A brilliant birdseye view of beautiful Brighton with City Sightseeing!

There are cities you walk through, cities you drive through and cities you truly gaze at, wide-eyed and wind-swept, from the top deck of an open-topper. Brighton, gloriously, is firmly in the third camp. And when you clamber up the twisty little staircase of a City Sightseeing bus, feel the sea air ruffle your hair and hear the first gull cry overhead, you realise that this is exactly how the belle of the south coast was meant to be seen. It is a birdseye view of Brighton, and it is nothing short of brilliant.

City Sightseeing's cheerful red open-top buses have long been the classic way to get to grips with a great city, and Brighton makes for one of the most flamboyant, fun-loving stops on the network. The hop-on, hop-off format is a scenic traveller's dream: buy a ticket, ride the whole loop first for the lie of the land, then dive off wherever your curiosity nudges you. No parking meters, no fretting over one-way systems, no squeezing a car into a Regency side street clearly designed for a horse and carriage. Just you, the top deck, a headphone commentary chattering away, and Brighton unfurling below like a beautifully bonkers seaside pop-up book.

Getting to Brighton without a car is a joy in itself. Frequent trains from London, Gatwick and along the Sussex coast fizz into the magnificent Victorian trainshed of Brighton Station, and a lattice of buses and coaches drop you neatly into the centre. From the station it is a downhill amble to the seafront, with the sea suddenly appearing at the end of Queen's Road like a great silver curtain. That first glimpse is one of British travel's little heart-lifting moments. And once you are down there, the City Sightseeing stop is right on cue, ready to sweep you off along the promenade.

The obvious first stop, and rightly so, is the Royal Pavilion. From the top deck the view is jaw-dropping: a jumble of onion domes, minarets and pinnacles rising above the trees like a maharaja's daydream that somehow wandered off and settled in Sussex. Built as a seaside pleasure palace for the Prince Regent, later George IV, it remains one of the most extraordinary buildings in Britain. Hop off here and step inside for the full, gilded, dragon-encrusted, chandelier-dangling experience. The Banqueting Room alone, with its enormous silvered dragon clutching a chandelier the size of a small car, is worth the ticket. Outside, the Pavilion Gardens are a lovely, leafy spot to regroup, spot a squirrel or two and consider your next move.

Right next door sits the Brighton Museum and Art Gallery, tucked into the old royal stables and every bit as browsable as its glamorous neighbour. There is a wonderful mix of local history, decorative arts, world cultures and a much-loved fashion collection that traces two centuries of British style. It is the kind of museum where you pop in for twenty minutes and emerge, blinking, an hour and a half later, having fallen deeply in love with an Art Deco cocktail dress.

Back on the bus, the tour rolls on toward the seafront, and this is where the birdseye view really earns its keep. Suddenly you are gliding along Madeira Drive with the English Channel spread out to your right, the beach a great sweep of shingle, and the Palace Pier reaching out into the waves in a swirl of white ironwork, flashing lights and the unmistakable smell of doughnuts on the breeze. If you have never had a stick of Brighton rock while dodging a seagull with designs on your chips, you have not fully lived. Hop off at the pier for the full works: helter-skelter, ghost train, dodgems and that lovely retro clatter of an amusement arcade in full song.

A little further along, the i360 rises like a great glass needle above the seafront, marking the site of the former West Pier. The skeletal, wave-battered remains of the old pier still stand offshore, a poignant, beautiful ruin that seems to change character with every shift of the light. Photographers adore it, especially at sunset when the sky turns pink behind those ghostly Victorian ribs. From the top deck you get a picture-postcard view of both old and new, side by side, telling the story of Brighton's endless reinvention.

Continue west and the bus sweeps you past the elegant creamy crescents and squares of Regency Brighton and neighbouring Hove. Brunswick Square, Adelaide Crescent, Palmeira Square: names that roll off the tongue like a Georgian roll-call. These grand terraces, all wrought-iron balconies and dignified stucco, were built when Brighton was the height of fashion, and they still look like they know it. Hop off in Hove for a stroll along the wider, calmer promenade, past the famously colourful beach huts that line the seafront like a giant paintbox. On a bright day they are impossibly photogenic; on a stormy one they are properly dramatic, standing to attention against a churning grey sea.

Climb back aboard and the tour loops you inland, giving another perspective on the city. This is where the top deck really comes into its own, because Brighton has a habit of hiding delights just off the main drag. You get glimpses of hidden gardens, quirky shops, painted pubs and steeply climbing terraces. The commentary points out little snippets of history: the fishing village of Brighthelmstone that grew into a Georgian resort after a certain Dr Richard Russell prescribed seawater cures in the eighteenth century; the arrival of the railway in the 1840s that turned it into the day-tripper's darling; the artists, writers and rebels who have called it home ever since.

One of the greatest joys of hopping off in Brighton is losing yourself in The Lanes and the North Laine. The Lanes are the older, twistier warren, a maze of narrow alleys lined with jewellers, antique shops, tiny boutiques and bow-fronted windows that seem to belong in a Dickens illustration. Wander with no fixed plan and you will find silver rings, vintage watches, secondhand books and coffee shops squeezed into former fishermen's cottages. The North Laine, just to the north, is brasher, brighter and a bit more bohemian: vinyl shops, vintage clothing, street art, independent cafes and the sort of window displays that make you stop mid-stride and grin. Between them, these two quarters are Brighton's beating, browsing heart.

Food-wise, you are absolutely spoiled. Fresh fish and chips eaten on the beach, with vinegar and a view, is a rite of passage. But Brighton also does brunch with the best of them, plus proper Italian delis, spice-scented curry houses, veggie and vegan places by the dozen, and no shortage of tucked-away bakeries where the smell alone will pull you off the pavement. Grab a coffee in a Lanes courtyard, a scoop of gelato on the seafront, or a slap-up seafood lunch at one of the harbour-facing restaurants, and you will understand why Brighton locals can be a smug bunch.

For a splash of green, hop off near Preston Park, the city's largest park, with its rose garden, chess boards, cricket pitch and the wonderful old Preston Manor nearby, said to be one of the most haunted houses in Sussex. It is a lovely, leafy contrast to the seafront buzz, and reminds you that Brighton is not just about beaches and boutiques.

As the loop draws you back toward the pier and station, the light often begins to soften, the sea takes on that late-afternoon glitter, and the top deck becomes the best seat in town for a slow, satisfied wind-down. You spot things you missed first time round: a curly wrought-iron lamppost, a plaque marking where some Regency dandy once dallied, a rooftop cat that clearly considers itself in charge of proceedings. That is the magic of a hop-on, hop-off tour. The city keeps offering itself up in fresh little details, and the open-top bus keeps rewarding you for looking up.

So if you fancy a day out that is equal parts Regency grandeur, seaside silliness, boho browsing and pure salt-air happiness, hop aboard City Sightseeing in Brighton. Bag a top-deck seat, listen out for the gulls, keep half an eye on the Pavilion domes twinkling above the trees, and prepare to fall, quite happily, for the belle of the south coast all over again. A birdseye view of Brighton really is a brilliant way to spend a day, and the best bit? You can leave the car at home and let the scenery come to you. To plan your trip, check out https://www.buses.co.uk/city-sightseeing