Brighton is world-famous for The Lanes, a warren of twisting, turning alleyways and hidden squares in the centre of town, near the seafront. Here, between the promenade and North Street with its big department stores, you'll find shops and boutiques selling the historic, the artistic and the designer name; try The Lanes for hand-stitched Italian shoes, delicate silver work and exclusive jewellery, records, modern watercolours and oils, designer clothes, antiquarian book shops, cards and prints. The Lanes is world-renowned for antiques, and people come here from all over the globe to pick up a treasure. For those with less resources and perhaps more optimism, its tantalising territory for bargain hunters.

In the Prince Regent's day, the North Lane area of Brighton was the unfashionable end of town; this was where the servants lived, along with artisans and traders such as cobblers, tanners and timber merchants. These days, the North Lane displays the individual - sometimes eccentric - side of shopping in the Big Resort. The North Lane is proud of its bohemian atmosphere and its reputation for the unexpected. Here you'll find shops selling Doc Martens, juggling clubs and unicycles, glass beads and Roquefort, hand-made chocolates by the ounce, collector's comics by the bushel, bright fabric prints or sheer silks, bird song relaxation tapes, hand-knitted jumpers, Victorian lace-edged night dresses, T-shirts, young designer clothing, noodles, kites, vegetarian shoes, South American ethnic artifacts... shopping at its unpredictable best!

Western Road is home to Brighton & Hove's big name stores and retail chains. Beyond Churchill Square you pass into Hove's shopping areas: Church Road for hats, pot pourri, commemorative china and what is reputed to be the largest antique shop in the country; explore the varies shopping of Blatchington Road, a little to north; George Street, running between Blatchington Road and Church Road, is the model of a traditional high street, complete with a fruit and vegetable market. Hove's excellent coffee houses, restaurants and plenty of free parking make shopping here a very pleasant experience.

Saturdays and Sundays are market days in the Big Resort; on Saturday mornings sift though bric-a-brac in the North Laine's Upper Gardner Street. Then, on Sunday mornings, visit one of the biggest regular car boot markets in the country with thousands of bargains on offer - it fills half of Brighton railway station's car park. During the week you'll also often find specialist markets at the Brighton Centre, Hove Town Hall, Brighton Marina and the Corn Exchange.

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