A must for anyone interested in old fairgrounds and amusement arcades, Brighton's Penny Arcade…read moreMuseum is a small arcade housed in one of the arches on the sea-front. A few minutes walk from Brighton Pier, it's also a great place to take kids for half an hour's fun. There's funny mirrors that make you look taller, shorter and fatter and over 50 vintage penny slot machines. Since most of the machines were manufactured between 1895-1950 some of them seem to break down occasionally but most of them are in good working order. There's strength machines that test your endurance, fortune tellers that predict your future and love life and quirky machines like What The Butler Saw. For £1 you get 7 old pennies to play whatever machines you like. The arcade is open every day from 12am-6pm Easter til September and fine weekends in the winter. If you're planning to make a special trip, it's worth phoning to check.

This is a great break from beachlife and a true homage to the path that laid the way for xboxes and…read moreplaystations. Set in the King's Road arches and slap between the piers, you will find the museum. Inside are a wide range of truely oldschool arcades and eccentricities from the late Victorian era to the mid Twentieth Century. I especially find the 'What the Butler Saw' machines funny. I also like that they give you large old pennies to play, rather than have converted the machines to take contemporary currency. I'm sure a number of these end up leaving the arcade as souveniers, so I suppose they have them made to order or something! You are unlikely to find all the machines working at any one time, but there will certainly be at least £2-£3's worth of pennies to play with. The only thing I missed not being present was an old style automated organ or some 'traditional' snacks to buy. Certainly a fun way to spend a few quid doing something a little different.

Hove museum and art gallery is small, but perfectly formed…read more It's not somewhere you'd make a beeline for, unless there was something of specific interest to you personally to see, but it can provide a pleasant enough distraction for an hour or so on a rainy day. It has recently been refurbished and upgraded to provide high quality temporary exhibition space. The museum is housed in one of Hove's grandest former mansions, a large Italianate house just to the west of the shopping area, half a mile from St Andrew's old church on Church Road. The highlight of the permanent collections is actually outside the museum: the Jaipur Gate. This was made for the Colonial and Indian Exhibition of 1886 held in South Kensington, and moved here in 1926. It was paid for by the Maharaja of Jaipur, whose motto is inscribed on the front, in English, Sanskrit and Latin: 'where virtue is, there is victory'. It was carved by Indian craftsmen, although its design was concieved by two Englishment, and it combines both Mughal and Rajput elements. After recent conservation work, it is now in excellent condition. Inside, the ground floor provides two temporary exhibition spaces, a small shop and a tea room, which seemed very popular on my visit, and is probably worth knowing about in its own right. Upstairs are the four main areas of the permanent collection. Most important of these is the collection of early film and cinematic equipment. Brighton and Hove were important in early British film making, and a small film industry was based at Shoreham Beach in the days of silent films. The collection includes a wide selection of early film-making and projection equipment, and a small 8-seat 'cinema' where excerpts from early films and items for children are shown. The art gallery contains a handful of attractive works by European (mostly British) artists, although none are in the 'top flight' of European painting. Details of the collection are on the website (note that this covers Brighton's collection, too, which is wider ranging and more impressive). Next comes a small display of local history, which includes a small number of objects from local excavations from the bronze age to the mediaeval period, and includes the skull of a Saxon woman, important amber Bronze-age grave goods, items from a Saxon warrior burial, and pottery from a Roman villa excavated in nearby Southwick. Finally, there a lovely toy collection, displayed in an area especially designed for children, which seems very well done -the collection covers quite a wide range from the 18th to the present. The temporary collections cover local arts and crafts and, as ever with this kind of display, the quality varies a bit, although the presentation is excellently done. The shop sells cards, postcards and toys as well as small souvenir items. Entrance is free.

Whether you're visiting to see the museum's fascinating exhibits or tp sample the quaint delights…read moreof it's small but charming tea rooms you're sure to be satisfied by Hove Museum and Art gallery. I went a few months ago during a bike ride with the simple intention of grabbing a tea before heading home. Not only did I extend my order to include a slice of carrot cake and a scone but I had to take a trip round their free exhibitions including a fascinating collection of photos and extracts from Brighton's Herald Newspaper during Word War II. This is open until Jan 10th 2010 so head down soon. Of you're reading this after that date then I would imagine they've set up an equally interesting exhibition by now, as Brighton & Hove council seem to be quite skilled in such areas. If you've lived in Brighton for a while and not yet visited then you're missing out on a very educational and cost-effective excursion. I'd happily go again just for the cream tea and scones!

I LOVED the Brighton Museum. I was beyond pleasantly surprised…read more The museum is in a lovely building right beside the Royal Pavilion, so there is no reason why you cannot pay it a visit. The collections were rather hodgepodge, and sometimes it was difficult to figure out the connecting theme of what I was looking at, but everything was interesting - from the little alcove about Ancient Egypt to the Main Hall to the exhibits on Clothing as well as Modern Art (and I don't even care for modern art.) This museum also had a quality that escapes most others - it was great for both adults and children. I can easily say that, of all the sights I saw during my day in Brighton, this was definitely my favourite.

I always enjoy a visit to a museum, what's not to love about learning for free?…read moreSet in the heart of Brighton's Royal Pavillion gardens, you can really feel the culture when you visit the area. If you're stuck for ideas on what to do in Brighton when the weather is less than ideal, you could do much worse than making the trip here. Although small, the museum houses some interesting collections. My personal highlights are the Egyptology section and the history of Brighton room. Seeing the old photos of the west pier in all its glory and how the Pavillion looked over the years is fascinating.

As well as artwork and exhibitions, Fabrica is also an amazing venue to hire out for Weddings,…read morecivil ceremonies, conferences and launch nights. My brother was married here 2 years ago, and Fabrica as a venue was absolutely top notch. From the outside, it is a beautiful old church situated right in the South Laines, which could look as though services are still taking place. Once inside, the venue's space is one massive room with a striking viewing gallery, which give it so much potential to make into something beautiful. My brother and his wife had ivy leaves and lights draped across the viewing gallery, giving the wedding an old fashioned Pagan feeling, which inside an old church was truly unique. The events people from Fabrica were really well organised and truly interested and concerned in the look and feel of the wedding, which thankfully went incredibly well, due in large part to the atmosphere created by the beauty of the venue itself.

Established thirteen years ago, Fabrica are a visual arts organisation that support and promote…read morecontemporary artists. Their home on Duke Street is an incredible Regency church with high ceilings and ornate windows. The main space is used as a gallery with free regular installations and exhibitions whilst the smaller spaces on the ground and first floor are used for meetings, one to one mentoring with staff and workshops. Painters, sculptors and visual artists should note they have a terrific Artist Resource Library where you can find upto date lists of national and international galleries, information about available grants and arts funding and lots of current art magazines and quarterlies. The art itself is also pretty inspiring. I saw the Amish Kapoor installation as part of the Brighton Festival earlier this year and was both freaked out and blown away. Which is probably how he'd want people to feel given the subject matter and scale of the work!

The Engineerium is one of the best attractions in Brighton and Hove for big kids, and little ones…read morealike. It's a museum that explores industrial heritage and especially the history of the steam age. It's a favourite for little ones who are interested in science and engineering. It's currently being refurbished at enormous expense so hopefully when it reopens it will be better than ever. I can't wait to return.

The location of this museum couldn't be more appropriate...as you enter the little door way from…read moreunder the the railway bridge, you feel as if you've opened a children's toy chest and walked right in! Whether toys are your thing or not, you won't be able to resist a pang of nostalgia as you look back at a hundred years of toy-making history. If you're too young to get excited by memories of toy train sets and wooden puppets, this is probably a perfect place to take your parents! And even if you don't remember the toys on display yourself, some of them are just plain amazing to look at- toy theatres and old-fashioned arcade games are among my favourite items on display. I'm no toy fanatic, but I like this place...it's really interesting to see how toy-making practices have evolved over the years. The central location and smaller size of the museum makes it a great place to pop into for a mini history lesson, when you've got a spare 10 minutes or an idle afternoon of wandering the Lanes. It also means you wont get museum fatigue!

Tucked away in one of the arches under Brighton's splendid Victorian railway station is this small,…read morebut perfectly formed, museum, housing the UK's foremost collection of toys and models. Centrepiece of the more than 10,000 items in its catalogue is a rare 'O' guage model railway layout, which runs at selected times (see web-site). But there are also substantial displays of puppets, dolls, tin-plate boats and buses, and dioramas of toy farms and military re-enactments. Many of the items are very rare, and the museum acts as a centre of expertise on such toys for the likes of Christie's auctioneers. The museum has a substantial education programme for children, and hosts visits by schools as well as individuals and families. As you'd expect, it's an excellent place to bring children, and the museum's web-site focuses very much on their needs. There's also a small shop to provide temptation afterwards! The museum also lays on events from time to time - see web-site for details. The museum can be a little difficult to find: emerging from the station, leave the entrance portico on the right hand side (by Marks & Spencer's), and Trafalgar Street is the road which descends steeply under the station's forecourt - the museum is actually underneath. Public transport (train and bus) is excellent, but car parking is a bit more tricky: however, there's an NCP car park a few blocks away.

So it's FREE. Donations requested. Very clean and friendly…read more Lots to look at. Mainly birds, butterfly's and skeletons but kids love it. Lots for them to do.

This little museum up by Seven Dials, just opposite Dyke Road Park, is a great hidden gem in…read moreBrighton. Its not, as the name may suggest, a museum of booths (which sounds rather dodgy I reckon) - rather, it's named after the founder Edward Booth! Instead you'll find bones, birds (LOTs of birds), butterflies and fossils. It wasn't the best experience of mine, as I find this kinda thing a bit creepy - but if it floats your boat, this is a really well organised/notated collection. Oh, and I should probably also mention, entry is freeeeee!

Disclaimer: I work here :)…read more 24 Hour Museum is a national non-profit website about visual arts and heritage.