Royal Pavilion Brighton

Pavilion Gardens, Brighton , East Sussex, England, United Kingdom - Phone: 44 1273 290900

TravelPod Member ReviewsRoyal Pavilion Brighton

  • Amazing palace by the sea

    5

    tvordlj 8 contributions Halifax Regional Municipality, Canada Mar 18, 2008

    Oriental style Regency era Brighton Pavillion, with it's domes and turrets. We entered via a little street on the back side and through a park. On the left side are buildings that were part of the Brighton Palace grounds and were stables and a riding "school". Now one of them is the Brighton Dome which is an entertainment venue and the other is the Brighton museum and art gallery. We may have gone to the museum if we'd had more time and energy but focussed on the Pavillion instead.

    The Pavillion started out in life as a smaller estate/farmhouse that was bought by George, Prince of Wales (later Regent and later King George IV) in the late 18th century. When he became Regent, he hired John Nash to create a wonderful palace for him. He built a palace based on the newly popular Oriental and Chinoiserie styles with onion domes, turrets and it looks like something that wouldn't look entirely out of place on the grounds of the Taj Mahal.

    The rooms inside, filled with many original antiques from the old Palace and antiques from that era, range from basic elegance to jaw dropping opulence. The Banqueting room was designed to awe and that's what it does. The centrepiece is a one tonne grand chandelier hanging from the claws of a 30 foot snarling dragon. In the corners of the room are dragons that hide gas lights so that it looks like they are breathing fire when lit (or it did 200 years ago, for the Prince's guests). the Music Room is under another dome decorated in elaborate style with a large hanging light and chandelier. You can almost picture lords and ladies a-dancing under the dome with musicians discreetly in the back.

    The kitchen was one of the most modern for the time and the Prince was so proud of it that he even ushered guests in to see all the amenities.

    Upstairs in one of the bedrooms the walls are covered in bright yellow decorated wallpaper, which was very rare for the time. It's a reproduction now but all of the work done on this palace is meticulous to the detail.

    The Palace was sold to the city of Brighton by Queen Victoria and it's been used for various functionality over the years. Now you can book it for a wedding or a business seminar or meeting. There's a crowded little gift shop as well full of interesting books and gifts. Current adult charges are £6.50 with a pound off for Senior citizens. There are also family and group prices available.

    This review is the subjective opinion of a TravelPod member and not of TravelPod.com.

Travel Blogs by Travelers Who Visited this Attraction Royal Pavilion Brighton

  • 1

    fun place! fun people

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  • 2

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    2012 is seriously flying and massive things are coming up very very quickly.

    The weather turned on for a few days getting up to 22 degrees on one day. This might not seem like a lot but enough to get out the shorts and flip flops and have a few days out and picnics in the park. After recovering from …

  • 3

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    One of our day trips was to the seaside city of Brighton. Mind you, we only actually saw the sea for about 10 minutes. By the time we go there it was far too cold and we were tired and footsore.

    We set the alarm, got down for breakfast and couldn't get back into the room with my room card but Mom's worked. This happened again the next day …

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  • 2

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  • 3

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  • 9

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