The pier at dusk
Thousands of bulbs light up the ironwork after sunset, and the best shot is from the shingle beach, not from the deck.
A funfair standing on iron legs in the sea: that is what Brighton Palace Pier looks like from the pebble beach, and it is exactly what it has been since it opened in May 1899. The deck runs some 525 metres from the Old Steine out into the Channel, and on its boards two roller coasters, a haunted hotel, a helter skelter, a traditional gallopers carousel, dodgems, a seemingly endless arcade hall and stalls of fish and chips and hot doughnuts jostle for space. It is a Grade II* listed monument, and it behaves like nothing of the kind. Know this before you arrive: entry was free for well over a century, then a token charge arrived in 2024. For the 2026 season it is £1 per person over two, collected only from March to October and during peak periods, and waived entirely if you pre-book a rides wristband online (£24 for anyone 1.2 m and over, £19.20 for smaller children, against £30 and £24 at the gate, so booking ahead saves a fifth). Otherwise rides are paid one by one, and the arcades swallow coins faster than you expect, so set the children's budget before you walk on, not after. For families it works in its noisy way: the deck is flat with no steps, pushchairs roll easily, but there are gaps between the planks through which you can see the water, which delights small children and unsettles some parents. The wind at the far end is stiff even in July, so bring a light jacket. On summer weekends it gets choked around midday; come at opening or after six in the evening when the lights go on and the air cools. Hours shift with the seasons and the weather, roughly 10 or 11 in the morning to 7.30 pm on weekdays and to 9 pm or later at weekends, with the arcades and some of the big rides closing before the deck itself. In winter the pier stays open but many rides are parked and the indoor arcades are most of the show. The best picture of the pier is not taken on it but from the beach at dusk, when thousands of bulbs light up the structure and it looks like a ship at anchor. Walk fifteen minutes west along the shingle and you reach the burnt skeleton of the West Pier standing in the water, with the i360 tower behind it. From Brighton station it is about twenty minutes on foot, downhill to the seafront and then east along it; if you drive, the Madeira Drive pay-and-display car park on the seafront is close but fills early in summer.
Thousands of bulbs light up the ironwork after sunset, and the best shot is from the shingle beach, not from the deck.
Two coasters, a haunted hotel, a helter skelter and a gallopers carousel sit right at the sea end; pay per ride or buy a day wristband.
Stalls along the deck sell fish and chips and hot doughnuts, the authentic seaside meal and an easy choice for families.
Madeira Drive, Brighton BN2 1TW
With children aged roughly 6 to 14 you will be pestered for rides, and a pre-booked wristband beats paying singly after three or four rides and removes the entry charge. If you only want the atmosphere and photos, pay the pound, walk to the end and back; an hour is enough and you need nothing more.
The pier first, without hesitation: nearly free, alive, and the thing that makes Brighton Brighton. The i360 lifts you about 138 metres in a glass pod for around 20 minutes at roughly the price of a whole rides wristband; the view is lovely on a clear day but quiet. Choose it only if you have a spare half day and a clear sky, and check it is operating before you go.