Brighton and Hove

Brighton is a city where nothing is quite as it appears. The end of the line and a stone's throw from the continent, one minute it seems like an undiscovered corner of Europe, the next it reminds you of its quintessential Englishness. Like its own remarkable history, it is a city of improbable makeovers and deft sleight of hand: farmhouses transformed into palaces, stable blocks into concert halls, churches into art galleries. It is a city of bus driving poets and saxophone playing maitre d's; a place where waiters wait on that elusive three-book publishing deal, and where the underground comes up to the surface for air.

Unlike most seaside towns, it is a year-round city: buoyed up by two universities and a thriving arts and culture scene. It boasts the biggest arts festival in England, and its most celebrated gay scene. It has 5 miles of coastline, 23 parks, 5 casinos, 20 bowling greens, 3450 listed buildings, 12 theatres, 26 lifeguards, 30 nightclubs, 20 art galleries, and more restaurants per head of population than anywhere else in the UK outside London.