Banqueting Room
A giant chandelier hangs from the claws of a silver dragon beneath a ceiling painted as a giant plantain tree, the palace's defining image.
Onion domes, minarets and cusped arches a few streets from the grey English Channel: shown a photo of the Royal Pavilion without a caption, most people would place it in Lucknow or Agra, not in the middle of an English seaside town. That was exactly the point for George IV, who began his seaside retreat as Prince of Wales in 1787 and had John Nash finish it in 1823 in the Indian style that was the fashion of the age. The twist waits inside. The exterior is Mughal; the rooms are relentlessly Chinese, with dragons, serpents and so much gilding it borders on the absurd. Two rooms alone justify the ticket: the Banqueting Room and the Music Room. In the first, a vast chandelier hangs from the claws of a silver dragon beneath a domed ceiling painted as a giant plantain tree; in the second, lotus-flower chandeliers float over the hall where the Prince's bands played late into the night. The Great Kitchen, with its iron columns topped by copper palm fronds, is the children's favourite. The upstairs bedrooms, including those of Queen Victoria (who never warmed to the place and sold it to the town in 1850), are reached by stairs only; the ground floor is fully accessible for pushchairs and wheelchairs. For Muslim visitors there is a story here that few British monuments can match. From December 1914 to January 1916 the palace became a hospital for more than 2,300 wounded soldiers of the Indian Army, with nine separate kitchens in the grounds so that food was cooked according to each man's faith and caste, and a prayer space for Muslim soldiers set aside on the eastern lawn facing Mecca. Muslim soldiers who died were buried at a purpose-built Muslim burial ground beside the Shah Jahan Mosque in Woking (their graves were moved to Brookwood Military Cemetery in 1968). The chapter is told inside the palace and is worth seeking out. Practically: adults pay £21.50, children aged 5 to 18 £13, one child goes free on a family ticket, and booking on the official website saves 5%. Advance booking is not required even in summer. The audio guide is extra (£3 on your own phone, £4 for a handset) and has no Arabic track. Allow an hour to ninety minutes. The surrounding garden is free and is the only fully restored Regency garden in Britain. The palace is a ten-minute walk from Brighton station (roughly an hour by train from London Victoria), next door to Brighton Museum (separate ticket, about £10.50 for adults), and its café is closed until further notice, so bring water.
A giant chandelier hangs from the claws of a silver dragon beneath a ceiling painted as a giant plantain tree, the palace's defining image.
From 1914 to 1916 more than 2,300 Indian Army soldiers were treated here, with separate Muslim kitchens and an open-air prayer space in the palace grounds.
The domes and minarets cost nothing to admire, and the garden is Britain's only fully restored Regency garden.
4/5 Pavilion Buildings, Brighton BN1 1EE
The exterior is free and genuinely half the pleasure, but the Banqueting Room and Music Room have no equal in Britain and can only be seen with a ticket. With a large family or a tight schedule, the outside, the garden and a wander through the Lanes next door will do; with ninety minutes and twenty pounds to spare, go in.
Yes. The train from London Victoria takes about an hour, the palace is a ten-minute walk from the station, and the sea and the pier are minutes away. The ground floor suits pushchairs and the Great Kitchen delights young children, but the café is closed, so bring water and snacks.