10 Best Things to Do in Brighton
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The Royal Pavilion and the Palace Pier top this list for a reason: nothing else in Brighton matches them for a genuine first visit, and everything below is ranked by how much a first-timer would regret skipping it, not by novelty. This goes deeper than our main Brighton guide , ranking ten specific things to do with prices, timing, and which ones you can actually skip if a day runs short.
1. The Royal Pavilion
Adult admission is £21.50, and it’s worth every pound. Nothing else in Britain looks like this, a Regency exterior built as an Indian palace with fully Chinoiserie interiors inside, the Prince Regent’s fantasy made real between 1787 and 1822. Budget 1.5-2 hours, and build your visit around the free 2pm daily guided tour, it’s the best way to hear the full Prince Regent’s-extravagance story. The ticket covers free return visits for a year, and Brighton Museum & Art Gallery sits in the same complex, £10.50 adult, worth pairing on the same visit. If you’re staying near the seafront to make the walk over easy, check rates on Booking.com .
2. Brighton Palace Pier
The Pier costs £2 per person March through September 2026, free the rest of the year and free year-round for BN-postcode residents. Walk the full length before the crowds build, then grab a doughnut from the stall that’s been on the pier for 30-plus years, the one bit of pier food genuinely worth queuing for. Rides cost extra, roughly £5 each pay-as-you-go. See our full pier guide for what’s worth riding and what to skip.
3. The Lanes
Free to wander. These are the cramped medieval alleyways, locally called twittens, tracing the footprint of the original fishing village of Brighthelmstone, now antique and vintage jewellery shops between North Street, East Street and Ship Street. Budget an hour or two, and go early if you want the alleys to yourself before the shops fill up.
4. North Laine
Also free, and genuinely distinct from The Lanes despite the similar name. North of the station, 400-plus independent shops, vintage clothing, record stores, indie bookshops and street art, Brighton’s creative quarter rather than The Lanes’ polished antiques. Almost no chain coffee shops here, a real differentiator if you want an independent brunch.
5. Brighton i360
The i360 is the one paid attraction on this list worth thinking twice about. £20.50 adult for a 25-minute pod flight up a 162-metre tower on the West Pier’s old landward plot, timed entry, book ahead. It reopened under new owner Nightcap Ltd in March 2025 after a full closure, so check today’s hours before you travel. Add it if the budget allows and it’s confirmed open, skip it if you’d rather spend that £20.50 on dinner.
6. SEA LIFE Brighton
SEA LIFE is the world’s oldest aquarium, opened 1872 in the same Victorian building it still occupies. Book-ahead adult tickets start around £17.50 (walk-up £20), and it’s part of the National Rail 2-for-1 scheme if you arrived by train. Budget an hour to 90 minutes, a solid rainy-day fallback.
7. Volk’s Electric Railway
The world’s oldest continuously operating electric railway, running since 1883, from near the Aquarium to Black Rock on the Kemptown/Marina edge. Full route adult fare is £5.40 single, £7 return. Seasonal, running Easter half-term through 30 September, closed roughly October-March. A scenic 20-30 minute way to connect the seafront without walking it.
8. The West Pier ruin and its murmuration
Free to view from the beach, no access onto the structure itself. The skeletal ironwork, left standing after a 2003 arson fire and 2014 storm damage rather than demolished, is one of Brighton’s most-photographed sights on its own. From November through late February, most evenings it’s also the backdrop for a starling murmuration, thousands of birds wheeling at dusk. Arrive about 45 minutes before sunset on a cold, clear evening for the best show.
9. The Undercliff Walk
Free, flat, and genuinely underused. About 3 miles of paved promenade beneath the chalk cliffs, running from Brighton Marina to Saltdean and passing Ovingdean Gap and Rottingdean on the way. Quiet compared to the central seafront, and a good way to see a version of Brighton most first-time visitors never reach.
10. A day trip to Lewes
Direct trains from Brighton take 17-20 minutes, the easiest day trip add-on there is. Lewes Castle rewards a steep climb with views over the Ouse valley, the high street is dense with antiques shops, and Anne of Cleves House adds a real history stop. If you’d rather go further afield with a guide, browse Brighton day tours on GetYourGuide. See our day trips guide for Devil’s Dyke and Seven Sisters if you have more than a day to spare.
At a glance
| # | Thing to do | Price | Time needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Royal Pavilion | £21.50 adult | 1.5-2 hrs |
| 2 | Palace Pier | £2 (Mar-Sep) | 1-2 hrs |
| 3 | The Lanes | Free | 1-2 hrs |
| 4 | North Laine | Free | 1.5-2.5 hrs |
| 5 | Brighton i360 | £20.50 adult | 25-45 min |
| 6 | SEA LIFE Brighton | From £17.50 | 1-1.5 hrs |
| 7 | Volk’s Electric Railway | £5.40-£7 adult | 20-30 min |
| 8 | West Pier ruin + murmuration | Free | 10-20 min (longer Nov-Feb) |
| 9 | Undercliff Walk | Free | 1-2 hrs |
| 10 | Lewes day trip | Train fare only | Half day |
Is the Brighton i360 worth the £20.50?
It depends how you feel about paying for a view the beach gives you for free. The i360 gets you higher, 162 metres, with a Sky Bar and a proper 25-minute flight, but plenty of locals will tell you the free view from the seafront does the job. It’s rank 5 on this list for a reason: worth it if the budget stretches, entirely skippable if it doesn’t.
How many of these can you realistically fit into one day?
Numbers 1 through 4, the Pavilion, Pier, Lanes and North Laine, make a full, satisfying first day on foot, no transport needed between any of them. Everything else on this list is a genuine second day or longer: the i360 and SEA LIFE cluster near the seafront together, the Undercliff Walk and West Pier suit an unhurried afternoon, and Lewes needs its own half-day.
If you’re only doing one thing on this list and nothing else, make it the Royal Pavilion, book online for the 5% discount and go early enough to catch the free 2pm tour without a scramble.