Stay and hang with queers in Brighton

Brighton's queer life centres on Kemptown, where St James's Street is made for long coffees and people-watching. Spend the afternoon on the pebbles with a bracing dip in the sea, or poke around the little shops of the North Laine. In autumn and winter, be on the seafront at dusk, when thousands of starlings swirl over the ruins of the West Pier. Later, grab a seat at The Actors, a queer pub since the seventies with a tiny theatre upstairs, then dance it out at Revenge, the city's biggest queer club.

On the winter solstice, Burning the Clocks carries paper lanterns down to the beach and sets them alight on a bonfire. Any morning of the year, the early sea swimmers will happily make room for one more.