Welcome to
Echo: Brighton

The U.K. Ingress Resistance welcomes you to Brighton for our Echo series Anomaly on May 20th, where we host the first European Ingress Anomaly of 2023, and the only Echo event in Central Europe. This website aims to give you all the information you need to attend, enjoy your weekend and help us win.

Brighton is a beautiful seaside town located at the South Coast of England in East Sussex. It has a rich Victorian history that is visible throughout the city, and is a popular location for day trips and beach holidays, especially for Londoners. It's easy to reach on national and international transport, has lots of hotels and traditional English Bed and Breakfasts, and there is lots to do besides playing Ingress.

Apart from having a very English beach and a reasonably large version of the typical British seaside town pier sporting amusements, bars and even a full-size roller coaster, Brighton is also known as the LGBTQ+ capital of the UK. It is diverse, colourful and vibrant, with many pubs, bars and theatres. There is always live music going on somewhere, and you can find a great selection of craft beers on offer both in the town centre as well as in local pubs in residential neighbourhoods.

A postcard showing four images of Brighton. The pier, the pavilion, beach huts at sunset in Hove and a seagull with a blue sky behind it. There is also a blue banner across the images reading ECHO ANOMALY BRIGHTON.

Coming to Brighton...

There are lots of way to get to Brighton. Whether you're local, from the UK, or from far away, we will help you get here.

The nearest airport to Brighton is London Gatwick (LGW). It is the home of Easy Jet with many cheap connections all over Europe. There are direct Gatwick Express and local trains from Gatwick to Brighton several times an hour. Please be advised that the specific Gatwick Express tickets are more expensive than buying a regular ticket. You can take any train from Gatwick, and the slowest one takes well under an hour. See below for information on trains. If you prefer a coach, National Express run coaches from Gatwick into Brighton right by the pier. See below for information on coaches. Gatwick is closer to Brighton than it is to London.

The much larger London Heathrow (LHR) has connections from British Airways as well as mayor European carriers. It is about two hours on a National Express coach. See below for information on coaches. It is also possible to take London's public transport to get to one of the train stations that connect to Brighton. See below for information on trains.

You might be tempted to fly to London Luton (LTN) because of the cheap airlines that go there from your home town. There is a driect Thameslink train from Luton that takes about two hours and runs every hour.

Although London Stansted (STN) is not the easiest option, it may be the only one available to you. The Stansted Express train needs a specific ticket that cannot be bought through the regular train websites mentioned below, and will be cheaper if bought well in advance. You then need to change to tube in London, and onto a train to get to Brighton. See below for trains. A much cheaper but longer option is to take the National Express coach and change in London, which takes about 5 hours and is described in the coach section. We don't recommend this airport if you have a choice.

If you are coming from London, there are Southern and Gatwick Express trains from London Victoria as well as Thameslink trains from London Bridge. The Thameslink pass through London on the way to Brighton from both to Cambridge and Bedford.

To buy tickets for train journes you can use Trainline or Trainsplit. Both of them have very good phone apps, and they both apply what is called split ticketing. The train network in the UK is operated by lots of different companies, and the ticket structure is very different to the rest of Europe. It is often much cheaper to buy multiple smaller journeys on individual tickets than a straight A to B ticket. These websites will do this for you, and you do not have to leave the train even if you have three different tickets for your route.

Tickets bought on the internet can either have a QR code inside your app or they need to be picked up. You can pick them up at any train station in advance or before you travel. You are given a code, and need to go to a ticket machine with the payment card you used to pay for the tickets online. Put the card in, enter the code and select all tickets to print. If you are coming from up north and you have done split ticketing, this might take a while. Be at the station early. Some stations have QR code readers, and going from London to Brighton will work without printing tickets.

UK train stations typically have gates to the platforms. You need to have a valid ticket to go through the gate. Remember that trains drive on the left.

To plan your route from London, in particular if you arrive at an airport other than Gatwick, you might want to get the Citymapper app. It has very good route finding that includes trains and local Brighton buses and much nicer usability than Google Maps.

If you want to come from the European mainland by train you will travel on the Eurostar through the Channel Tunnel. These tickets can be bought online directly, or as part of an Interrail ticket through your local train provider, such as Deutsche Bahn. The Eurostar does not have limitations on luggage and cabin lugage restrictions like planes do. It is also much better for the environment, but it takes longer than flying. The Eurostar arrives at London St Pancras International, where you can change to a Thameslink service to Brighton with no further changes that takes a little over an hour.

The primary coach company in the UK is National Express. Coach number 025 runs 15 times a day. It starts at London Victoria, goes to Heathrow Airport Terminal 1, 2 & 3 as well as Heathrow Airport Terminal 5, Gatwick Airport North and South, and then Brighton. The coach station in Brighton is located right by the pier in the city centre. Fares range from 5 pounds when booked way in advance p to about 30 pounds per trip. You can buy a return trip for airport transfer.

The coach tickets are bound to a specific time slot. You can pay 5 pounds extra to get their Change & Go feature, which lets you take any available coach instead. This makes a lot of sense when arriving at the airport, because flights might be late, there might be queues at the border or your luggage might be delayed.

You do not need to print their tickets. A QR code on the phone is sufficient.

To come to the UK from mainland Europe there are various ferries as well as the Eurotunnel.

The Eurotunnel is the most obvious choice. You drive your car onto a train and watch some Netflix, and it only takes half an hour. You need to drive to Calais to use the tunnel. This is the best way to bring your dog.

To go from Calais to Dover by ferry, you need to use P & O. There also used to be SeaFrance, but they have recently closed the route. On average there are sailings every two hours. This crossing takes a little over an hour.

If you are driving from the North of Central Europe and do not want to go to France, you can use DFDS from Dunkirk to Dover. These ferries are slightly less frequent than the Calais ones and take two hours, but give you a longer break and might be slightly less busy at peak times.

If you're coming from the Netherlands or the North of Germany, you can use the StenaLine ferry from Hook of Holland to Harwich. These sail twice a day, with one during the day and one over night, with cabins. This is great if you travel in a larger group, because the cabins are comfortable and affordable and you can split the journey in two with additional time to rest. You need to plan about 4 additional hours to get from Harwich to Brighton. This includes a toll charge at the Dartford Crossing when to get over (or under) the Thames on the M25 London orbital motorway. This can be paid online.

If you are coming from France, you can use the DFDS ferry from Dieppe to Newhaven, which takes about 4 to 5 hours for the crossing and a quick half hour drive down the coast to get to Brighton. There are two crossing per day.

Parking in Brighton is tricky. You might get parking with your accommodation. Most hotels and bed and breakfasts do not have actual parking spaces, but rather sell or give you permits for onstreet parking in a specific zone. These need to be displayed in your car, with one permit per day. These permit cannot be bought otherwise.

If you do not have parking with your hotel and you don't think you need your car in Brighton, you can use the Park & Ride at Withdean Sports Complex, which is located on your way in from the A23 when you come down from London, and is free of charge. It has a good bus connection to the town centre.

If you're coming from the West, you can look for free parking near the Shoreham train station and take a train to go to Brighton, which is cheaper than central Brighton parking.

Onstreet parking in residential areas is available in most parking zones, but you need to hunt for spots. Some parts of most streets have parking for residents only, but there are also short and long term bays. Always read the signs and make sure you get the bays that have the very long time frame on them. These ammout to a full day including the bit where parking is free, and cost around 6 pounds.

If you want a pre-booked parking space and cost is not an issue, there are two NCP car parks that allow pre-booking. A whole day costs in excess of 30 Pounds. The other underground parking garages and multi storey car parks in the city centre are mostly run by the council. You cannot pre-book them, but there is a good traffic direction sytem that will guide you to one with free spaces. Again, expect around 30 Pounds for full 24 hours.

We do not recommend parking right by the sea front, as these bays are very, very expensive, and often have no return for several hours.

Information from Brighton and Hove City Council on electric vehicle charging can be found here.

There are a lot of hotels and Bed and Breakfasts in Brighton. The usual booking websites will work fine. There are also plenty of airbnbs available. If you don't want to book through one of the big platforms, have a look at Visit Brighton instead.

If you would rather stay in a tent, here is a list of camp sites near Brighton. You will need to use public transport with all of them.

In addition, there are also a couple of different hostels in Brighton. Here are a few options. You can find more at hostelworld.com

If you cannot find anything within your budget directly in Brighton, it may be worth looking at towns along the coast as well as up the railway line. This is especially useful if you don't intend to stay out long for socials in Brighton after the anomaly. Generally there is good public transport, especially on the weekend, which runs longer than average pub opening hours.

The most obvious choice might be an airport hotel in at Gatwick airport. It has good links with the train and the bus. If you stay for multiple nights, of course think about whether the train is actually cheaper than getting a room directly in Brighton.

Along that train there are various towns that also have hotels and bed and breakfasts. The local trains all stop in Hassocks, Burgets Hill, Haywards Heath and Three Bridges before they go to Gatwick airport. Along the train to the east you have Falmer and Lewes within an easily commutable distance, and along the train to the west there is Portslade, Shoreham-by-Sea, Lancing and Worthing within easy reach. All of these will also have buses that take slightly longer than the train.

Down the eastern coast towards Eastbourne there are several towns with lots of bed and breakfasts. You can look in Saltdean, Peacehaven, Newhaven and Seaford. There is a very regular bus between Eastbourne and Brighton city centre that is covered by the 5.50 GBP networkSaver ticket for a 24 hour period. See buses.com for a list of all available tickets. Brighton buses allow tapping in and out with your credit card, so for single journeys and capping you do not need to buy a ticket in advance.

Since the UK has left the European Union, as an EU citizen you cannot enter the country with your national ID card any more. You need to bring a passport. Please check with the UK Government for your entry requirements.

Anomaly FAQ

In Ingress, anomalies are the most exciting kind of competitive event.

XM Anomalies are large, competitive cross faction events run by Niantic. For a detailed explanation, please have a look at the Fev Games wiki.

Whilst Niantic made the decision to host the anomaly in Brighton for the Echo series, we're excited to host an event for Niantic in the vibrant and colourful seaside town of Brighton and can't wait to make it a successful and fun day for everyone!

We don't know this yet, however we're hoping we will have more of an idea of the rules for the Echo anomaly series by the beginning of April.

Niantic has changed how this works. It is now enough to just show up and interact with the designated event portals to get the anomaly badge, similar to the Second Sunday event.

This will depend on your team's assignment. You will be on a team with other agents. Playing in a group helps us to coordinate everything on the day. We'll be able to give you more specific information about start time closer to the anomaly date, once you sign up.

You can create your own team with your friends after you have signed up. Many players sign up in groups that always go to anomalies together. But it's OK if you don't know anybody yet. We can assign you to a team that matches your speed, language and experience.

We don't know the answer yet, but historically an anomaly does not officially start until afternoon. We will give you more specific timings once Niantic releases them. However, your team may decide to meet up earlier in the day so that everyone can get to know each other.

Yes, you can provide them items, set up farming events prior to the anomaly, and tell other people about the anomaly and where to sign up (here).

General FAQ

Here are more general questions and answers. If your question is not answered here, feel free to contact the organisers directly. If you are already registered you can also use our various Telegram channels to ask questions.

Yes! Niantic has confirmed that Brighton will get a Mission Day. We are still in the early stages of planning that, and more information will follow as it becomes available.

Sadly not. Niantic are only sending it to Primary Sites. In May, the Primary Site is Brisbane in Australia. You can refer to their original blog post for a list of Primary Sites.

Absolutely! You can buy all the swag you need from our swag shop for pickup in Brighton. If you cannot make it, you can still buy our swag and ask your friends to pick it up for you. There will of course also be some free swag available on the day.

You can absolutely still participate in the event! It is helpful to let us know when you sign up so we can help you find a team which meets your needs. If you have specific questions please reach out to Team Building once you have signed up or email at brighton.echo.resistance@gmail.com.

Of course! If they want to participate they can either sign up with our registration themselves, or if you are not comfortable with that, you can always tell our Team Building and your Team Lead about it. Please make sure to follow the Ingress Terms and Conditions.

If your children do not want to play, there is a lot of fun stuff to do for them in Brighton, such as the Beach and the Pier.