I’d strongly recommend that you take a stroll down Brighton’s Promenade and enjoy the sea view and the marvellous architecture you’ll see en route. But before walking, it might be worth stopping off at Brighton’s aquarium. This started off life in the 1870s as a menagerie but was changed to an aquarium in the early 1930s. As aquariums go, it’s not much different than most, but the building’s a stunner.
Start your walk by choosing the lower level nearest the "beach" (I use the word with some trepidation because Brighton’s seashore is 100% pebbles). I crunched my way across the shore and dipped a toe in the water – much too cold to even paddle in, but at least I’d felt seawater on my foot! Then I headed back to the prom to find the restaurants, souvenir shops, the penny arcade museum, and a range of stalls offering locally manufactured crafts. Certainly if you want artwork or photographs, then there’s abundance on sale here (although my sons, one an artist and the other a keen amateur photographer, would claim they could do better!), but amidst the quality, there’s an awful lot of mass-produced tat. Examine closely before you buy, and always haggle over the price.
At beach level there are basketball and volleyball courts, and for skateboarders a purpose-built "outdoor arena". There is a charge for skateboarders, but Brighton does seriously attempt to stop random skateboarding throughout the town – so you’ve less chance of been mowed over here than in most places.
Back onto the upper level, and you’ll see, on the corner of Black Lion Street, the mid-1500s "Old Ship Inn", with its fine, crisp lines and striking bay-fronted windows. The Grand Hotel, although a fine building, is now most famous because of the bombing of 1981, when the Tory Party Conference was targeted. Along the route, Brighton has several surprises in store, as the front has several pieces of modern art for your pleasure (or amusement), whilst on the other side of the road are the fine Regency Houses that are Brighton’s trademark. Make sure you detour off the prom to examine the elegant houses that line the squares at right angles to the beach – Regency Square is particularly noteworthy.
The "peace monument" forms the border between Brighton and Hove, and although there are several different interpretations of its significance, the real fact is that is was built to celebrate the reign of Edward VII.
For £1.50, you can save your legs and travel away from Hove and ride on the world’s first public electric railway. It was opened in 1883 and you can journey the 1 1/4 miles along the beach from the pier to Black Rock station – not the fastest of journeys, but you’re riding a 200-year-old experience. Whilst this way, check out Royal Crescent (1798) – the first terrace to face the sea – and the time that anyone who was anyone would have had a place in Brighton.