Brighton & Hove is the country's most continental city

Another day and another accolade for Brighton & Hove! Yes it's true this time we have been named the most continental city in Britain beating Liverpool, Belfast, Edinburgh and poor old London had to make do with being eighth in the list.

Overall the study (commissioned by Heineken) found that Britons were embracing continental attitudes be it a kiss hello or having a siesta during the day in order to stay out later, presumably another factor is using words such as siesta instead of nap!

Back to Brighton though, people do often comment on the fact that there is a European feel to the city particularly when it comes to food and drink as there is such a mixture of styles on offer, I like the fact that more restaurants are moving away from the traditional three large courses to having a few smaller dishes so you can pick and choose more things to try without getting bloated, examples in Brighton & Hove include Pintxo People and Graze.

Another factor has to be the people, the traditional image of English people being stand-offish and having a stiff upper lip just doesn't apply here as everyone is friendly and also more laid back, visitors often comment on the fact that the city centre is quiet first thing in the morning, it doesn't really start to get going until 10 or 11. That's not to say that no one works a normal 9-5 shift but the independent shops of the North Laine don't tend to open up until late morning and then you start to see more people about. Part of the reason for this continental approach of starting and finishing later is that we have always had a lot of students here thanks to the two universities and the large number of English Language schools.

But don't just take my word for it, come and visit Brighton & Hove and then you can see for yourself why we have been named the most continental city. As ever if you think I have missed something out then please let me know

Charlotte