Shopping in Brighton

If you feel like doing a bit of shopping during your stay in Brighton, the good news is all you need to do is step foot outside of our Brighton City Centre (North Street) hotel and you’ll find yourself in the midst of The Lanes. As the best place to go shopping in the entire city, the area refers to the dense maze of narrow lanes which have been overrun with small shops and bijou boutiques. The Lanes is one of the oldest areas of Brighton. Having been built in the 18th century, we thoroughly recommend getting good and lost in their labyrinth of independent shops and jewellers. You may even stumble across some of our favourite places to eat in Brighton.

Not to be confused with The Lanes, North Laine is another shopping district in Brighton. It was once a slum, but through the creativity of its community, it’s grown to become Brighton’s cultural quarter. Walk its streets, sample its Bohemian atmosphere, and snap its famous graffiti. Just like The Lanes, North Laine is perfect for exploring. You’ll find some great independent stores, cafés like The Coffee Counter, as well as some excellent entertainment venues like Komedia Brighton. And every Sunday, it hosts the excellent Upper Gardner Street Market, which we’ll get onto later.

Behind the Brighton Centre is where you’ll find the largest shopping centre in Brighton, Churchill Square. For more than 50 years, it’s been a popular point of call for all things retail related. Spread over three floors, Churchill Square is home to more than 75 stores, including familiar names like Topshop, Debenhams, H&M, and Zara, as well as popular options such as Footlocker, Lakeland, Tiger, Hollister and Victoria’s Secret. The top floor is where you’ll find the shopping centre’s food quarter. If you get peckish while perusing the stores, you can take your pick from places like McDonald’s, Costa Coffee and Krispy Kreme.

If you’re looking for high-end shopping, make your way down to the Brighton Marina. Spanning over 125 acres, it’s the largest marina in Europe, and a stunning setting for a wide selection of retailers, including Love That Stuff, the UK’s largest fair-trade shop, where you can pick up everything from hand-loomed clothing to handmade jewellery.

The Brighton Open Market on London Road is a must visit for any shopper visiting the city for the first time, and is more vibrant, creative and exciting than the vast majority of markets. It’s Brighton’s only covered market and has been operating ever since the 1880s. Today, you’ll find 45 permanent stalls for regular traders to flog their local goods, as well as a covered square for visiting markets, temporary stalls and community activities. In the historic Open Market, traders have a strong focus on fresh, nutritious food and ethical products. Get your fruit and veg without the food miles, support a local artist by buying some of their work, pick up a plant, or treat yourself to some upcycled furniture.

We mentioned it earlier, but it’s time to head back to North Laine’s Upper Gardner Street Market. Every Saturday, the street is completely overrun with the stalls of local makers, renovators, retro hoarders and bric-a-brac bandits. Expect the unexpected, and you’ll still be surprised by some of the weird and wonderful items you can find in the Upper Gardner Street Market.

If you want a full weekend of bargain hunting, make your way down to the Brighton Marina Giant Car Boot Sale. Having been going for over thirty years, it’s Brighton’s oldest, biggest, and best car boot fair. You know how it is with car boots; you can literally find anything. It’s less than a 25-minute drive from our Newhaven hotel, plus entry and parking are free for buyers, so go wild and haggle a car-full of cracking deals. Top tip: it begins at 6am, so get down there early and get the best deals.