From a ‘frumpet’ stack to end-of-the-pier dining: why Hove and Worthing make the perfect day trip double act

Radhika Sanghani decided to avoid the crowds and head west of Brighton. Photograph: Peter Flude/The Guardian

On the speedy Southern train from London down to the coast, I’m feeling in the know. Everyone else is heading to Brighton for a day trip, but I’m escaping the crowds by going slightly west of the popular seaside town to its understated and far more charming neighbour: Hove.

I can smell the sea air the second I get off the train at Hove, but I don’t rush to leave the station like I normally would, because it’s just so quaint with its Italianate Victorian railway lamps and cast-iron canopies.