still an energy about the city, along with that unmistakable sense that pretty much anything goes.
I’ve travelled to cities all over the world, but sometimes it’s worth remembering that one of the most distinctive has been sitting on my doorstep all along.
Brighton was never normal.
And that’s exactly why I’ve always liked it.
