3 Days in Brighton: First-Timer Itinerary
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Three days is Brighton’s core spine plus one easy add-on: Day 1 covers the Pier, the Lanes, North Laine and the Royal Pavilion, Day 2 adds the i360 and Hove, Day 3 is a 20-minute train out to Lewes. If two days feels tighter than you’d like, drop Lewes and use our 2-day itinerary ; if you want more day trips, our 5-day and 7-day itinerary build further out.
Book these before you go
- Weekend hotel rooms: Brighton is a favourite London weekend break, and Friday/Saturday nights sell out first, especially through May’s Fringe and Great Escape season. Check rates on Booking.com .
- Brighton i360 for Day 2: timed entry, book your flight slot online rather than risk a sold-out afternoon.
- Royal Pavilion tickets: book online for 5% off and a confirmed spot at the free daily 2pm tour.
- If you’d like a guided angle on Day 1 or Day 3, browse Brighton tours on GetYourGuide .
| Day | Focus | Rough daily cost (GBP, £) |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Pier, seafront, The Lanes, North Laine, Royal Pavilion | 45-70 |
| Day 2 | Brighton i360, Hove seafront, Brunswick Square | 35-55 |
| Day 3 | Lewes: castle, high street, Anne of Cleves House | 30-45 |
Day 1: The Pier, the Lanes and the Pavilion
Start at Brighton Palace Pier before the crowds build. Admission is £2 per person, March through September 2026, free the rest of the year and free year-round for BN-postcode residents. Rides cost extra, roughly £5 each or £25-32 for an unlimited wristband. The beach below is pebble, not sand, so pack a mat.
Walk inland to The Lanes, the narrow medieval alleyways, locally called twittens, that trace the original fishing village of Brighthelmstone: antiques and vintage jewellery are the draw. North Laine, fifteen minutes north, is the opposite in character, over 400 independent shops, vintage clothing, record stores and street art, Brighton’s creative quarter rather than The Lanes’ polished antiques scene.
Finish at the Royal Pavilion , the one sight in Britain that genuinely looks like nothing else. Adult admission is £21.50, and the free 2pm daily guided tour is worth building your visit around, it’s the best way to get the Prince Regent’s story properly told. The ticket stays valid for free return visits for a year. The Brighton Museum & Art Gallery sits in the same complex, £10.50 adult, not free despite what a lot of older guides assume. Dinner: Terre à Terre, vegetarian since 1993 and repeatedly voted Brighton’s best restaurant, or a doughnut fresh off the pier if you’re short on time.
Day 2: Brighton i360 and Hove
The Brighton i360 opens Day 2, the 162-metre tower standing on the West Pier’s old landward plot, a 25-minute pod flight for £20.50 adult, timed entry. It reopened under new owner Nightcap Ltd in March 2025 after a period closed, so check today’s hours before you travel rather than assume it’s fixed.
Head west into Hove afterward, quieter and greener than central Brighton. The seafront is lined with brightly painted beach huts backed by the wide flat Hove Lawns, a good photo stop that costs nothing. Push on to Brunswick Square, a Grade I listed Regency square built in the 1820s by Charles Busby, regarded as one of the finest surviving examples of Regency town planning in Britain. Dinner back toward the centre: English’s of Brighton, the city’s oldest seafood restaurant, in an 18th-century building in The Lanes.
Day 3: Lewes
Direct trains from Brighton to Lewes run frequently and take just 17-20 minutes, the easiest day trip on offer and the natural pick for a third day. Lewes Castle rewards a steep climb with a panoramic view over the town and the Ouse valley. The historic high street is dense with antiques shops, and Anne of Cleves House, Henry VIII’s fourth wife’s divorce settlement property, adds a proper history stop. If your visit lands anywhere near 5 November, note that Lewes hosts the world’s biggest Bonfire Night celebration, trains stop calling there from around 5pm that evening, and non-residents are actively discouraged from attending.
Should I add a day trip to a 3-day Brighton visit?
Yes, and Lewes is the easiest one to fit. It’s a direct, sub-20-minute train with no bus timetable to plan around, unlike Devil’s Dyke or Seven Sisters, both of which run on weekend or seasonal bus schedules. That makes Lewes the natural third day before you commit to a longer stay.
Is the Brighton i360 worth the money?
That’s genuinely debated even among locals, and £20.50 for 25 minutes is not cheap. What you get is a clear-day view stretching to the Isle of Wight and the South Downs that you can’t replicate from the beach, plus Sky Bar access. If budget matters more than the view, the free vantage points along the seafront cover the same horizon without the ticket.
Buy the Lewes train ticket on the day, there’s no need to book ahead on this route, and save your advance-booking effort for the i360 slot instead.