Best shops

In a town famed for its Vegetarian Shoes (12 Gardner Street, 01273 685 685), you'd expect plenty of alternative independents – and you'll find most of them in North Laine, the colourful patchwork of streets to the south-east of the station (Jello – 16 Gardner Street, 01273 609 363 – is one of the best). For designer fashion, Tribeca rules (21 Bond Street, 01273 673 755) for labels like Isabel Marant and Vanessa Bruno. For frilly knickers and a happy heart, cross the road to the Lavender Room (16 Bond Street, 01273 220 380). No Brighton visit – indeed, no Brighton weekend – is complete without a mooch around Infinity Foods Shop and Bakery (25 North Road, 01273 603 563), a vegetarian workers' cooperative since 1971.

Best restaurants

Way too many to cover all bases, but there's no rival to Ben McKellar's brilliant Ginger empire – now four-strong since the recent addition of the Ginger Dog in Kemptown (12-13 College Place, 01273 620 990). His seasonal, local loveliness is also served at the Ginger Pig (gastro-pub off Hove seafront), the Ginger Fox (thatched country pub) and the Ginger Man (Brighton's prized fine-dining restaurant). Also the Chilli Pickle (42 Meeting House Lane; 01273 323 824) for a spicy lunch, and Blenio at Seven Dials (87-93 Dyke Road, 01273 220 220) for a friendly neighbourhood bistro away from the summer hordes. The morning after, you can't beat a proper fry-up at Carat's (Southwick Beach, 01273 430 924) – out beyond the wind-surfers and Heather Mills' vegan cafe, off Hove Lagoon.

. . . and for veggies

Terre à Terre (71 East Street, 01273 729 051) is regularly voted the top vegetarian restaurant in the UK (try its Smokey Soul in a Bowl and you'll see why). Also, Food for Friends (17-18 Prince Albert Street, 01273 202 310) for a thali.

Best cafes

The Mock Turtle Tea Shop (4 Pool Valley, 01273 327 380), tucked unpromisingly behind the coach station and seconds from the beach, serves proper homemade cake on vintage china plates. Up in Hove, don't miss Igigi (31A Western Road, Hove, 01273 775 257) – one of the city's most beautiful homeware shops, which also happens to serve incomparable welsh rarebit.

Best bar/club

Chris Edwardes at Blanch House (17 Atlingworth Street, 01273 603 504) still mixes the best cocktails in town. The mega-clubs on the seafront rip it up every weekend, but if you're looking for something more intimate and edgy, try The Basement (24 Kensington Street, 01273 699 733) – an underground experimental performance space where all manner of nutty stuff goes down.

Best place to swim

You may yet have time for a dip in art-deco Saltdean lido up the coast before it is turned into apartments. The best place in Brighton to take a dip in the sea is just off Hove Lawns. Afterwards you can come in for an ice-cream float at the lovely Marrocco's (8 King's Esplanade, 01273 203 764), unchanged since 1969.

Best place to fly a kite

There's no beating the Downs. Ditchling Beacon and Devil's Dyke are the two top spots for dog-walking and watching parascenders take off over the vast view of the Weald below. Walk from the Dyke to the Shepherd and Dog in Fulking (01273 857 382) for a pie and a pint of local Hophead bitter.