This grand old centenarian pier is the place to experience Brighton's tackier side. There are plenty of stomach-churning fairground rides and dingy amusement arcades to keep you amused, plus candy floss and Brighton rock to chomp on while you're doing so.

Look west and you'll see the sad remains of the West Pier, a skeletal iron hulk that attracts flocks of starlings at sunset. It's a sad end for a Victorian marvel, upon which the likes of Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel once performed.

So far there's no sign of the i360 observation tower ('Hurray!' some may cry), a spectacularly space-age piece of architecture from the creators of the London Eye that may one day loom 150m above the seafront. This would include a West Pier Heritage Centre – a pavilion where audiovisual exhibits will relate the pier's history.