Volk's Electric Railway is Brighton at its most charmingly practical: a narrow electric line running along the seafront between the Palace Pier area and Black Rock. Opened in the 1880s, it is usually described as the oldest operating electric railway in the world.
Ride it for the sea air as much as for the engineering. The trip is short, but it links the busy central beach with quieter eastern stretches and gives families, rail enthusiasts, and tired walkers a reason to slow down along the promenade.