Britain’s original destination for a dirty weekend, Brighton has had a reputation for licentiousness since the Prince Regent (later King George IV) started bringing his mistress Maria Fitzherbert here in the late 18th century. The construction of his coastal party pad, Brighton Pavilion, sealed the deal — slowly transforming the sleepy fishing village of Brighthelmston into a fashionable destination for the Regency elite, as well as setting a deliriously high standard for subsequent society pleasure dens.
Cut to 2023 and the city has cleaned up its act. It claims the UK’s only Green Party MP and its highest density of vegan restaurants, according to 2022 research by chefspencil.com. To sanitise the city too thoroughly, however, would be to rob it of its charm. This is a place synonymous with Graham Greene’s underworld novel Brighton Rock and, latterly, best known for bonkers beachfront raves and outrageous drag acts. An exemplar of the counterculture, it prides itself on openness and inclusivity — its wordplay nickname ‘B-right-on’ infinitely more apt than the slightly sneering ‘London-on-Sea’.
Though a fraction of the capital’s size — only qualifying for its city status when bundled together with neighbouring Hove in 2001 — Brighton brims with big energy. “It’s the beating heart
