Brighten your day in Brighton
Sitting on the southern coast of England, Brighton is one of the sunniest destinations and is one of the more famous beaches. With a pebble stone beach, Brighton will surprise you in more ways than one!
Logistics
Arriving from London, Brighton is one of the easiest day trips! However, if possible, try to extend it into a nice weekend break! From central London, one can buy a ticket from many of the main train stations, including St Pancreas, Blackfriars, London Bridge, and Victoria. Each of these stations have different perks and travel times, but most journeys will take an hour.
Travel Tip: To save money and to look up the best travel times, utilize The Trainline! If one books in advance, you can usually save money on the ticket. Otherwise, it will show you all the train times and stations.
For our trip, we took a train from London Bridge to Brighton, taking a little over one hour with the ticket costs less than 10GBP! From Brighton station, it is a really easy walk to the beach.
Our Train
Because we bought tickets ahead of time, we did not have to stress about finding a ticket booth. From London Bridge, our train and seats were very easy to find, especially as we were on the early morning train! We may have taken a nap, but in less than an hour, we were pulling into the seaside escape of Brighton!
Brunch on the Beach
After a short walk from the train station, we wanted breakfast to reward ourselves for the early journey. Plus, as much as Mary Frances enjoys the beach, she does not think a tan will occur at 9am. Whoops! Thankfully, we had an excellent brunch at Lucky Beach Cafe that allowed us excellent views of the beach. We both had tasty eggs benedict, with mine having bacon and hers having avocado. Excellent start to an excellent day!
Hanging on the Beach
Once we sat on the beach, we realized we could not lay down on the pebbles for very long without discomfort. We picked a good place a good distance from the pier and road and for the longest time had uninterrupted views of the calm, cold blue waters. It was perfect.
Shortly after setting up our spot, I noticed some renting chairs and lounge chairs. We definitely opted for these as pulled over a lounge chair and normal beach chair so we could alternate during the day. I would highly recommend renting a chair for less than 10GBP and really try to work on the tan!
Travel Tip: On the beach, I would recommend walking as far away from the pier and the main road from the station.
Throughout the day, we had excellent views of the water and pier. While we weren’t getting that hot compared to Florida’s beaches, we still felt that we were on the beach! Thankfully, we did not need to go in the water, otherwise we would have been frozen.
No beach trip is actually a beach trip unless there is a ice cream! Heading into town to the famous Gelato Gusto, it was very worthwhile as I had some delicious ice cream! Sadly, I had to eat most of it before it reached Mary Frances…… Such a shame….
A Quick Brighton Tour
Once we were tan and hungry, we decided on a mini tour of Brighton as we walked from the beach to our seaside restaurant, Melrose. With the cooler air and calming ocean sounds, we definitely enjoyed it. We absolutely loved it!
Meanwhile, we stopped at the lovely Melrose Restaurant for a great seafood dinner! Thankfully, we were able to get a table with outstanding views of our favorite English beach. We feasted on fresh seafood from calamari to crab cakes! For our main, we shared scallops and fresh fish. Each dish was delicious, although nothing compares to my favorite seafood in Florida!
The UnChartered Summary
Our day trip to Brighton brighten our day after a long, stressful move to London! With plenty of trains, Brighton is extremely easy to reach and the pebble beach is worth a return!
- As a day trip, Brighton is an excellent beach destination on a sunny day. Even if the weather is not great, there still are plenty of rainy day activities to do between the shops and museums.
- If you are truly after a beach day, treat yourself and rent a beach chair unless you are ready to form a rock bed.
- Next time, we will stay overnight because Brighton has fantastic food and drink here! Plus, who doesn’t mind an extra day at the beach!