Looking for a place to escape the city without leaving, in the Royal Pavilion Gardens is the place…read moreto do it. This idillic setting offers a peaceful retreat from the hustle and bustle of city life. Pack yourself a picnic and enjoy it on the lawns. Whenever I'm in the gardens I've been lucky enough to catch some amazing live music. A recent favourite was the Sitar player accompanied by the dancing scarf lady. What's not to love!

It speaks volumes about how mellow Brightonians are that I've seen people practicising yoga and…read moretai-chi in Royal Pavillion Gardens. If you go at weekends, there's often bands or solo artists playing very mellow jazz, pop or acoustic music too. In the winter, it's too cold to really sit on the grass and take in the wonder of the Royal Pavillion but in the spring and summer, the gardens are usually flowing with locals and tourists sunbathing, chatting or reading the papers. There's deckchairs dotted around for comfort and several different areas where you can just lounge on the grass. The cafe here also does a good trade selling hot and cold drinks, cakes and snacks. To paraphrase Donovan: It's all mellow yellow...

A beautifully serene environment, quiet, far spaced from the rest of town, but quite a trek out…read morefrom the main Pier. -Would recommend a quiet jog or a walk with the dogs or a friend -Picturesque and a great place to enjoy your own thoughts -Be prepared for a long walk - at least 30min from the Brighton Palace Pier

One of Brighton's less well known treasures is the undercliff walk that starts by the Marina and…read moregoes 5km past Ovingdean and Rottingdean to Saltdean. It's excellent for an afternoon stroll or a cycle ride, and you can access the main coast road from any of the above-mentioned places, if you want to catch one of the frequent buses back to town. The walk is actually a sea-wall, built originally in the 1930s to prevent to erosion of the chalk cliffs. It has been rebuilt and enhanced many time since then, most recently after a series of cliff falls a few years ago. Walking along it - especially on a bright, sunny day - is almost a surreal experience. After a few minutes, you leave behind the sprawl of the modern Brighton Marina with its shops and flats with their legoland architecture, and experience the contrast of the dazzling white chalk cliffs, 25m high, on the one side, with the changing shore on the other: now rockpools, now shingle, now great rocks. The white of the cliffs and the concrete on a sunny day really can be overpowering - sunglasses are essential. As well as the stunning geology - all manner of fossils have been found in the cliffs - it is the nesting site for several types of birds, and the rock pools have the usual array of shore life. There are regular access points (steps) to the sea every 100m or so. There are small beaches at each of Ovingdean, Rottingdean and Saltdean, with a small cafe (and toilets) at Ovingdean. The pubs and shops of Rottingdean are a few minutes' walk from the path. There are no life guard facilities at any of the beaches, so swimming or paddling is at your own risk (plenty of people do it). The attraction is that the beaches are much quieter than those in central Brighton. Access via ramps (for wheelchairs, prams etc) is available at the Marina (next to Asda car park), Rottingdean and Saltdean, but not Ovingdean, where there is a long flight of steps. The slopes at Rottingdean are quite steep. Users are also advised to take care during storms, when the sea crashes over the sea wall!

I'm in my 70s and a paragliding experience was on my bucket list. My husband was anxious about my…read moresafety. Steve gave us both a lot of confidence in his calm and professional manner. The weather wasn't with us on the first day but on my second it all went very well. I was up for 22 minutes and had the time of my life. Thanks Steve.

The main thing this company offers is paragliding. Whether it be a one off experience or a few…read morelessons to teach you to do it on your own or become an instructor. But, it is still worth having on here as it is a great birthday present and one which can be shared so that the person if petrified of heights like me can have someone to poop themselves with them. Currently, a dual tandem will set you back £120 which for a different experience and a real thrill isn't that bad.

Excellent. Richard and I put 1 Pound into a slot machine and walked out with 42 Pounds! We only…read morespent a total of 2 Pounds in this arcade and so came out really on top. The cashier happily exchanged the multiple Pound coins from the machine into notes for us. We used to criticise British 'Pokie' machines for being tricky and complicated but this was a lovely surprise. There are the usual 10p and 2p push down machines in this arcade but we didn't touch them this time. Staff could have smiled a bit more.

Really great guy, loves bikes and happy to help. He just does MOT at the moment I think but if you…read moredo need any work done he'll give you a fair assessment of what needs doing and what you should be paying. Totally old school, no frills but he's forgotten more about bikes than most mechanics will ever know.

many biker friends talk well about this place and have used him for years and gerry is long…read moreestablished, i havent used this place to get work done but if i needed any part i gone to him with the numbers for it and he has helped me outgood prices and helpful staffthumbs up :)

For me Ditchling Beacon is little more than Sussex's most beautiful car park. Maintained by the…read morenational trust it serves as the final and most brutal challenge of the London to Brighton Bike ride. For the main part it's a great place to start a long walk across the downs on a route that (heading west) has a few interesting points to offer including some historic dewponds and an area of land known to the mountain biking community of Sussex as Tank Tracks. The reason for this being that it was used a training ground for tank drivers during the Second World War. As with most places on the downs the whole walk offers incredible views all year round and unlike Devil's Dyke for example you are free of the reminder that the pub offers of how close you are to civilisation you are.

Ditching beacon is the site of a Paleolithic hill fort, though sadly nothng remains of the original…read morestructure. What is left is one of the most breathtaking views you will get of the Sussex county. The site is a nature reserve maintained by the National Trust and if you want to get out of the city and have a walk along the downs, then this should be your first port of call. If you follow the route West along the chalk downs you will pass a couple of old dew ponds (used by herders in times past for watering their flocks) and end up coming to a quaint little windmill. The actual car park will usually have an ice cream van stationed for any refreshments, but aside from that don't expect a pub or venue to quench your thirst. Hence, bringing along some snack and drinks is a good idea. The car park is fairly adequate, but on summer weekends you may have to resort to parking on the side of the road. I came here a lot as a kid and would really recommend this as a nice Sunday afternoon walk to burn off the effects of the Sunday lunch.

This is a excellent little stop of for Brighton families as it has so much to offer. Not only does…read moreit have sand sports courts where volleyball, beach rugby and bouldering are played, its also a sheltered haven on an often breezy pebble beach with a licensed cafe. An ideal place to spend a Sunday chilling out at the Barefoot Cafe with a vino, watching a tournament while the kids muck about in the sand. The only venue of its kind in the UK Yellowave Brighton has played host to many beach sports events such as the British Women' Volley Ball championship. The venue is also used for live music events ad parties so definitely worth checking out of you have visitors down.

I went to Yellowave for the first time this weekend to play a Volleyball Beach tournie with…read morefriends. I was really impressed with the venue. Being a volleyball player myself and an addict I must say, this is a great place to train and play beach. The sand is perfect, there are around 6 courts available, and the staff clearly know their stuff! There' also a lovely cafe/bar to chill out and have snacks, a climbing wall for fitness and an area for children to play with the sand outside of the courts. The venue is also available for some other sports like beach soccer, beach rugby, frisbee, etc... And for volleyball addicts like me you can hire a court to train for as little as £18/hour. So get your training gear on and try it out this summer!

I was excited to visit this aquarium on my recent trip to Brighton as they advertise themselves as…read morethe world's oldest aquarium. When I arrived at the ticketing office, I was told that one of the tanks would be closed for refurbishment. However, they didn't stress that it wasn't just one small tank, but an entire section of the aquarium. With such a large section of the aquarium closed, it was an absolute waste of £20. While the architecture is pretty, Sea Life is way overpriced for what you see. With the refurb going on, the flow of the place was messed up and the signs directing you where to go were not clear. I am hoping that I accidentally missed a section, because otherwise I paid £20 to see 2 rooms of fish. The only time I ran into staff members was in the ticketing office and gift shop, so there wasn't anyone I could have asked for directions. This place might be worth the pricey ticket after the refurbishment is complete, but until then I would skip SeaLife in favor of some of the other attractions in Brighton.

This is a lovely little aquarium. It's the oldest aquarium in the world! It was cool to see, and…read moreit's perfect for little kids. The arches/tunnels under the main tank were so cool! Everyone liked looking up at the giant sea turtle, manta rays, and sharks swimming over us! I loved the Finding Nemo section! Baby Friendly 5 stars Kid Friendly 5 stars Plenty of room at baby changing station. Nice aquarium.

Palmeira Square is the main square in Hove, and forms what many feel is the centre of the town,…read morewhere the shopping and restaurant streets of Western Road and Church Road meet. Laid out in 1855 on the site of the disastrous Anthaeum glass-house (see review of Adelaide Crescent), Palmeira Square was originally part of an estate bought in 1830 by Baron Goldsmid, founder of University College, London. (He was also a Portuguese noble, with the title Baron de Palmeira - hence the name of the square). Adjacent to the square was a Bronze Age burial mound, which was excavated and removed in 1856 to allow the construction of Palmeira Avenue; a polished stone axe found in the excavations is now in Brighton Museum & Art Gallery. The square has some impressive Victorian buildings, but is best known for the gardens in the centre, which include a floral clock. The western end is dominated by the church of St John the Baptist, completed in 1854. Its neo-gothic architecture looks strangely out of place against the cream stucco around it, but its spire (added in 1870) is a notable landmark. The square contains a number of shops and restaurants, as well as being a local bus interchange, and is an attractive urban space.

One of the loveliest areas in Hove, Palmeira Square remains a sought after address with most of the…read morehouses converted into gorgeous apartments with high ceilings and ornate period features. In keeping with the area, every building is painted in the same distinctive shade and the majority of them have been beautifully maintained with regular rendering and fresh paint. The park in the middle of the square is just as well kept with sweeping trees, shrubs and flowers dotted around the middle and outside. There's also half a dozen benches though most people seem to prefer lying or sitting on the grass. Whilst it's a 10-15 minute walk from Brighton, Palmeira Square is an ideal place to come for a picnic or quiet drink with friends if you're after some peace and quiet. There's bins to put your rubbish and I've never seen more than a dozen people at once. Unlike Chris H, I've also walked past Brunswick Square lots of times late at night and never encountered or witnessed any trouble. In fact, the most nightlife I've seen is sea-gulls and pigeons tapping the grass looking for slugs!

This lagoon watersports offers lots of watersports most of the year round. In the summer there is…read morean event that is sponsored by K'nex which enables all kids the chance to do wind surfing for free so look out for it! I did this programme and loved it and would recommend it. There is tonnes of events going on so there will be something to do. The cafe also supplies good grub which is important for a day spent on the water before and after. Even if the weather isn't great do not let it put you off as often you get more speed when windsurfing in bad conditions. Plus once you have finished you can have a nice hot bath which always feels a million times better when you've been out in the windy weather of the Brighton seafront. It isn't the cheapest day but in terms of the facilties, coaching and equipment you get at your disposal it is relatively.

Pete L. has it down. Training wheels for water sports. I came out here on a LivingSocial Adventures…read moreand had a blast! You can rent a kayak and go out on the ocean, or do a variety of sports in the lagoon (windsurfing, wake boarding on zipline, stand up paddleboard, sailing, kayaking, etc.) Reasonable pricing scheme, really friendly (and attractive) staff. My ONE warning, don't expect a crystal blue lagoon. It is a sorta funky brown pond of seawater. But hey, it is a good, safe place to learn with much more predictable conditions than the big bad ocean, so you do what you gotta do. I'd definitely come back on my own and play some more!