Escape the City on a Budget

London is one of my favourite places to be in summer, which is why I don't often plan my holidays in the summer months - it's often more expensive to travel, it's harder to get the time off work and I wouldn't want to miss out on the few weeks of summer we get here in the UK. That being said, London can be a little too much sometimes, and a few weekends ago I found myself craving an escape from the city. Conveniently, one of my best friends lives in Brighton and is always on-hand when I'm craving some seaside fun, so I hopped on the Thameslink which leaves from St Pancras (it cost me as little as £10!) and I was in Brighton in just over an hour. 

This was actually my first time in Brighton (first of many, I should say!) and despite doing my research, I wasn't really sure what to expect. Having lived in Bournemouth for over 4 years while I was studying, I expected it to be much the same but I was so wrong! Brighton is a much more vibrant town than Bournemouth, full of live and with quirky treasures hiding down every alley. 

We spent the first half of the day wandering down the lanes, popping into choccywoccydoodah, ducking in and out of the quirky shops and catching up. After a little wander around the North Lane, which is the quirkier of the two main lanes, we stopped off at Catwalk Cakes for some Rainbow Cake. I'd never had rainbow cake before despite lusting after it for months, and if you're going to indulge, it should definitely be in Catwalk Cakes a.k.a the cutest tearoom ever. After our little pit-stop, we carried on exploring the lanes, ducking into the cute antique shops and taking a peek at all of the vintage sweet shops, before walking down to the beach and the famous Brighton Pier. 

I've always loved the seaside, and seeing the old fashioned Brighton seaside was a dream - complete with traditional arcade games and a helter skelter! The air smells of sea water, pier donuts and ice cream and you're surrounded by happy families and young couples. The pier is such a picturesque building which takes me right back to being young and at the seaside, which I think is why I love it so much. 

After a trip down the pier and a little wander down Brighton's glorious pebble beach, we were feeling a little peckish so we headed down the lanes to Donnotello's Italian Restaurant - a surprisingly large family run restaurant, popular with locals and celebrities alike. The food was delicious and definitely easy on the purse strings - a refreshing change to the extortionate London prices I've become accustom to. 

During the afternoon we headed back down to the lanes to take a look at some of the other stores, try on a few vintage outfits and have a little catch up as it'd been a few months since we'd seen each other face to face, before catching my train back to London. 

I have to say, I absolutely loved Brighton and it's definitely been one of my favourite places to visit in the UK - everything was quirky and cute, and there's just so much to see and do. If it wasn't for work, I'd definitely consider moving down to Brighton for a slightly quieter life, but alas, for now Brighton will just be my escape from busy city life.