Lighthouse

The lighthouse stands on the Brighton seafront like something from a postcard you'd send your nan - all red and white stripes, impossible to miss. It's a proper working beacon, not some tourist trap, which means you're looking at a genuine piece of Sussex coastline rather than a heritage centre with a gift shop.

Walking out to it takes about fifteen minutes from the main beach. The structure itself isn't enormous, but the location is what does it for you - that sweep of shingle beach, the sense of the sea actually mattering for navigation rather than just swimming in. On a clear day it's the sort of thing that makes you understand why lighthouses still capture people's imaginations. Kids will want to photograph it, tick it off, move on. Fair enough - it's not an hour-long activity. Families based at Pegs and Pitches Camping, just under a mile away, can easily slot this in before or after a proper beach session.

The details are a bit fuzzy - admission arrangements, opening times, whether you can get inside. Phone ahead before you go, because turning up and finding it closed would be a proper waste. Worth combining with the wider Brighton seafront, the pier, the pebble beaches proper. Chalky Downs Campsite, a couple of miles out, gives you breathing room from the seafront hustle while keeping everything accessible. The lighthouse works best as part of a longer coastal walk rather than a destination in itself, but that's rather the point of it.