City Guide: brighton

Brighton is a young cosmopolitan city 50 miles due south of London. It is the seaside town full of hotels, bed and breakfast accommodation with a vibrant mix of traditional and youth - it is a magnet for weekend breaks on the seaside. Not surprisingly, Brighton’s beaches can become extremely busy during the summer with day-trippers from London visiting the city. Brighton is not just a holiday destination no, Brighton is a student town and as such has many pubs and clubs and shops catering for the young.

One of the favourite tourist areas is the ‘lanes’, which are narrow series of alleyways leading through a series of shops between the seafront and the main high-street. These are full of cafes, clothes shops and other knick-knacks for tourists and the local population. Another popular tourist destination is the seafront at Brighton which has a wonderful promenade stretching for miles and has a modern marina at one end and Brighton pier at the other with many amusements, the sea life center and eating places. In addition, the seafront has many small traditional amusement arcades and shops built under the archways of the promenade itself. These include artists shops and local crafts. It’s a fantastic place to visit in the summer with backdrop of the tall white traditional buildings set against sandy beaches while Brighton pier provides the main focal point. There are many water sports to choose from including sailing, windsurfing and other pleasure boating - some of these are based in the marina and others are based from hire location locations along the beach.

There are many examples of Regency architecture in Brighton, especially on the seafront which are mad up of traditional seaside white or pale colours. Many of these buildings are in disrepair and of being constantly renovated both from a property speculator and a local resident point of view. The layout of Brighton's buildings and accommodation is a mix of Victorian and Regency - the majority are terraced properties lined horizontally and vertically with the seafront. These lead up a hill to the main shopping areas of Brighton which today has chain stores as well as many small independent boutiques and craft shops. Other fine examples of 19th century Architecture is the old railway station of Brighton which was recently renovated to its former glory. Most famously of all, the Royal Pavilion provides an iconic piece of building Architecture and puts Brighton firmly on the map of place to visit to understand English Heritage and history.

Over the last 20 years the cost of accommodation and property in Brighton has risen dramatically and this is a mirror image of the United Kingdom rise in property prices generally. As more money has moved out of London looking for second homes and buy-to-let property, the demand for flats and a shared housing in Brighton has risen dramatically. Consequently, students trying to find property to rent in Brighton have to obtain student loans to supplement their outgoings.

There are also many famous hotels based in Brighton including The Grand, the hotel that was the target of an IRA campaign in the 1980s. Today it has been restored to its former glory and sits in pride of place on the seafront near other prestigious and typically English seafront hotels. Other notable hotels include the Old Ship Hotel, the Queen's Hotel and the Ramada Brighton hotel. At the lower end of the budget scale, there are hundreds of bed-and-breakfast accommodations dotted throughout the seafront area providing accommodation to rent for holiday makers, tourists and business people.

Brighton can be accessed from a number of perspectives; the London to Brighton motorway is the M23 which flows into the A23 and provides a very fast link to and from London by car. To the East, Hastings can be reached via the A27 and to the west, Hove, Portsmouth, Southampton and Bournemouth can all be reached via the A27 West. Brighton also has transport links via train to London, Kent and Hampshire.

Here you will find details of property for sale, rental accommodation, shared housing in brighton.