It’s not just about the course, it’s also about the lifestyle surrounding that course – where you’ll be living, and how you’ll spend your time outside of the workshop. Chances are you’re taking a course that lasts at least a few months, and you don’t want to put your life on hold for that time. So we wanted to let you know a little about why studying in Sussex in a fantastic idea, and will help you enjoy your time with us even more! If you’re thinking about taking a furniture making course, of course you’ll want to make sure you’ve picked the best course for you. But make sure you don’t overlook location!
First up, we’ve got to talk about it: Brighton’s on our doorstep. You could easily stay right in the centre of Brighton for the duration your course and enjoy all the benefits of the city while you spend your days here at the workshop. We’re one car, bike, bus or train journey away. To give you a little taste of what life in Brighton might be like, we’ve picked out a few spots and events favoured by both tourists and locals!
Tourist spots
When you first get here, you might want to get acquainted with the city by checking out some of the tourist hotspots. There’s Brighton’s Royal Pavilion, a beautiful Indian-style palace built in the 1700s set inside the Pavilion gardens. The pavilion sits alongside Brighton Museum and Art Gallery which has a fabulous furniture design permanent collection and good changing exhibitions worth keeping an eye on. Brighton boosts the British Airways i360, an observation pod that sits aloft a 450ft pole (ok, it’s a bit more than a pole) giving visitors a panoramic view of the city. There’s also a Sealife Centre in a beautiful Victorian setting as well as the Volks Electric Railway which gives riders a gentle trip from the pier east to Brighton Marina where there is a multiplex cinema, supermarket and various eateries and shopping outlets. Right in the centre of town is Brighton Pier, a 1700ft long pier with an arcade, rides, and lots and lots of sugary doughnuts. It’s also compulsory to get yourself some fish and chips on the beach – just watch out for the seagulls!
Shopping
Next, you might want to explore Brighton and its unique shopping areas, The Lanes and The North Laines – a continual source of confusion, even for locals. Both have a mix of bespoke and unique shops for everything you could possibly want alongside high-end high street stores. Snoopers Paradise is exactly what it sounds like, a paradise for anyone who loves snooping around in other people’s things, as the huge store is one big jumble of secondhand belongings and treasures waiting to be found. There’s independent stores for everything from chocolate to cheese and coffee to spices. Then there’s the Open Market, which is always worth checking out. There are regular stallholders, artists’ studios, and the venue puts on regular community events.
Restaurants, cafes & bars
After all that, you’ll need a good restaurant. If you’re vegetarian or vegan, Brighton is the place to eat out, with Terre A Terre’s world-inspired vegetarian dishes right in the heart of The Lanes. Some of the locals’ favourite places include Moshi-Moshi a Japanese spot, and Franco Manca’s pillowy sourdough pizza.
Brighton nights out are pretty well-loved, and on a Friday afternoon you’ll see groups of people pulling suitcases away from the station, coming to Brighton for the weekend for just that. Ten Green Bottles is a great wine bar that can take you on a journey around the world in wines. Brighton also has some great pubs like The Basketmakers where great food, live music and craft beers collide.
The best way to keep informed on Brighton’s restaurant and cafe scene is to follow: restaurantsbrighton.co.uk.
Entertainment
There are plenty of places to have a great night out, see some live music or watch a show. There’s Concorde 2 (Concorde 1 has since closed but the name remains), which is host to a huge range of artists as well as club nights. If comedy is more your thing, head to the Komedia, which has a comedy night once a month along with other comedy shows throughout the year, with a huge variety of other shows as well as an indie cinema. There’s also the Brighton Dome, a Grade I listed building that’s a venue for stand up shows, live music, theatre, and lots of other events.
Annual events
As well as all the regular goings-on in Brighton, there’s also a lot of events that take place every year. Let’s discuss the elephant in the room…the naked bike ride. Every year, hundreds of people take to the streets on their bikes – completely naked. It’s a bit of a shock if you’re shopping in town and had no idea it was the day of the bike ride!
Every summer, there’s the Brighton Big Screen, a – you guessed it- big screen that plays movies right on the beach. In May there’s the Brighton Mini Run – everyone loves a mini! And England’s biggest festival takes over the city with Brighton Festival and Fringe for everything you can imagine! London to Brighton Bike Ride is in June, and the world famous Brighton Pride, the UK’s biggest pride celebration takes over the streets and parks in August!
November has the Veteran Car Run where vintage vehicles made before 1905 run from London to Brighton, well they hope to make it to Brighton! Alongside Brighton Comedy Festival which brings world-renowned comedians to the city.
And if all else fails, and you just want a quiet place to read a book…you can visit one of the (probably) hundreds of coffee shops dotted all over the city!
What’s On
Best way to keep in-touch with what’s on in Brighton and Hove is to peruse –
