Brighton in 7 Days on a Budget (Daily Costs)
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Seven days in Brighton only works honestly as Brighton plus Sussex, not seven days of city content stretched thin: the core sights fill about 1.5-2 days, so this plan is the 6-day plan plus a fourth day trip, Eastbourne, a 37-minute direct train. Prefer a shorter, cheaper trip? See the 2-day through 6-day plans this one builds on.
Book these before you go
- A budget room for all seven nights in one booking, since Brighton’s a huge London weekend-break market. Check rates on Booking.com .
- Royal Pavilion tickets online if you’re going inside, for the 5% discount.
- Your Lewes train ticket ahead of Day 3, cheaper booked the night before.
- Check the bus 77 timetable before Day 4: Devil’s Dyke only runs weekdays in summer, otherwise weekends and bank holidays.
| Day | Focus | Rough daily cost (GBP, £) |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Pier, seafront, The Lanes, North Laine, Pavilion Garden | 77-139 |
| Day 2 | West Pier ruins, Undercliff Walk, Kemptown, beach | 75-121 |
| Day 3 | Lewes: castle grounds, high street, day trip | 85-130 |
| Day 4 | Devil’s Dyke and the South Downs Way | 81-121 |
| Day 5 | Seven Sisters and Birling Gap | 81-121 |
| Day 6 | Stanmer Park, North Laine street art, Brighton Museum (optional) | 75-131 |
| Day 7 | Eastbourne and Beachy Head | 85-125 |
Day 1: the free spine, Pier to Pavilion Garden
Brighton Palace Pier is £2 per person, March through September 2026, free the rest of the year and free year-round on a BN1, BN2, BN3 or BN41 postcode. Walk it, then The Lanes’ narrow twittens into North Laine, 400-plus independent shops, free to browse both. The Royal Pavilion Garden is free without the £21.50 building ticket. Dinner at Terre à Terre, vegetarian since 1993, or a doughnut made fresh to order on the pier.
| Item | Cost (GBP, £) |
|---|---|
| Bed | 60-90 (budget guesthouse; a hostel dorm bed runs lower) |
| Food | 15-25 (Pompoko, Roti King, Brighton Open Market) |
| Transport | 0 (fully walkable from the station) |
| Sights | 2-23.50 (Pier admission; +£21.50 only if you go inside the Pavilion) |
| Total | 77-138.50 |
Day 2: West Pier ruins and the Undercliff Walk
The West Pier ruin costs nothing to look at, still Brighton’s most photographed sight. Kemptown’s St James’s Street is free to browse, then the Undercliff Walk toward Rottingdean and Saltdean, three flat paved miles under the chalk cliffs. Skip the Brighton i360 , £20.50 for a 25-minute flight, and put that toward Bardsley’s fish and chips on Baker Street, family-run since 1926, instead.
| Item | Cost (GBP, £) |
|---|---|
| Bed | 60-90 |
| Food | 15-25 |
| Transport | 0-6 (citySAVER day bus ticket if you skip walking the Undercliff back) |
| Sights | 0 (everything on this route is free) |
| Total | 75-121 |
Day 3: Lewes, the cheapest day trip going
Direct trains to Lewes run frequently, roughly 17-20 minutes. A day return typically runs well under a London fare, book on nationalrail.co.uk the night before. Climb Lewes Castle for the view, or skip the entry fee for the free high street, antique shops and Anne of Cleves House grounds. Gotcha: Lewes hosts the world’s biggest Bonfire Night celebration on 5 November, and trains stop calling there from around 5pm that evening.
| Item | Cost (GBP, £) |
|---|---|
| Bed | 60-90 |
| Food | 15-25 |
| Transport | ~10-15 return train to Lewes |
| Sights | 0 (castle grounds, high street and Anne of Cleves House grounds are free) |
| Total | 85-130 |
Day 4: Devil’s Dyke and the South Downs Way
The Breeze 77 bus climbs from central Brighton to open downland in about 30 minutes, views over the Weald and the Channel, and nothing to pay for once you’re up there beyond the citySAVER ticket. The trap: bus 77 runs weekends and bank holidays year-round, plus weekdays in summer only. The Devil’s Dyke pub sits at the terminus for a budget pint.
| Item | Cost (GBP, £) |
|---|---|
| Bed | 60-90 |
| Food | 15-25 |
| Transport | 5.90 (citySAVER day bus ticket) |
| Sights | 0 (the walk and the views cost nothing) |
| Total | 80.90-120.90 |
Day 5: Seven Sisters and Birling Gap
The Coaster buses (12, 12A, 12X) run from central Brighton to Birling Gap in 75-100 minutes, up to 14 buses an hour combined, a citySAVER ticket covers the ride. The National Trust car park and café at Birling Gap are the base, steps down to the beach and cliff-top views of the white chalk face for free. Book a Seven Sisters day tour on GetYourGuide if you’d rather not plan the bus timings yourself.
| Item | Cost (GBP, £) |
|---|---|
| Bed | 60-90 |
| Food | 15-25 |
| Transport | 5.90 (citySAVER day bus ticket) |
| Sights | 0 (the cliffs, the beach steps and the walk are all free) |
| Total | 80.90-120.90 |
Day 6: Stanmer Park, street art and a museum if you’ve got room in the budget
After three transport-heavy days, spend this one back in the city on foot. Bus 78 runs daily from Old Steine to Stanmer Park and its historic village, footpaths continue into Wild Park and the open Downs, all free. In North Laine, hunt down the “Cassette Lord” pixelated cassette-tape stencils around Trafalgar Street and Kensington Street, a decade-plus of free street art. If there’s still room in the budget, the Brighton Museum & Art Gallery is £10.50 adult, not free, a common wrong assumption since Booth Museum, the city’s one free museum, is closed until February 2027. Close with cheap eats: Goemon Ramen or FilFil falafel on Gardner Street.
| Item | Cost (GBP, £) |
|---|---|
| Bed | 60-90 |
| Food | 15-25 |
| Transport | 0-6 (citySAVER day bus ticket for Stanmer Park) |
| Sights | 0-10.50 (Stanmer Park and street art are free; museum entry is optional) |
| Total | 75-131.50 |
Day 7: Eastbourne and Beachy Head
The direct train to Eastbourne takes 37 minutes, 8 a day, the fastest and most straightforward of the four day trips on this plan. From Eastbourne station, the 13X bus runs roughly hourly to Beachy Head, England’s highest chalk sea cliff, or walk it, about 3 miles and an hour each way if the budget’s tighter than the schedule. This is the honest close to a week in Brighton: by day 7 you’ve done the free city core twice over and three South Downs day trips, and Eastbourne rounds it out as Brighton-plus-Sussex rather than inventing a seventh day of city-only content.
| Item | Cost (GBP, £) |
|---|---|
| Bed | 60-90 |
| Food | 15-25 |
| Transport | ~12-18 return train to Eastbourne, plus the 13X bus or a free walk to Beachy Head |
| Sights | 0 (Beachy Head and the clifftop are free) |
| Total | 85-133 |
How many days do you actually need in Brighton?
Brighton’s core genuinely fills about 1.5-2 days, so a full week only makes sense framed as Brighton plus Sussex, the city as a base for South Downs day trips rather than seven days of city sights that don’t exist. This plan stacks Lewes, Devil’s Dyke, Seven Sisters and Eastbourne onto the free city core for exactly that reason. Anything less, the 2-day through 5-day plans cover it without padding.
Do you need a car for a week based in Brighton?
No, and it works against you. Every day trip in this plan runs on a direct train or a citySAVER-covered bus, and Controlled Parking Zones cover nearly the whole city, so on-street parking near the centre is metered or permit-only. See our things to do in Brighton guide for more free-and-cheap picks to fill any gaps in the week.
Spread accommodation cost across the week by booking one room for all seven nights rather than night by night. Brighton’s a weekend-break market first, so Friday and Saturday rates within a longer stay can spike separately if booked apart.