The Lanes, Brighton

Somewhat confusingly there appears to be two spellings for Brighons heavily promoted specialist shopping area. The 'south Laines [if i can call it that] seemed the more picturesque and contained more shops that sourbugger could tolerate over his usual shop attention span of about three minutes. The medieval feel of the layout could still be detected amongst the designer Italian gear and trinkitry from every corner of the developing world.

ill also add a plug here for www.brightonwalks.com - they do a guided walk of the area.

Men beware - women could spend months in the shopping blackhole that is Brighton's Lanes.

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The Lanes is a lovely place to spend time in, there are so many weird and wonderful shops, it's even better than Carnaby Street in London.

There are Cafes, Coffee shops, Jewellery shops, a shop that sells all Hippy stuff, bag shops, shoe shops, etc, etc. But my favourite shops are the old Armoury shops, these have stuff from World wars 1 and 2, Samurai swords and uniforms, guns, knives and swords from all different times, even small cannons!, just about anything that you can think of to do with battle. It makes for very interesting browsing I would say

Do browse around the area which is know as The Lanes, this collection of narrow streets covering about 1 square mile is the oldest area in Brighton dated around 17th centuary. Home to some unique shops mostly selling jewellery, perfume & antiques. Scattered around the area is a host of coffee shops & eateries.

Prices tend to be on the high side but then again it is a one off shop - you decide

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The old village of Brighthelmstone had 4 main streets in the Medieval Ages: North, East, West and South. What started as a small settlement became a large maze of narrow cobblestone streets which is along the lines of what you see today. In 1514 French ‘visitors’ decided to get really Medieval and burned the place to the ground. The locals, after repelling them, rebuilt along the same narrow twisty mazes as before.

Today you will find Jewellery Shops, designer clothes, historic Pubs, souvenirs and a small square, called Brighton Square. It is well worth getting lost in. Not for long, the area is rather compact.

Near the North Laine, The Lanes is a very charming shopping area, where high end shops are housed in ex fisherman cottages. Cobblestone streets, little sidewalk cafes, and little sidestreets make the Lanes a wonderful place to visit in Brighton even if you do not want to shop. Brighton is a great city to explore on foot, and the Lanes is a big reason why. Like the North Laine, the Lanes are very busy especially on the weekends, when locals come out to shop or relax. This is one of my favorite areas in Brighton!

I spent the most of my time in this area. It's the famous shopping area between North Street and the seafront, in the centre of Brighton. There are narrow streets, a lot of boutiques, restaurants, cafes and pubs in this area.

The actual lanes whilst quite pleasant don't really give you an idea of the real Brighton (all antique stores, clothes and US chain coffee bars). head north a little way to the North Laines now that's much more Brighton individual little shops and all the good pubs.

It is not easy to get yourself lost walking around the Brighton lanes as they are only a small area between Brighton main shopping area of Churchill sqaure and the seafront. There are plenty of interesting shops, pubs and other eateries!