The beach town an hour from london

Brighton is about an hour from London by train, which still feels a little unreasonable to me in the best way. You get on at Victoria or London Bridge and step off into a full-blown seaside town. One warning: the line runs through Gatwick, so depending on the day you'll share your carriage with a lot of suitcases and airport chaos — worth knowing before you picture a peaceful coastal glide.
Why I found it charming (and not tacky)Here's the thing I keep turning over. The closest American comparison I can make is the Jersey Shore — the pier, the arcade games, the fried food, the ice cream stands, the whole boardwalk-carnival energy. And normally that's exactly the kind of scene I'd find tacky. But in Brighton I found myself... charmed. I was taking pictures of the fish and chips. The ice cream stands. The arcade games.
My actual favorite part: the Royal PavilionIf you take nothing else from this, go to the Pavilion. I'm a maximalist, so I walked out with pages of interior design inspo, but honestly you don't have to be one to be floored. John Nash and the Prince Regent knew exactly what they were doing — an Indo-Saracenic palace dropped into a British seaside town, all domes and chandeliers and impossible detail. It has no business being this good and it absolutely is.
On my list (recommended to me, haven't tried yet)
  • The Little Fish Market
  • Tutto
  • Casa Azul
  • Mango Tout — conveniently right by the train station.
  • Plateau
Fancy / special occasion
  • Etch — top of my must-try list.
  • Mare (technically in Hove — see below) — incredible. Italian-meets-Brazilian from chef Rafael Cagali (of London's Da Terra), and it's Michelin-starred. One of the best things I ate.
Drinks and where to stay
  • The Grand Hotel — we walked in for a look and it's a great spot for an aperitif; also a lovely stay.
  • Brighton Beach House (Soho House) — right on the seafront by the Palace Pier, complete with a rooftop pool (the banana-shaped one by David Shrigley) looking straight out to sea. So impressed it exists here.
A quick word on HoveDon't lump Hove in with Brighton — locals will correct you, and they're right. It's calmer, a little more residential-chic, and Church Road is the spine of it. That's where you'll find Mare, and it's also home to Wild Flor, which I loved. If Brighton is the carnival, Hove is the exhale afterward.

Next time: a proper Brighton food deep-dive. For now — go for the pier, stay for the Pavilion, eat everything on Church Road.
Why? Maybe because it's old. Maybe it's just a mindset. But I think there's something genuinely special about history plus difference. It's the same carnival, but instead of funnel cakes and hot dogs you get fish and chips and ice cream cones, and instead of cotton candy you get candy floss. The small translation is the whole magic. Walking the pier was so much fun precisely because it felt like a familiar thing rendered in another century's accent. Do the pier walk — it's a must, purely for the nostalgia of it.
Brighton somehow layers three scenes at once: the edgy creative one, a real culinary one, and a proper history one. The Pavilion is where the last two collide.
Where to eat and drinkCoffee first
  • Trading Post — came highly recommended.
  • Bread & Milk — absolutely packed when we went (usually a good sign).
  • Café Coho — the one I actually sat down at, and the coffee was great.
Lunch, casual, and good-view spots
  • Burnt Orange — where we had lunch, and the flavors were incredible. The sea bream and the lamb were my favorites; my husband went for the halloumi and the seviche. The chicken is worth a mention too. Easy highlight.
  • 64 Degrees — a Brighton staple.
  • Riddle & Finns — good location, good food, good views. A bit of a "typical" spot, but a reliable one.
  • The Salt Room — downstairs of the DoubleTree. We didn't eat but it looked lovely and the setting is cute.