We are family

Saltdean Lido is nestled within the white chalk cliffs, a very short stroll to the sea. Carefully restored and Grade II* listed, it has stood since 1938 and is as beautiful today as the day it was built. At the heart of the Lido lies the Reading Room, and at the heart of the Reading Room lies the kitchen, on from first thing, bread proving by the window, pastries warming the air.

We cook with what's fresh and close to home, the menu shaped each week by the season and the catch. Everyone is welcome, however you arrive: casual or Sunday best, dogs at your heel, children in tow, alone with a book or six round a table. We are family, and we love family.

By the pool, on the terrace

The Reading Room spreads across two floors and two terraces, each with its own mood. Step outside and the air shifts: swimmers, splashes, the white cliffs above, the summer carrying up from the pool. Fresh from a swim, dining for bathers is served at the poolside kitchen. There is no better seat on the south coast.

Under one roof

The Reading Room is part of something larger. Beyond our doors there's a heated pool open year-round, a sauna, a gym, a public library, and coastal gardens wrapped around it all. Come for breakfast and stay for a swim. Arrive for a Sunday roast and stay all afternoon. Book the upstairs ballroom or event space for a wedding or party and let the pool, the terraces and the sea become part of the day. Everyone is welcome, and everyone stays.

The tunnel to the sea

Adventure begins at our door. The tunnel beneath the coast road was cut in 1933, five years older than the Lido that now stands above it. Restored and reopened in 2020, it carries a sea-life mural by Brighton artists Sarah Gillings and REQ, and brings you out onto the Undercliff Walk, rock pools and pebble beach at the foot of some of the oldest chalk cliffs in England. Bring your boots, your dog, your kids, your appetite. It's a day out worth the journey.