Brighton Palace Pier

The pier stretches out into the English Channel like a Victorian showman's promise, and frankly, it delivers. Brighton Palace Pier is proper old-school seaside entertainment - all creaking wooden boards, the smell of fried food, and the kind of rides that have been spinning people into mild hysteria since 1899. You get arcade games, dodgems, a log flume, roller coaster, and enough churros and candy floss to keep kids occupied for a solid three or four hours. The pier itself is free to walk on, though individual rides and attractions come with separate charges. Fair warning: it can get rammed on summer weekends and school holidays, so aim for a weekday morning if you want to actually move.

This works brilliantly as a rainy-day option or an evening out if you're camped nearby - and you genuinely are near. Pegs and Pitches Camping sits just 1.5 miles away, with Brighton Caravan and Motorhome Club Campsite and Chalky Downs both within easy striking distance. Families with kids aged 6 to 14 will get the most mileage out of it. Teenagers might find it a touch dated unless they're into retro vibes, and there's not much here for adults without children beyond soaking in the seaside atmosphere and grabbing some fish and chips.

The arcade games are genuinely fun and don't require queuing like the rides do. Best visit is May to September when the weather's decent and everything's actually operating. Winter gets properly grim out there - cold and windswept - though the quieter crowds make it more pleasant if you don't mind the chill.