Brighton and Local Cycling: A Guide for Cyclists Living in the City
Brighton is one of the better UK cities for cycling. It has a growing network of cycle infrastructure, a seafront corridor that makes for one of the most pleasant flat commutes in the country, and direct access to the South Downs for riders who want more than urban routes. There is one practical challenge the city presents in equal measure: if you live here and cycle seriously, storing your bike at home is rarely straightforward.
Brighton's cycle network
Brighton and Hove has been expanding its cycling infrastructure steadily, guided by the council’s Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP). The most significant recent addition is the upgraded A23, where separated cycle lanes running in both directions now form part of National Cycle Network Route 20 between Brighton and Pyecombe. The work, completed in 2025, includes new floating bus stops and controlled pedestrian crossings, and represents one of the most substantial improvements to the city’s commuter cycling network in recent years.
Along the seafront, an active travel scheme on the A259 between the city centre and Portslade is progressing through consultation and design. The scheme proposes a two-way cycle lane on the southern side of Kingsway, with the wider aim of creating a continuous route from central Brighton to the city’s western boundary, linking into National Cycle Network Route 2 towards Shoreham, Worthing, and beyond.
For residents planning routes around the city, Bricycles, the Brighton and Hove cycling campaign, maintains an interactive map of the current network, showing the different types of infrastructure available across the city, from fully segregated lanes to painted routes. It is the most practical tool for understanding what currently exists and where the gaps are.
Getting around by bike: the practical picture
Brighton rewards cyclists who engage with its geography rather than fight it. The seafront is the obvious example: a largely flat east-west corridor that provides a reliable route between Hove and the Marina, free of the congestion that affects most of the parallel roads. For commuters in the right parts of the city, the seafront path makes cycling a genuinely faster option than driving or waiting for a bus.
The hills are the honest counterpoint to this. Brighton sits on the South Downs, and large parts of the city north of the seafront involve real climbing. The streets north of the Lewes Road, the routes up to Hollingbury and Woodingdean, and anything approaching the Downs from the city involve gradients that suit fit riders or e-bikes better than a heavy commuter bike. This is not a reason not to cycle in Brighton, but it is worth building into route planning. Riders who choose their routes with the terrain in mind rather than defaulting to the most direct line will have a better experience.
For day-to-day urban riding, the density of the city centre means bikes are almost always faster than cars for journeys under two miles. Parking a bike at destination is generally easier than parking a car, though secure cycle parking provision in the city remains inconsistent. Bricycles has campaigned for improvements to public cycle parking, particularly for cargo bikes and adapted cycles, which the existing provision often fails to accommodate.
The London to Brighton route
The annual British Heart Foundation London to Brighton Bike Ride is the most prominent cycling event on the Brighton calendar and one of the best-known charity rides in the country. The full route covers 54 miles from Clapham Common to Brighton seafront, with start times staggered from 6am. Around 27,000 cyclists take part each year. A shorter 20.5-mile option begins at Ardingly, joining the full route for the final section.
The defining feature of the ride, for those who have not done it before, is Ditchling Beacon. The climb averages 9% over its final 0.9 miles, touches 16% at its steepest, and sits at 248 metres above sea level, making it the highest road point in Sussex. Most riders reach it with 53 miles in their legs. A significant number walk it. Getting over it and dropping into Brighton from the Downs is one of the more satisfying things a cyclist can do in the south-east of England.
For full route detail, training advice, and logistics, see our London to Brighton cycle route guide.
Cycling events and community in Brighton
Brighton has a well-developed cycling community for a city of its size. The key organisations are worth knowing if you are new to cycling here or looking to ride with others.
Brighton Bike Hub is a community interest company based in St Martin’s Place that runs a range of programmes including group rides, bike maintenance training, and the Kidical Mass family cycling events. In partnership with Bricycles, Brighton Bike Hub organises Kidical Mass rides each April and September, which bring families and children onto the streets of the city to ride together on a stewarded route. The September 2024 ride drew over 200 participants despite a wet weather forecast; the April 2024 edition attracted over 400.
Brighton and Hove Cycling UK runs regular group rides to destinations across the South Downs, East Sussex, and the wider south-east. The group caters for a range of abilities and operates year-round.
Bricycles is the Brighton and Hove cycling campaign, which advocates for infrastructure improvements, provides the cycling network map, and maintains a directory of local cycle hire and repair services.
The BHF London to Brighton Bike Ride remains the single largest annual cycling event in the city. For detail on that event and the route options available, the London to Brighton cycle route guide covers it in full.
Bike storage in Brighton: the front garden problem
Brighton’s housing stock creates a storage problem that most cycling guides do not address directly. The dominant building type across the city is the Victorian and Edwardian terraced house: narrow frontage, small front garden, no side access, and no garage. On-street parking pressure means that any available front garden space is often already compromised. Bringing bikes indoors is the default for many residents, which means bikes in hallways, under stairs, and blocking the route through the house.
A front-garden bike shed is the practical answer for residents with even a small amount of outside space available. It keeps bikes dry, secure, and accessible without using interior space, and for a household with two or more bikes, the improvement in day-to-day usability is significant.
For the typical Brighton terraced house with a narrow front garden, the Classic Bike Shed stores bikes front-to-back in a 2000mm wide footprint, which fits against most front boundary walls without reducing the access path to the door. For homes with a wider garden or a larger collection, the Slot-In Bike Shed stores bikes side by side with independent access to each, and scales from one to six bikes in a single unit.
Neither shed requires planning permission in most cases, and both are designed to sit in a front garden without looking out of place against the architecture of the street.
For full guidance on choosing the right shed for a Brighton front garden, see our front garden bike storage ideas. For a wider overview of the options available, the timber bike shed range covers each model in detail.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, for many journeys. The seafront provides a flat, largely traffic-free east-west corridor that is faster than the parallel road for most of its length. The A23 now has separated cycle lanes in both directions, making the London Road and Preston Road corridor more accessible than it has been. The practical limitation is the terrain: routes that involve climbing out of the coastal plain require more effort, and the consistency of the infrastructure network varies considerably by area. For commutes of under four miles in the flat areas of the city, cycling is usually the fastest option.
The main hire option is Beryl BTN Bikes, the city's e-bike and pedal cycle share scheme run in partnership with Brighton and Hove City Council. Bikes are hired via the Beryl app from hubs located across the city, with pay-as-you-ride and subscription options available. Brighton Beach Bikes, based at the Kings Road Arches on the seafront, offers traditional bike hire by the hour, including tandems, and is the most straightforward option for visitors who want to ride the seafront without using an app.
The A23 corridor heading north is now the most practical on-road route out of the city, with separated cycle lanes taking you towards Pyecombe and the South Downs. From there, the descent into Ditchling and the network of quiet lanes through the Weald opens up a wide range of circular rides. Ditchling Beacon itself, approached from the village of Ditchling to the north, is the most famous climb in the area and a useful benchmark for fitness. For off-road riding, the South Downs Way runs along the ridge from Eastbourne to Winchester and can be accessed at several points within an easy ride of the city.
A compact front-garden bike shed is the solution most suited to Brighton's housing stock. A Classic Bike Shed fits within a 2000mm wide footprint and stores bikes front-to-back, making it workable in narrow front gardens where a wider structure would block the path to the door. If the garden has more width available, the Slot-In Bike Shed offers independent access to each bike without removing others first, which is practical for households where different people use different bikes at different times. Both options are covered in more detail in our guide to front garden bike storage ideas.
If you are deciding which shed best fits your space, our guide on which bike shed is best for your bike covers the key decisions, including footprint, access, and capacity.