Things to do in East Sussex
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Brighton Pier
This grand old centenarian pier, full of glorious gaudiness, is the place to experience the tackier side of Brighton. There are plenty of stomach-churning fairground rides and dingy amusement arcades to keep you amused, and 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 birds 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…
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Nasza
This friendly Polish eatery called ‘Our’ serves some of our favourite comfort food, including pierogi (dumplings stuffed with meat or cheese and potatoes), bigos, a ‘hunter’s stew’ of cabbage and pork, and golabki (stuffed cabbage).
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Mermaid St
From the tourist office, turn away from the water through Strand Quay, and clamber up the famous cobbled Mermaid St, thick with 15th-century timber-framed houses with quirky house names like 'The House with Two Front Doors', 'The House Opposite' and more.
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Seven Dials
Housed in an imposing former bank, this formal and crisply set-out restaurant is praised for excellent seasonal fish dishes. It's almost a mile from the seafront but worth the walk or taxi fare for a special occasion or well-deserved splurge.
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Royal Pavilion
The city's must-see attraction is the Royal Pavilion, the glittering party-pad and palace of Prince George, later Prince Regent then King George IV. It's one of the most decadent buildings in England and an apt symbol of Brighton's reputation for hedonism. The Indian-style domes and Moorish minarets outside are only a prelude to the palace's lavish oriental-themed interior, where no colour is deemed too strong, dragons swoop and snarl from gilt-smothered ceilings, gem-encrusted snakes slither down pillars, and crystal chandeliers seem ordered by the tonne. While gawping is the main activity, you can pick up an audiotour (included in the admission price) to learn more abou…
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West Pier
The historic West Pier, which closed in 1975, began to collapse into the sea in December 2002 and, having since caught fire twice, is just a dark shadow on the water. It’s still quite an arresting, beautiful sight and many visitors – including thousands of starlings in November and December – flock to see it. There are plans to mark the spot on shore with a controversial 176m-tall observation mast called the Brighton i360 designed by the same husband-and-wife team of architects behind the London Eye. For details, see the West Pier website or visit the quirky Brighton Fishing Museum on the seafront.
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Brighton Museum & Art Gallery
Across the Royal Pavilion Gardens is the surprisingly captivating Brighton Museum & Art Gallery. Of the half-dozen galleries here our favourites are World Art, which effectively displays the spoils and souvenirs brought home by 19th-century colonialists; the excellent Brighton History gallery, with its ‘naughty-but-nice’ displays; and the new Ancient Egypt collection. Other galleries show ceramics, fashion and costumes and fine arts from the 15th to 20th centuries.
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Palace Pier
A grand old centenarian, Palace Pier is Brighton beach's centrepiece and the place to shake off the city's cosmopolitan gloss and embrace its tackier seaside soul. Start by dizzying yourself on a few stomach-churning fairground rides, whiz around the Helter Skelter made famous by the Beatles song, buy a few souvenir sticks of Brighton Rock, then flop into a candy-striped deck chair and scoff candyfloss to your heart's content.
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Ypres Tower
Just off Church Sq stands the sandcastle-esque Ypres Tower (pronounced 'wipers'). This 13th-century building looks out over Romney Marsh and Rye Bay, and houses one part of Rye Museum. It's overseen by a friendly warden, who's full of colourful tales from the tower's long history as fort, prison, mortuary and museum (the last two at overlapping times). New exhibitions dedicated to women and children in Rye and a medieval garden are planned. The other branch of the museum, a short stroll away on East St, is home to an 18th-century leather fire engine and other intriguing loot.
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Koba
This übercool cocktail bar oozes it-crowd extravagance and exclusivity. It's technically a member's club but the sumptuous velvet-draped front bar opens to the hoi polloi until 23:00, just enough time to ingratiate yourself with a member to be invited back into the private 'Champagne Bar' or 'The Gods' with high ceiling and altar-style bar.
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Dorset
There's a laid-back Parisian street-café feel to this gastropub and Brighton institution, which throws open its doors and windows in fine weather and spills tables onto the pavement. You'll be just as welcome for a morning coffee as for an evening pint here, and if you decide not to leave between the two, there's always its decent menu too.
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Pokeno Pies
Bang goes the greasy image of the great British pie shop: this is guilt-free comfort food at its best. The slick glass-fronted café-takeaway has cornered the local market in affordable and surprisingly healthy gourmet pies. There are over a dozen fillings, from richly flavoured Mediterranean lamb to Moroccan aubergine and feta.
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Camera Obscura
A lovely vantage point for the sunset, Eastbourne's pretty filigree-trimmed pier also has a curious Victorian Camera Obscura that projects images of the outside world into a dish within a darkened room. In July daredevils in feathery frocks hurl themselves from the pier in the annual birdman competition.
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English's Oyster Bar
A 60-year institution, this Brightonian seafood paradise dishes up everything from oysters to traditional scampi to lavish lobster thermidor. It's converted from fishermen's cottages, with echoes of the elegant Edwardian era inside and buzzing alfresco dining on the pedestrian square outside.
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Riddle & Fins
We’re told that Gordon Ramsay called the fare served in this elegant oyster bar hidden in The Lanes ‘seafood as it should be’. We don’t care about that, but we’ll come back for our favourite bivalves (from £10 a half-dozen) and more bubbly.
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Due South
Sheltered under a cavernous Victorian arch on the seafront with a curvaceous front window and small bamboo-screened terrace on the promenade, this refined yet relaxed restaurant specialises in dishes cooked with local, environmentally sustainable and seasonal ingredients.
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Beach
On a summer's day, there's nowhere better to sit and watch the world go by than at this popular beach bar and club. It has a funky brick-vaulted interior, and a wide terrace spilling onto the promenade within earshot of the surf and sight of the talent dipping into it.
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Lamb House
This Georgian town house is a favourite stomping ground for local apparitions, but not that of its most famous resident, American writer Henry James, who lived here from 1898 to 1916, during which time he wrote The Wings of the Dove.
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Evening Star
Hopheads heap praise on this beer-drinkers paradise; a snug unpretentious pub with a conveniently short stagger to the station after a sendoff from its wonderful selection of award-winning real ales, Belgian beers, organic lagers and real ciders.
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Church of St Mary the Virgin
Rye's church is a hotchpotch of medieval and later styles and its turret clock is the oldest in England (1561) still working with its original pendulum, which swings above your head as you enter. Climb the tower for panoramic views of the town and surroundings.
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Honey Club
A cavernous seafront club that jumps from strength to strength, almost as popular with DJs as it is with the weekly queues of clubbers that pile into its glittering depths. Dress up, party hard, then cool off your aching feet in the sea.
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Brighton Sea Life Centre
Just north of Brighton Pier is the very up-to-date Brighton Sea Life Centre, the world’s oldest operating aquarium, with some 150 species in almost five dozen tanks and pools, as well as a walk-though tunnel.
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Wai Kika Moo Kau
Say its daft name fast and you'll get a clue to the ethos of this primarily veggie-vegan café. It spills onto the pedestrian street outside so you can sip your soyachino or tuck into meat-free specials as the shoppers pass by.
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Eastbourne Heritage Centre
Livens up exhibits on the town's history with eccentric asides, such as on Donald McGill, the pioneer of the 'naughty postcard'.
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Café Belge
A fabulous position near the pier with large windows facing the seafront, a ridiculous choice of seafood dishes with an emphasis on mussels, and three-score choices of Belgian beer make this a hard restaurant to resist.
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