If you read this post, you’ll know I’ve launched a new series of Brighton neighbourhood guides on the Ellie & Co travel website.
So far, we’ve covered, London Road, the edgy, overlooked area of Brighton no one thinks to visit, but should.
Today in the second instalment, we’re getting to know Kemptown, an eclectic, historic neighbourhood by the seafront long associated with LGBTQ culture.
It’s consists of a tangle of pretty narrow roads centred around St James’s Street where the annual Pride street party takes place, and runs a mile east from Black Rock near Brighton Marina, almost to the Palace Pier.
Kemptown, BRIGHTON: A NEIGHBOURHOOD GUIDE
To understand Kemptown, I like to think of it as a long and narrow trio of distinctive parts: the buzzy bar-lined west end of St James’s Street with a hedonistic vibe; peaceful Kemptown village with its delis, cafes and antique shops; and the historic Kemp Town Estate furthest east with its elegant Regency-era townhouses centred around a private garden known as the Kemp Town Enclosures.
This post was originally written in February 2023 but has since been updated to keep it fresh.
Things to do in Kemptown, Brighton
follow a self-guided Hidden Kemptown walk
Get your bearings on my self-guided walk around Kemptown. It features in my popular hidden Brighton walks series which went viral on Instagram in the Pandemic and I’ve had great feedback on over the years.
I tend to start near the seafront on Lewes Crescent in the Kemp Town Estate, make my way up to Sussex Square and meander my way west, ending at Brighton’s smallest tearoom just off St James’s Street.
Fans of secret Brighton won’t want to miss a detour to Millfield Cottages, one of Brighton’s secret streets. It’s known locally as a ‘twitten’ and lined with pastel-coloured homes.
Follow my self-guided hidden walk around Kemptown, here.
Visit the Secret Garden Kemp Town
The Secret Garden Kemp Town is an outdoor community arts venue; the only one of its kind in Brighton. It’s also free to visit. You’ll find it tucked away in the Kemp Town Estate.
It was once a garden that served number 32 Sussex Square accessed through a tunnel which is now bricked up. Today, you enter through a huge wooden gate on Bristol Gardens.
Until recently, it only opened for one-off events or during Heritage Open Days but now hosts an annual summer exhibition and opens every weekend from May until September.
Hungry? You can also enjoy a little picnic in the garden courtesty of onsite cafe, TABLE. In fact, it’s worth visiting the Secret Garden Kemptown to sample owner, Siobhan’s cakes alone.
Find the Secret Garden Kemp Town at Bristol Gardens, Brighton BN2 5JE
Book a session at the Beach Box Sauna Spa
The Beach Box Sauna Spa is a unique outdoor sauna experience with a cosy beachside setting and a distant view of the Palace Pier.
It’s open all year and approved by the Swedish Sauna Academy and features wood-fired saunas, some inside converted horse boxes and a bigger one for groups made of upcycled materials, a plunge pool, showers and a fire pit.
They also offer various natural body treatments, like rose clay masks and the chance to try leaf whisking, a treatment which involves hitting yourself lightly with birch and oak twigs – ‘whisks’ – to promote better circulation.
Find the Beach Box Sauna Spa at Banjo Groyne, Behind Volks Railway Workshop, 299 Madeira Drive, Brighton BN2 1EN
Experience a night of cabaret or weekend drag brunch. In a tomb
At the east end of peaceful Kemptown Village is an incongruous site: an elaborate Oriental-style building with a pagoda you can’t miss originally built as a mausoleum by a wealthy Victorian Brighton businessman.
Today, it’s the setting for the Haus of Cabaret which hosts fun cabarat and entertainment nights, effectively in a Grade II-listed former grave.
As well as evening cabaret, they also host a Drag Brunch, every Saturday and Sunday, which promises raucous entertainment and bottomless booze.
Find Haus of Cabaret at 83 St George’s Road, Brighton BN2 1EF
Where to Shop in Kemptown
Brighton Flea Market
Snoopers Paradise in North Laine is an incredible vintage flea market, but it gets seriously busy, especially at the weekend.
If you prefer thrifting in peace, you’ll appreciate Brighton Flea Market – with a bright pink façade and a cool neon sign in the front window you can’t miss.
It’s a peaceful emporium of antique glassware, 1970s bookcases, crockery, artwork, mirrors, and more are spread across two floors.
It has a sister flea market, too, in the chocolate-box town of Lewes, if you fancy a day trip.
Find Brighton Flea Market at 31a Upper St James’s Street, Brighton BN2 1JN
Kemptown Bookshop
Open in 1976, which apparently makes it the oldest in Brighton, The Kemptown Bookshop is set in a small Regency townhouse which makes browsing feel like you’re in someone’s cosy home.
There are three floors to wander around, two of them filled with new books and gifts like children’s toys and games, stationery and fine art prints by the previous owner. The top floor is a dedicated quiet space for writers.
Find The Kemptown Bookshop at 91 St George’s Road, Brighton BN2 1EE
Other Kemptown shops worth stopping by are Oriental Arts specialising in Chinese stationery like paper and brushes, and David Ingledew Pianos, which often has a baby grand piano on display in the window.
Where to eat in Kemptown
The GOthic Crab
Everyone raves about this new novel seafood place on Madeira Place. It’s unique in that it takes inspiration from coastal USA and claims to be Brighton’s first seafood boil restaurant.
All kinds of crustacea – lobsters and crabs and prawns and clams – are cooked together and served ‘family style’ on sharing platters that guests ominously dressed in black gloves and aprons dig into using an array of tools.
Décor-wise, don’t come expecting Americana; it’s more sophisticated. The black-walled dining room hung with colourful artwork feels classic with an eclectic Brighton edge.
If like me you’re not keen on cracking open lobster shells with hammers, there are alternative options. Like the soft shell crab burger served in a brioche bun with pickles and skin-on fries – my personal favourite.
Find The Gothic Crab at 15 Madeira Place, Brighton BN2 1TN
Busby and Wilds
Dan and I live near Preston Circus, but we’ll happily bike it across town to Busby and Wilds, a gastro pub around the corner from Sussex Square in the Kemp Town Estate.
It has a relaxed, unpretentious atmosphere and is the perfect choice if you want some great food, a quiet night or have family to entertain.
The modern British menu features filling plates like potted Sussex crab with fennel, apple puree and toast, steak and chunky chips, and sticky toffee pudding.
I love coming here for a large glass of red and a Busby beef burger with slow roast tomato, onion jam, and dill pickles, served with skinny chips and coleslaw.
Insider tip: Thursday night is burger night – there are seven different types on offer from £10. There’s also a pretty courtyard garden open in good weather. Take a peek here.
Find Busby and Wilds at 9 Rock Street, Kemptown, Brighton BN2 1NF
Pizza Face
Opposite The Well taproom and bottle shop (see below) is Pizza Face, a tiny take-out pizza joint – you collect your order from a hatch – selling playfully named, full-flavoured pizza, made with or without gluten.
Holy Cheeses! sounds tempting: gorgonzola, parmesan, mascarpone, caramelised onion; Vesuvius, challenging: pepperoni, chorizo, red onions and fresh chillies.
Personally, I love the Nadine: sun-dried tomatoes, goat’s cheese, and caramelised onions. Vegans are well looked after too and there are sides, like coleslaw, to add to the mix.
Find Pizza Face at 35 St George’s Road, Kemptown, Brighton BN2 1ED
Marmalade
This stylish neighbourhood favourite café opened near Sussex Square in 2013. It’s now in its second life after a brief spell as a French bistro when it was given its earth-toned Parisian-style revamp you see here, complete with lace curtains and dark exterior.
It’s famous for its café counter crammed with an irresistible selection of pastries, donuts, cakes, sandwiches, quiches, salads and shelves heaving with gourmet treats and gifts and giant jars of marmalade, of course.
A pared back menu still features bacon and sausages sandwiches on Real Patisserie chewy brown bread. The coffee is excellent.
Find Marmalade at 237 Eastern Road, Brighton and Hove, Brighton BN2 5JJ
Open Bakery
The family-run Open Bakery in the heart of Kemptown Village is the best Brighton bakery there is. It opened in 1997 as the Real Patisserie but recently changed its name to expand on its baking and cookery classes.
All the bread and patisserie, sandwiches and lunches are made from scratch here in the shop.
Insider tip: Arrive early enough and you’ll get to enjoy them warm out the oven.
Find the Open Bakery at 34 St George’s Road, Brighton BN2 1ED
Leman Tea Room
With just three tables, Leman on the corner of St James’s Street and Madeira Place could easily be described as Brighton’s smallest tearoom.
The décor is typically tea-room chintzy – big on pastels, floral wallpaper, table cloths and vintage china, of course.
This part of Kemptown gets busy, so it’s worth bookmarking this place if you find yourself in the area and need a quiet escape hatch, a spot to ponder your day, recharge your batteries, and do some essential people-watching.
Find Leman on 15A Madeira Place, Brighton BN2 1TN
Where to Drink in Kemptown
The Well
With its vintage décor – white walls, slouchy leather sofas, G-Plan tables, vintage Moroccan rugs and lots of plants – The Well is a tap room and bar with an eclectic twist that stands out from all the others with their masculine styling.
They specialise in craft beers and have 100s of them, alongside shelves of natural wines. You can take away or drink in (you pay corkage on the wine).
Find The Well at 102 Saint George’s Road, Brighton BN2 1EA
Hand in Hand
This colourful corner pub in Kemptown Village is easily one of my favourite pubs in Brighton. The cosy bar room is jam packed with all kinds of curios, has time-worn proper pub patterned carpet, and a piano for singalongs.
There’s also a wooden box on legs for playing the Sussex pub game, Toad in the Hole (you throw metal discs into a hole on the top from a distance).
Most people don’t know that hidden upstairs is a microbrewery, which on the right day, you might blag a tour of. They also host jazz nights on Sundays from 8pm til 11pm.
Find the Hand in Hand at 33 Upper St James’s Street, Brighton BN2 1JN
Black Dove
An edgy and lively small pub at the furthest end of Kemptown Village that’s both cosy and candlelit and known for its great cocktails mixed up with speed to weekend crowds.
The upstairs bar is small and narrow with sultry décor: bottle-green walls hung with wonky framed pictures and curios. Bottles dripped in years of candle wax rest on windowsills. Meanwhile, downstairs is a low-lit underground drinking den.
They don’t serve food, but you can order takeout pizza from nearby Pizza Face if you’re in it for the long run. Come the weekend, a DJ manages to squeeze in to play ska and Northern Soul.
Find The Black Dove at 74 St James’s Street, Kemptown, Brighton BN2 1PA
Where to stay in Kemptown
Most Brighton hotels I like to recommend are located nearer to the centre of the city, but there are a few nice options nearby. No 27 is a beautiful, four-star, adults-only bed and breakfast in a historical Georgian townhouse five minutes from the seafront, this one-bedroom flat has a balcony with a sea view, or how about this beautifully renovated house that sleeps 10, both available on AirBnB.
Final tips
Kemptown in Brighton is a small neighbourhood and easy to walk around. It’s minutes from the seafront, and a 30-minute walk to Brighton station, and central Brighton.
You’ll find a map of Kemptown independent shopping and addresses of note below and here.
If you want more inspiration, my secret guidebooks will take you off the beaten path.
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