Last Monday (May 25) was a bank holiday here so we decided to drive down to Brighton despite the weather forecast indicating it would be mostly cloudy and rainy. The thing with English weather is that it’s very fickle and forecasts are to be used as a very rough guide just so one would have a general idea.

As such, it was necessary to take a gamble now and again especially when this is the only day most people have the day off and can actually go.

Thankfully, the gamble paid off as the day turned out to be quite sunny for most of it, even though clouds would block the sun’s rays and during the evening it was still plenty warm.

The drive down to Brighton from Bushey was close to 2 hours due to traffic conditions when we finally reached Brighton and the end of the motorway.

We parked in the multi-story parking in Regency Square which was a bit far from the pier but turned to be a good thing since we ended up on the less crowded area of the beach.

The first half of the day was spent just sitting on the pebble beach and admiring the sun. The soothing sound of the ocean can also be heard despite the large crowd present.

Since we expected a bit of rain and not a day of absolute warmth and sunshine, we did not bring extra clothes and were not able to go in for a dip in the cool water. We did get our feet wet and the kids did strip down and enjoyed splashing in the water. This included throwing pebbles into the sea.

After several hours of just relaxing on the cool pebbles, we decided to head over to Brighton Pier.

Walking down the beach was quite a fun experience with so much to see. There are Copeira artists, live bands, people playing basketball and beach volleyball (there was an area with fine sand for this), and people just relaxing with either a pint or ice cream.

Eventually, we arrived at the pier which hosted an amusement park as well as restaurants, pubs and a club. The rides were pretty standard as expected for a small place on a pier but we made the most of it.

There was a rollercoaster which is exactly like the Cyclone Loop in Star City, Philippines.

The view of the coastline from the pier was also quite a site and gave a nice perspective on how far out you are in the sea.

With long days during spring, the darkness did not really fall until past 9 in the evening at which point, was time to call it a night as people had work the next day. It was a long but really fun day.

This was my first time down in Brighton since I was a kid. Pictures when I was young showed that we frequented the place quite a bit due to it’s distance from London.

I’d love to go back as soon as I can but as with other places, it’s one of those where I wish I’d have someone special with me the next time I do visit.

Regardless, as soon as I do pass my driving license, I wouldn’t mind driving down to Brighton again, on a weekend.