Brighton and Hove is a city that happens to face the Channel. The Palace Pier, the pebble beach and the Royal Pavilion are the postcard. The Lanes and North Laine are the reason people who live in London keep a habit of coming down. It is louder, later and less pretty than a Cotswold day, which is the recommendation.
Come for one night if you want supper and a morning swim, or for a day if London has gone airless. Do not come expecting sand of the Mediterranean sort. The beach is stones, and the swimming is serious.
See
The Royal Pavilion
The interior is the spectacle. The outside is enough if you only have an hour and a camera.
A walk to Hove
West along the front, away from the pier. The architecture improves as the amusements thin out.
The Lanes, once
Early. By noon it is a jewellery crawl. North Laine is the better wander for shops that are not souvenirs.
The downs behind
A bus toward Devil’s Dyke or a train to Lewes if the beach wind has won. The city makes more sense with the chalk hills above it.