2023 - September - Brighton

Reachable in around an hour from London, Brighton is a classic day trip destination.

The train station awaits you in the style of the Italian Renaissance and when you step onto the station forecourt you can even see the sea. Just go straight ahead and you're on the very lively promenade.

To be honest, we were expecting an elegant English seaside resort, but now we had to accept that we were met with a kind of fairground atmosphere.

Coming from the train station, we turned left on the promenade and despite the sunshine it was clear that the town's good days must have long been numbered. Various buildings looked like they could desperately use a renovation. On the pier, shooting galleries alternated with carousels. Everything was somehow a bit too loud and too cheap. There is even a wild water ride there, which was well received by the seagulls, but there were no paying guests. Overall, the charm of the 70s, a bit of old hippie and everything close to decay.

In the distance, at the other end of the promenade, the unmissable Brighton i360 observation tower smiled at us. The tower consists of a 162m high tubular steel column and a ring-shaped viewing platform that can be raised and lowered. The i in the name stands for intelligence, innovation and integrity and the number 360 for the all-round view that you can enjoy while driving.

It wasn't a mistake to choose the path there. The environment became increasingly more beautiful to the point of being magnificent, well-kept and truly elegant. The ride in the Brighton i360 is actually a great experience. We felt like we were in a UFO. Some of the roof advertising also appeared to have been placed specifically for the Brighton i360.

From up here you can also clearly see that Brighton is already a certain size. According to Wikipedia, 277,000 people live here.

By the way, continuing to walk along the promenade is also worth it. The colorful bathing huts, which enjoy cult status here, are coming soon. The waiting time for such a house should be up to 10 years. There are also sun loungers on the pebble beach.

By the way, Brighton is considered very LGBTQ-friendly. Rainbow colors and statements in this direction can be found everywhere.

And this year there are cute sheep-shaped city guides. The Shaun the Sheep sculptures are colorfully painted and are located at various attractions across the city. This year in November they will be auctioned off.

In retrospect, I can really recommend Brighton. If you choose the right area, you can relax very well here. Of course we didn't get everything done in just a few hours. We would have liked to visit the Royal Pavilion, for example.

But coming back is possible. So see you soon Brighton.