Hove Park

A great family park that had its play area spruced up not too many years back.
They hold ‘park run’ here every Saturday morning at 9am. A free organised timed 5 km which is great fun.
The café is lovely and serves a great selection of treats for the family

Although I mainly experience Hove Park through the eyes of a slightly overweight, slightly under-​fit runner its still a beautiful place. Its a large park making it suitable for running and cycling and provides a number of other facilities such as tennis courts, five-​a-​side and full size football pitches, a basketball court, a climbing area and a café.
It has a children’s play area and a miniature railway that runs during the summer season, and it also plays host to a number of organised fitness events such as the saturday morning 5k parkrun and British Military Fitness.
It tends to be full of of dogs and small children at the weekend which lend themselves as interesting obstacles to dodge (mostly successfully) while out on my runs. However, I would have to agree with India T in that I wouldn’t feel particularly safe running here at night as its not very well lit and the middle area can be quite secluded.

Working near Hove Park, it’s a great relief to be able to walk for 3 mins and be in the middle of this great Victorian park. It has a good but rather expensive café, and recently upgraded tennis courts which are much improved. It’s also a good 5k run if you run around the park two and a half times, meaning its a relatively large park :]

I really agree with Mike this place is large and is full of things to do anytime of year. I just want to add that there is also an astro-​turf that can be hired upon request which is always good for a group large enough for a couple of 5 a side teams. There is a cracking little café which isn’t the cheapest but then it does rely on the summer months mainly.
The playground itself is one of the best in Brighton if not the best, take my word for it! There are little hills around the edges etc. so if you want exercise that mixes up the movements then it is a good place for that.

Hove Park is the largest public green area in the local vicinity, featuring a basketball court, kids playground, football pitch, climbing boulder, tennis courts bowling green and a popular miniature steam railway that opens again in March 2010. For joggin, dog walking or impromptu rounders games Hove Park is the best place to go as it’s rarely at full capacity.
Another point of interest is the large rock situated in the southwest corner. Weighing more than 20 tones, Goldstone rock is said to have been worshiped by the Druids around 2000 years ago.
In the summer months various travelling fairs and local events take place on its premises, all of which will be advertised well in advance so you don’t get caught out. Also, as its perimeter is lined with horse-​chestnut trees it’s a prime place for finding conkers.