Mae West Lips sofa
Dalí's 1938 Surrealist showpiece, one of only five originals, and the most photographed object in the building.
A crimson sofa shaped like a Hollywood actress's lips, designed by Salvador Dalí in 1938, sits in a wing of what used to be the royal stable complex. That is Brighton Museum in a sentence: an Indian-style block of domes and arched windows raised as part of the Prince Regent's stables and riding house, a wing begun as a real-tennis court, never finished, and later used as cavalry quarters before the museum moved in in 1902, now home to one of the quirkier decorative-arts collections in England. It shares the Royal Pavilion estate with the Dome concert hall, and the Pavilion's own gate is a two-minute walk across the gardens. The strongest room is 20th Century Art & Design: Art Nouveau and Art Deco furniture and glass, Lalique among the names, and the Mae West Lips sofa, which draws more phone cameras than any painting in the building. Beyond it come World Stories, with objects from Africa, Asia and the Pacific, a compact Ancient Egypt gallery whose coffins reliably hold children's attention, a fashion gallery, and a local-history room that explains how a fishing village became the playground of British princes. The galleries are small and close together, so do not expect London scale; one to two hours is plenty. An adult ticket is £10.50 and stays valid for a full year from purchase; children aged 5 to 18 pay £5, under-fives go free, and booking on the website takes 5% off. There is no need to book ahead even in August: Brighton's queues form at the Royal Pavilion and on the pier, not here. Open Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 17:00, closed Mondays except bank holidays. A lift and level floors make it easy with a pushchair. When is it worth your time? When Brighton rains, which it does often, or when the children need an hour out of the wind off the beach. If you have only half a day in town, the Royal Pavilion next door is the clear priority and sells its own separate ticket. The museum is an excellent add-on rather than a destination in itself.
Dalí's 1938 Surrealist showpiece, one of only five originals, and the most photographed object in the building.
Art Nouveau and Art Deco furniture and glass, Lalique among the names, in one dense, handsome room.
Part of the Indian-style stables and riding-house complex the Prince Regent built beside the Pavilion; this wing began as a real-tennis court and housed cavalry before the museum moved in in 1902.
Royal Pavilion Gardens, Brighton BN1 1FN
The Royal Pavilion, without hesitation; its interiors are unlike anything else in Britain. The museum is a pleasant add-on worth an hour if it rains or you have children in tow, and the two sell separate tickets.
Yes; entry is level, a lift links the two floors and the toilets have baby-changing. The Ancient Egypt gallery is what usually holds small children, and an hour is enough for them.