The Royal Pavilion

When George, Prince of Wales, began visiting Brighton in 1783, the Royal Pavilion was just a simple farmhouse. He liked Brighton so much that he asked Henry Holland to create a neo-​classical villa on the site. In 1802 the interiors were decorated in the Chinese style and when George became Prince Regent he emplyed John Nash to enlarge the building further. From 1815 – 1822, the building was transformed into the current Pavillion which must be seen to be appreciated. The banquet room and the kitchen are the most impressive rooms. Sixty dishes or more would be presented for feasting. No wonder the King became so large that he created a tunnel so that his subjects could not make fun of his size! Priceless chandeliers, silver, gold, dragons, palms, clocks, tapestries all in Chinese motif decorate this museum. The exterior looks like a palace out of Arabian Nights. Walk to Brighton Pier afterwards for an ice cream or grab a bite to eat at one of the restaurants flanking the museum.

It’s a beautiful place. I especially loved the dining room and kitchen. Following the history of it is great, from its days as a naughty getaway for the porcine George IV, to its stint as a war-​time hospital for Indian soldiers. And the little part about exotic animals in historic England was fun.
Still, it has some real issues as a museum. Taste is a pretty huge one.
There are unsightly stands in most of the rooms with pictures of what look like Blackberries on them – they refer to the audio guides. There are these audio guides (that don’t seem to come with headphones), but very few placards. Add placards, design an app, and get rid of the stands.
The carpet is ugly and shabby in a few non-​historic rooms. Space heaters in the middle of exhibits. Frequent donation jars asking for even more money than the 11 pound entry fee. A sad-​ish movie room, with a few rows of chairs and a flat screen tv. It just looks like a place run by (no doubt well-​meaning) folks who are a little out of touch.
And on that point, allow photos! There is no Mona Lisa here, and even if there was – you can take pics of her! In this age, a museum like this that needs funding should have an instagram account, monitor its hashtags, and encourage patrons to take photos and share them on socials. This free publicity would bring many more folks through the doors, which would in turn mean many more entrance fees paid and gift-​shop tchotchkes sold.
Speaking of that gift shop – it’s a depressingly random and disorganized assortment of mall trinkets. Who goes to museums hoping to score strawberry jam and bright orange combo coffee cup /​pencil holders? Stop ordering all of this, sell it off, and start again, with focus and discretion.
The are some great art schools here – maybe reach out to the faculty and students about turning this great piece of English history into a real world-​class destination? Make it an ongoing project of the college of the arts or something, and work with some young folks to do a design overhaul and get this museum up to speed. Just an idea. And get a projector.

Stunning part of Brighton’s history. Always worth a visit, if it is a sunny day enjoy the garden surrounding the palace. I would also suggest a visit to the gallery adjacent, they have quite a few fun pieces worth a visit!

I can’t believe I originally thought the building housed a conference centre of some sort. Despite the fairly steep entrance price (around 12 quid), the Royal Pavilion is absolutely worth seeing. You do get an extremely well-​done audio-​guide which I encourage you to pick-​up. My only complaint would be that the guide doesn’t include earphones, you simply press it to your ear. Unfortunately, this means that less mindful visitors will blast theirs at maximum volume. Add to that the multitude of languages the guide comes in, and you’ll get the most infuriating background noise to your visit. If you have time, listen to audio «supplements» about specific objects in view, they are always interesting.
The Pavilion is unexpectedly sumptuous, and decorated in completely over-​the-​top «Chinoiseries» for the most part, although you get to see the much more austere living quarters of Queen Victoria, and rooms dedicated to Indian troops fighting in the British Army since the Pavilion served as a hospital during the war. Nothing really prepares you for how colourful and detailed the interior is: look at all that wrought-​iron bamboo! My favourite rooms were inevitably the kitchen (read all that menu), and the servants’ alleyways and nooks, as well as the impressive reception room at the back. Sadly pictures are not allowed. It’s a solid 2 hours well-​spent. The guide indicates that you can ask members of staff for information at any time, I was too shy to do so, although the staff was always charming.

I have never seen so much opulence housed within a building of such grandeur, the splendour on show here is really to be marvelled at.
As a resident of Brighton with a postcode of BN½/​3, you can get a wonderful 50% discount on your entry fee, but even without the discount I would recommend a visit here. You get a free audio tour with every entry fee, and would strongly advise you to take the tour to hear the rich and intriguing history of this iconic Brighton landmark.
Of all the exquisite rooms you’ll see on the tour, possibly my favourite is the grand hall. Resplendent with dragons and palm leaf chandelier, they really have to be seen to be believed.
The café here is a nice treat, with a lovely terrace overlooking the gardens perfect for tea on a sunny afternoon.

I’m kind of surprised that this only gets 4 out of 5 stars on Unilocal.Lonely Planet now picks «top sites» for towns in their newer guides (last couple years) and it had no «top sites» for Brighton, but I think this definitly should be. I went with two others, and they agreed, this place is really interesting. It may not have the most interesting history, but the dinning room and music rooms are both amazingly beautiful and unique, I have never seen anything like them.

The Royal Pavillion is one of Brighton’s «must see» attractions. In layman’s terms — it’s a big old palace commissioned by some old Prince who really liked Brighton and it’s kinda styled like the taj mahal. The roof is really fragile, I know this purely from the excessive signage about «minding the roof.» The roof which is about 80 feet above the top of my head. No worries, palace, I’ll keep my hands off. Wikipedia is your friend for more appropriate and accurate historical information. Anyhow, it’s a pretty building and there is an ice rink there over the festive months. Lovely gardens at the back, so it’s worth a little meander. I didn’t go inside but I believe you can do.

This was my landmark to note during my travels around Brighton. It was the meeting spot for my group of friends because our bus picks us up here and it is close to all the tourist activities around Brighton. The Royal Pavilion is really pretty and the architecture is very unique to its surroundings. I do find the location of the Royal Pavilion a bit odd, but that’s what makes it stand out!
I did not get a chance to go outside but they do have a small adorable garden around it so you can definitely just take a stroll and get a glimpse of the decors around the area.
You definitely cannot miss this landmark when you are in Brighton!

A curious piece of English history — and a story about how (the British) royal family acted then and now. There are a lot of interesting history from the period, put into a context it is possible to to relate to today, especially with the hedonistic approach to life is seen around the world.

The Royal Pavillion is a breathtaking, larger than life architectural wonder in Brighton. Built by the Prince Regent as his summer home, it has been preserved and is now opened to the public.
* Fee
* Audio guide included — well worth it since you get all the history and commentary
* No pictures allowed
* Cute little tea shop on the top floor — a welcomed break from the tour
A couple of things stand out:
* The dragon chandelier in the dining room. It is extravagant and flamboyant
* The kitchen. Oh goodness, that was quite the production! Even if they preserved a famous chef’s kitchen today, it would never compare
All in all, a magnificent experience.

Great to get away from the Mickey mouse circus of Brighton.
Pavilion is beautiful, in parts, inside. They did a great job on the handsets of describing for you. 1890’s modern kitchen was very intestine. What will people think of us in 120 years?
Brighton was like a glorified Coney Island. Beaches are rock, not sand. They did have high end (nice stuff!) and low end circus type shops (from china crap) high end was so much more expensive than the states, it was hard to buy anything since we could already get it here (USA) at 33% less. Some things cost the same as here, but the conversation is not the same.

This was my 2^nd visit to the Royal Pavilion. I enjoyed this visit more, as the current display features about ongoing renovations were more interesting than 3 years ago. As well the current feature throughout was about Regency era fashions and I really loved the garments on display.
We travelled to Brighton by train and took advantage of the 2 for 1 entry offer from the deals booklet available with your train tickets. This made it an excellent value.
Really interesting formal royal home. Different from any other castle, to be sure.

This building stands out in Brighton like a white crayon in a box full of black crayons. Indian on the outside, Chinese on the inside. Although the designers at that time never actually visited China before I do give them props to the dragons and the statues. I kind of felt like I stepped into my relative’s house in China for a moment. With each room came an amazing surprise from the kitchen to the hallway to the dining room and music room. I was kind of disappointed that photography was not allowed at all but it’s understandable. I wish that there was a pathway to one of the doors servants went through just to experience/​see what they walked through. There were just so many doors that I wanted to explore the whole place.

Of course, one cannot go to Brighton without seeing the Royal Pavilion. It is a wonderful work of architecture that is nothing short of breathtaking.
I feel that all of the good things that can be written about the Royal Pavilion have already been written, so I am going to list the few reasons why the experience fell short of my 5-​Star mark.
1.) You have to pay. Granted, I am a student, so admission was only £7.80, but I am so used to being in London where everything is free, so I was simply taken aback by having to pay. However, the RP was worth every bit that I paid.
2.) The audio guide is included in the admission price. TAKE IT. My friend and I decided to forego getting the audio guide because we just plain don’t like them. Yet, walking through, everything is numbered with its audio guide reference number, and there are very few plaques, signs, postings, etc. to describe the exhibits to those who do not want to have an audio guide in their ear the entire time.

The Royal Pavilion is the Taj Mahal of Brighton!
You can not come to Brighton with out seeing this absolutely magnificent building, The building is glorious! The architecture is awesome! Their are good photo opportunities to take good pictures, I was too busy being Brigerian Next Top Model!
Their are lovely gardens surrounding the building. Also its a nice place have picnics or just to chilax on the grass. It also used for wedding, we just happen to see a couple come out, while their guest were throwing confetti and taking pictures.
Even if you don’t go to the Pavilion, you some how pass it, or see it because it such a prominent building especially if your around the touristy area.
Its nice to know we have a bit of India in England.

The Royal Pavilion is one of Brighton’s most famous landmarks, and for good reason: it is a beautiful, and is at the helm of one of Brighton’s most beautiful parks. Inspired by some king’s love of India (or something like that), the site itself is worth so much more than the much-​spouted history: beautiful when the sunlight glints off one of the many domes, especially if you’re lying in the grass.
The gardens are particularly beautiful: plenty of different types of trees and flowers, and a huge crowd of foreign language students on their lunch break: not so good, and the park is worth avoiding when these mad groups descend on Brighton every summer. Apart from the outdoor set-​up, the Pavilion is gorgeous inside: a result of an interest in Chinese and Indian culture at the time, it is full of beautiful, colorful design pieces: well worth a look, although the price is a bit prohibitive: go on the free day, it happens once a year.
In general, the gardens are one of the nicest areas in town to hang out, and the café there is great too: if you like sitting outdoors, this is the best place in Brighton to chill out with a coffee.

The Pavillion is ‘the’ Brighton landmark. It’s form even adorns Brighton and Hove City council’s insignia, it dominates the area around the Old Steine with its domes and towers.
Yes, it’s ridiculous in many ways, a structure built more for vanity than anything, but it has become part of the fabric of our city. Inside, there are colourful bedrooms, a banqueting hall, huge kitchen — all the things you’d need if you were the Prince Regent. Most impressive though, is the music room, with its domed ceiling, silk dragons and multiple chandeliers.
If you can’t afford to pay, Brighton residents can come here on the annual ‘free day’ — definitely worth doing if you haven’t yet explored the place.

It is ridiculous to think I had lived in Brighton for three years before I visited the Royal Pavilion. Don’t get me wrong, I had seen it from the outside and I had even watched a programme on its architecture on BBC4, but until my third summer and the offer of a free ticket, I didn’t enter the grand rooms of this royal residence. Not just the exotic looking former home of a fat King, the Pavilion is steeped in unlikely charm and history. Just looking at the exterior — based on gazebo designs — you know you’re not looking at a typical palace. When my students would ask me where the Pavilion was, I’d say «You know, the Taj Mahal» and they’d all know exactly where I meant. This iconic building is even-​more interesting on the inside. Take a tour with audio guides and you’ll learn about the history of the Prince Regent and his penchant for a pie or two. You’ll also see his flamboyant tastes that extend from outside in, with Arabic design being replaced by Oriental themes. This really is a world away from the Brighton we know and love, but is a definitive part of its history. Without the Prince Regent’s fondness for the seaside Brighton might just be another forgotten fishing town. Instead this flamboyance injected many years ago has thrived and created one of the most intriguing and individual cities in the country. The king is dead, long live the king.

Perhaps the most unique structure I encountered in my 18 months living in the UK. It’s a palace that looks as though it belongs in India, yet it resides within a mile of the English Channel.
Some might consider it gaudy, but that’s only because it stands in such stark contrast to every other building around it. There are beautiful gardens all around it that are perfect to sit, relax and catch some sun. You’ll find very interesting buskers as well.
I’ve been to the site many times but never gone in and taken the tour. It never seemed worth it to me to pay 12 quid or more just to enter. If you’re tight on cash then save your money and just walk around the gardens, you will still enjoy it immensely.

This magnificent structure, built as a seaside retreat by King George IV in the early 19^th Century, definitely is unlike any beach bungalow you’ve ever seen. The exterior architecture is reminiscent of the Taj Mahal, and the opulent interiors, which were seen in the Barbra Streisand film «On a Clear Day You Can See Forever,» were influenced by both Chinese and Indian designs. All the rooms have been restored to resemble as closely as possible their original décor.
A gift shop sells a wide variety of merchandise, from post cards and prints to fine china to jewelry to books about British history, architecture, and design.
Every visitor to Brighton should plan to spend a few hours wandering through this historical compound.