Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
VISITOR INFORMATION
The
Tourist Information Centre,
4-5 Pavilion
Buildings (
&
01273/290337;
www.visitbrighton.com), is next to the Royal Pavilion
shop. It's open Monday to Saturday 10am to 5pm (until 4pm summer Sun and bank
holidays).
GETTING AROUND
You really don't want to drive around Brighton—parking is
difficult and expensive, and the seafront gets clogged with traffic. There are plenty of
local buses
(
&
01273/886200;
www.buses.co.uk), and you can get a Saver ticket
(£3 for 1 day, £14 for a week) for unlimited travel on daytime buses. It's available in
shops, at newsagents, and online. Free route maps are available at the Tourist Infor-
mation Centre (see above).
SPECIAL EVENTS
In May, the
Brighton Festival
(
&
01273/709709;
www.
brightonfestival.org) is the largest arts festival in England. It features drama, litera-
ture, visual art, dance, and concerts ranging from classical to rock.
Exploring the Area
Brighton Marina
MARINA A mile or so east of the city, tucked beneath the
chalky cliffs, is the modern marina. It's Britain's biggest, with 1,600 moorings, and
there are plenty of sea-view houses and flats too. But this is also a massive entertain-
ment complex with more than 20 restaurants
(mostly chains, including Marco Pierre
White's and Frankie & Benny's), bars, a modest outlet mall, a 26-lane bowling alley, a
cinema, a health club, children's playgrounds, and bicycle rental. You can even stay
here, at the
Hotel Seattle
(
www.aliashotels.com
;
&
01273/679799) or in a luxury
pad that's available for rental. There's also the
Walk of Fame
(www.walkoffame.
co.uk), a Hollywood-style tribute to those with Brighton connections: from The Who
(their mod movie
Quadrophenia
was set here) to
Brighton Rock
author Graham
Greene. It's an easy walk from town, there's a 24-hour bus, plenty of free parking, or
you can take the miniature
Volks Electric Railway
(
&
01273/292718,
www.
volkselectricrailway.co.uk), Britain's first electric train, which started running in 1873.
Brighton Marina, Waterfront.
&
01273/628627.
www.brightonmarina.co.uk. Bus: no. 7.
Brighton Museum & Art Gallery
MUSEUM Once the Royal Pavilion's
magnificent stable block, this is now a treasure-trove of beautiful and curious things.
The museum is in the park adjoining the Pavilion (see below), and a recent £10 mil-
lion redevelopment has created a bright, white environment to showcase one of the
most important collections of decorative arts in England outside London. And it's
free. First thing you come to is the 20th-century Decorative Art and Design gallery,
where Salvador Dalí's Marilyn Monroe Lips sofa rubs shoulders, as it were, with some
exquisite pieces by Charles Rennie Mackintosh. There are modernistic bentwood
chairs and the original ornate copper elevator interior from London's Selfridge's
department store. Farther on you find the history of Brighton, from its discovery by
the bright young things to the dark days of World War II bombings, plus exhibitions
of stage costumes and fashion, while upstairs are modernist paintings including works
by Walter Sickert, as well as special exhibitions and a cafe.
Royal Pavilion Gardens.
&
03000/290900.
www.brighton-hove-rpml.org.uk. Free admission. Tues-
Sun 10am-5pm.
6
The Royal Pavilion at Brighton
HISTORIC SITE From the outside,
the Pavilion appears a bit seaside-resort garish, a melee of vaguely eastern-looking
domes, painted an unattractive beige, that you suspect might house an entertainment
