An aerial adventure around barnstorming Brighton with brilliant City Sightseeing!

There are few finer feelings in life than clambering up the twisty stairs of an open-top double decker, plonking yourself down on the front row, feeling the sea breeze ruffle your hair, and setting off on a slow, sunlit swirl around one of England's most gloriously eccentric seaside cities. Welcome aboard the City Sightseeing Brighton bus, provided by the ever-brilliant Brighton & Hove Buses, and prepare for an aerial adventure that will have you grinning from Marine Parade to Madeira Drive and back again!

Brighton has always been a city that rewards the wanderer. It is a place of Regency crescents and hidden lanes, of fish and chips and fine dining, of Victorian promenades and hyper-modern viewing towers. And the very best way to get an overview, quite literally, is from the top deck of an open-topper trundling gently along the coast. You leave the car at home, spare yourself the eye-watering saga of Brighton parking (a genuine sport in itself), and instead surrender to the joy of hopping on and hopping off wherever the mood takes you.

The scenic loop is a masterclass in seaside theatre. From the moment the bus pulls away, the palette shifts to shimmering blues, cheerful whites and the confectionery pastels of Brighton's famous seafront hotels. To one side, the English Channel stretches out in glittering ribbons; to the other, elegant terraces rise in creamy tiers up towards the Downs. The commentary aboard fills your ears with tales of Prince Regents and pleasure gardens, of smugglers and scandal, and by the time you have looped past the pier, the marina and the Royal Pavilion, you feel as though Brighton has told you its life story with a wink and a flourish.

Let's talk stops, because this is where the hop-on hop-off magic really earns its keep. Kick things off at the Brighton Pier stop, where the timber boards creak underfoot, the amusement arcades ping and whirr, and the smell of doughnuts hangs in the sea air like an edible fog. The pier is pure, unfiltered British seaside fun, all helter skelters, candy floss and slot machines, and it is impossible to walk its length without breaking into a smile. Grab a portion of chips, watch the starlings wheel above the waves, and remember why the great British day out is such a treasured thing.

Hop back on, and next up you might tumble off at the Sea Life Centre, one of the oldest operating aquariums in the world, its Victorian arches and mosaic-tiled halls a genuine architectural treat before you have even met a single sea turtle. It is a hit with families, and a lovely rainy-day fallback if the weather turns moody (which, this being the British coast, it might well do between one deck-top selfie and the next). Next door is the fantastic Volks Electric Railway which trundles along the seafront to Brighton Marina.

A little further round the loop is the stop for the Royal Pavilion, and honestly, if you only get off once, get off here. This astonishing Indo-Saracenic fantasy palace, built as a seaside retreat for the party-loving Prince Regent, is quite unlike anything else in Britain. Onion domes, minarets, chinoiserie interiors of jaw-dropping colour and flamboyance: it is Brighton's confidence made architectural, and it never fails to astonish. Wander the surrounding Pavilion Gardens, then dip into the excellent Brighton Museum & Art Gallery next door for a proper flavour of the city's cultural depth.

From here, the North Laine and The Lanes are only a stroll away, and this is where lunch decisions become deliciously difficult. The Lanes are a maze of narrow twittens crammed with jewellers, vintage boutiques and independent cafés, while the North Laine is a bohemian riot of street art, vinyl shops, vegan bakeries and coffee houses that take their beans very seriously indeed. Whether you fancy a proper Sussex crab sandwich, a stone-baked pizza, a plate of dim sum or a doorstop slab of cake with a flat white, you will find your happy place within about ninety seconds of stepping off the bus.

Back on the top deck, the route swings you out towards the Brighton Marina stop, a great spot for a wander along the pontoons, a bite by the water, or a peek at the yachts bobbing prettily in the sunshine. Look up while you are aboard and you will spot the sweeping chalk cliffs marching eastwards, a reminder that the South Downs National Park is right on Brighton's doorstep. The stretch of Marine Drive out to the marina is arguably the most spectacular of the whole loop: sea on one side, dazzling cliffs on the other, and that glorious top-deck breeze pinking your cheeks.

Coming back into town, keep your camera ready for the British Airways i360, that sleek needle of a viewing tower rising from the seafront. Even from the bus, it is a striking sight, and if you fancy an even higher aerial adventure, this is your stop. Nearby, the ruined arches of the old West Pier sit hauntingly in the surf, a beautiful, melancholy contrast to the bright bustle of the Palace Pier further along. Photographers, this one is for you.

Hove is the graceful, slightly quieter sister on this loop, with its beach huts in a rainbow of colours lined up along the promenade like a chocolate box come to life. Get off, stroll the lawns, watch the kite surfers, and drink in the pastel Regency architecture. It is postcard-perfect and delightfully unhurried.

The beauty of it all is that a single ticket lets you hop on and off as many times as you like across the day, so you can build the day at your own pace: quick photo stops, long lazy lunches, a museum here, a paddle there. Services run frequently through the day in the main season, with buses looping regularly so you are never waiting long, and the whole thing dovetails neatly with the wider Brighton & Hove Buses network, so you can extend your adventures further along the coast or up into the Downs. For the latest details on frequencies, fares and tickets, take a look at our full route write-up at City Sightseeing Brighton on Great Scenic Journeys for up-to-date information and inspiration, and you will be all set.

What makes City Sightseeing Brighton so special is the sheer joy of the format. It is unhurried, sociable and pleasantly old-fashioned, in the very best sense. You meet fellow travellers up top, swap tips on where to eat, share a laugh when a sudden gust threatens someone's sunhat, and see a city you thought you knew from an entirely new angle. Brighton from the top deck is a Brighton of rooftops and chimney pots, of sea horizons you never notice from the pavement, of quirky details on Regency façades that you would otherwise walk right past.

So leave the car at home, pack a light jacket (just in case), slap on some sunblock, and let the open-topper do the hard work. Brighton is a city best sipped slowly, and there is no more scenic, sociable or downright fun way to sip it than aboard the City Sightseeing Brighton bus. Climb aboard, head upstairs, and let this barnstorming seaside beauty roll out beneath you. All aboard!