Brighton's street art: a free walk from the station

Brighton has carried an international reputation for street art since the mid-1980s, and the best way to take it in is on foot. A free expert-led tour, run by street art and graffiti photographer Chris Hibberd, gives you a reliable route to follow, and it's open to all ages, so it works as a family afternoon as much as a solo wander.

The walk starts at Brighton station. Head out the front entrance and down Trafalgar Street, past the Brighton Toy Museum, to the Prince Albert pub, a Grade II listed building from 1848. Its wall carries 'Icons', a giant mural of deceased musicians painted by Req and Sinna One in 2013 and updated regularly; the latest addition is Ozzy Osbourne, and the long list runs from Amy Winehouse and Bob Marley to David Bowie and Whitney Houston. Beside it sits a replica of Banksy's 'Kissing Policemen', first painted here in 2004 and since removed and sold, with the original fetching £430,650 at auction in 2014.

From there, the tour drops you into Trafalgar Lane, better known as 'Grafalgar Lane', where almost every surface is covered in work by local artists and writers like SNUB23, Sprite, Molar and Sinna One. It's the most concentrated stretch of the walk. The route then winds through the backstreets — Gloucester Road, Upper Gardner Street and Orange Row — before coming out at Jew Street, where the Indelible Fine Art Gallery sits at numbers 9 and 10. The street leads to a car park whose large walls have become a canvas in their own right; in 2025, the artist Endless painted a large piece there to promote a show.

A short walk through the lanes brings you to Hanningtons Lane, which sets a little challenge: find three pieces in and around the alley. The most famous is Eelus's giant 'Alice in Wonderland', showing Alice and the White Rabbit on a black and white tiled floor; The Postman's 'The Prince Regent', whose colours have shifted over time; and Will Blood's 'Mr. Happy', a nod to the Mr Men. Eelus, originally from Wigan, later worked with Banksy on a run of colour blocks, and The Postman is a Brighton-based anonymous collective founded in 2018 that has since shown work worldwide.

Beyond the tour, the art spreads across the city. North Laine is the creative hub, with work on almost every street and cable box; Kemptown holds much of The Postman's work; and London Road itself is well-served, with pieces near the UnBarred Tap Room, The World's End pub and The Hobgoblin. The Open Market, The Lanes, Sydney Street and Francis Street, with its Mr. Cenz mural, are all worth a look. The scene changes constantly, so what you see one visit may be gone the next, which is part of the appeal. It's a free way to spend an afternoon, and because it's all outdoors, you can take it at your own pace.