It's a truth widely known by travellers and holiday-makers alike that you never make the most of your home country - too busy as we are jetting off to explore sunnier climates and famous landmarks, we rarely take a moment to appreciate the sights on offer from our very own doorstep. When we were living in Australia, we frequently got told by locals that we'd seen more of their country in our short time there than they'd seen in their whole lives. If I were to meet travellers exploring the UK, tiny island as it is, I'd probably have to tell them the same thing.
So, in the year of the staycation, Nick and I took the opportunity to explore areas of the UK that we've always wanted to visit, but have always been pushed down our lists in favour of further afield destinations. We spent a week in the summer travelling down to Bristol (where my parents live and where I spent my teenage years, so I can't really claim this as a holiday destination, despite how lovely of a city it is!) then on to Brighton and Cambridge, two places where neither of us had ever been before!
We were very lucky in that we providentially chose the hottest week of the year to visit Brighton, which made it feel even more like a holiday destination when we were walking around in flip flops and sunglasses. Brighton is an amazing city and we both loved it there. It kind of reminded me of if London and Blackpool had a baby... (Which is how cities are made, right?)
Below are some of my top recommendations of where to stay, where to eat and things to do if you find yourself in Brighton:
Where To Stay
Artist Residence
The Artist Residence hotel is somewhere I have been wanting to stay for years, so finally getting to stay there was a tick off the bucket list for me! I follow them on Instagram and their whole interior design style is right up my street. Our room was so cute (I may or may not have captured lots of pictures for future home design inspo whilst I was there...) and had a vintage radio playing to greet us when we walked through the door.
We also had an adorable little balcony that overlooked the sea, where we sat and shared a bottle of white wine one warm evening during our stay.
The location was also absolutely perfect - just a one minute walk from the beach. If you're planning a trip to Brighton, I can't recommend staying at the Artist Residence highly enough!
Where To Eat
The Regency Restaurant
For dinner on our first night, we went to the Regency Restaurant, which was just on the corner of the square where we were staying (Regency Square) and opposite the beach.
The Regency Restaurant is predominantly a seafood restaurant. This was amazing news for me who can't get enough fresh seafood, but not such good news for Nick, who doesn't eat anything that came from the ocean unless it's been battered and deep fried.
Whilst I went for the Mediterranean seafood platter (containing hake, mussels, clams, scallops and king prawns!), Nick surprised me by going for the deep fried equivalent (containing cod, calamari, scampi, whitebait and king prawns). Anyone who knows Nick will know how far out of his comfort zone everything from "cod" onwards on that list is, so I was very proud of him for embracing the locally caught selection. When in Rome!
The ensuing meal was a hilarious (and delicious!) juxtaposition between a southern and a northern idea of a seafood dinner.
SIX
On our first morning in Brighton, we went for breakfast at SIX. I booked this restaurant because I'd seen online that they do a pescatarian breakfast (just in case my love for seafood hadn't been emphasised enough already!) containing salmon, crayfish and mackerel alongside other more traditional breakfast items such as mushrooms, hash browns and avocado on toast. It was unbelievably delicious and sitting outside enjoying it in the sunshine was just the best start to the day!
Oeuf
On our last morning, we went for breakfast at Oeuf, which was the loveliest little restaurant that was decorated so beautifully. I had the cheese and chive frumpets which were phenomenally delicious and just made me so sad that we don't have frumpets anywhere in Leeds. (Please correct me on this if I'm wrong!)
I would walk back to Brighton for another cheesy one of those bad boys.
Boho Gelato
I'm not usually a big ice cream fan but the ice cream from Boho Gelato was probably the second best ice cream I have ever tasted in my life (the first being from Dobutsuen in Harajuku, Tokyo).
I went for blueberry yoghurt whilst Nick went for mango sorbet.
I love that they offer more unusual flavour choices and that they switch up the flavours they serve all the time. I can't wait to see what will be on offer by the time we get to go back!
Things To Do
Hike Devil's Dyke
On our way into Brighton, we stopped off at Devil's Dyke to stretch our legs. It was a really pretty walk with beautiful and far reaching views across Sussex (that I imagine would be spectacular at sunrise or sunset!)
However, word of warning, if your fitness levels are anything like mine (read: bordering on non-existent) then I probably wouldn't recommend trying to hike one of the steepest trails on one of the hottest days of the year! That ice cream van selling cold cans of Sprite I saw when reaching the top had never looked so good!
Win 2ps (And Spend Them On Doughnuts) On The Palace Pier
The Palace Pier is one of the first places we headed after dropping our bags off at the hotel (and, of course, stopping for some essential fish and chips on the beach!)
They have all the arcade games you could ever dream of and we gambled away many a 2p coin; played many games of air hockey and lost many pound coins trying desperately to win a stuffed animal that, let's be honest, probably wouldn't have made it home with us even if we'd actually managed to win it...
They have lots of fairground rides and best of all... hot doughnuts! (Which we definitely didn't eat every single day of our stay... Stop looking at us like that!)
Shop In The Lanes
You can't go to Brighton without exploring the Lanes, and there's certainly a lot to explore! There were so many cute little independent shops, including a first edition book dealers where I managed to get Nick a signed first edition of Jeffrey Archer's latest book for his birthday!
And, of course, you can't go to the Lanes without visiting Snooper's Paradise. Is it a shop? Is it a museum? Is it a photo studio? Who knows! That's all part of the fun!
Snap A Pic At The Beach Huts
Another Brighton tourist essential: visiting the beach huts! You can't not whilst you're there.
For added points, see if you can find the hut that most closely matches your outfit to pose in front of... Just us? Okay, moving on!
Visit The Royal Pavilion
We didn't actually pay to go inside the Royal Pavilion, but even just seeing it from the outside was so impressive! It looked so out of place in the middle of an English city and made me feel even more like we were on a holiday abroad.
We treated ourselves to a Joe & the Juice and sat in its grounds, soaking up the sun and admiring the architecture.
There was also a wedding happening on the day we were there and we got to see the couple having their photos taken which was really nice!
Swim (Or Paddle Board!) In The Sea
Finally, if you get lucky with the weather like we did, then you have to make the most of being at the seaside by getting yourself in the sea!
Nick isn't a big fan of English seas as he was afraid it was going to be too cold (which it wasn't) and pebbly (which, I have to admit, it was!) but you couldn't keep me out of it. Once you got past the initial shock, it wasn't cold at all and was such a refreshing way to spend an afternoon.
If you love paddle boarding as much as I do, you'll be pleased to learn that you can also hire paddle boards and spend an hour paddle boarding around the pier!
Overall, we really enjoyed our time in Brighton and it's definitely somewhere that we'd love to visit again someday.
From Brighton, we drove up to Cambridge, which felt like driving back into England. Whilst we'd spent our time in Brighton swimming in the sea and eating ice creams, the clouds began to form as soon as we drove away, meaning our shorts and t-shirts were immediately replaced by jeans, jumpers and big coats as soon as we arrived at our next destination.
We only spent one night in Cambridge and so I can't pretend to be much of an authority on things to see and do there. We spent the evening that we arrived punting along the river, which was a lovely experience and something that I would definitely recommend.
If you're going to go punting in Cambridge, it's worth going in the evening for a much quieter and more relaxing experience. I'd also recommend paying extra to have a boat to yourself, especially if going with a partner. Another thing worth noting is that you're allowed to bring your own food and drink on to the boat with you, making it the perfect destination for a picnic as you glide down the water and learn more about the history of the colleges!
That night, we had a lovely meal at The Old Bicycle Shop. This restaurant is built on the site of the first ever bike shop in Britain (Howes Cycles) which is where Charles Darwin bought his bike from!
Unfortunately, all of the colleges were closed when we tried to visit the next day, but this would, of course, be something worth doing if you find yourself in Cambridge (and time your stay much better than we did!)
I really enjoyed our mini-staycaction and appreciated it even more for knowing that it's not something we ever normally would have chosen to do with our time off. We plan on keeping the staycation theme going this year and already have trips planned to Harrogate, Cheshire and Edinburgh (which I will, of course, update you on!)
Next year, I'm hoping that we'll be leaving the country for the first time since the pandemic. So long as the world remains open and it continues to be safe to do so, I'd be lying if I said my feet weren't starting to get itchy for foreign soil again!
Even though two years is definitely a long time for us to go without boarding a plane, it's comforting to know that the rest of the world is still out there waiting... And in the meantime? Brighton Beach makes a pretty good substitute for Bondi Beach!
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