The Long Way Round
Private rails, slow boats and the art of arriving later than everyone — and better. A study in journeys that refuse to hurry.
A Note from Us
The Month AheadJuly is the month of the journey. Not the transfer — the journey. The kind that takes its time, that arrives later than everyone else and better, and that turns the getting there into the point of the trip.
This letter is an argument for the long way round: seven events, five London tables, one escape, and a single tip on how to travel when the destination is not the point.
The Endless Calendar
7 events worth knowing about- July 3
Wimbledon — semi-finals
All England Club, London
Centre Court debenture seats are the only way in on the day. We hold two.
- July 6
Tour de France — Alpe d'Huez stage
French Alps
We can place you on the climb, at the hairpins, with a driver out ahead.
- July 11
Royal Ascot King George VI weekend
Ascot, Berkshire
The summer meeting is quieter than the June one. The Royal Box is the access.
- July 14
Bastille Day fireworks
Eiffel Tower, Paris
The Trocadéro terrace is the view. We hold one for the evening.
- July 18
Verbier Festival opens
Verbier, Switzerland
The chamber concerts in the church are the ones to attend. The artists sit with you.
- July 22
Glyndebourne — final week
East Sussex, England
The picnic on the lawn at intermission is the tradition. We arrange the hamper.
- July 27
Opening ceremony rehearsal
Various host cities
A quiet week for the arts — the lull before the autumn season. A good week to travel.
The Endless Table
5 London restaurants to knowThe Wolseley
European · Mayfair
Breakfast at 7:30 is the time. The room is empty, the coffee is perfect, and the Viennese is still warm.
Noble Rot Soho
French · Soho
The wine list is the reason. The food is the match. Ask for the Jura flights.
Bao
Taiwanese · Soho
No reservations. We hold the first counter sitting. The classic bao and the fried chicken.
Quality Chop House
British · Clerkenwell
The cured meats are made in-house. The guanciale is the best in London.
Manteca
Italian · Shoreditch
The nose-to-tail Italian. The carpaccio of beef and the tortelli are the order.
The Escape
Destination of the monthThe Canal du Midi, in Languedoc, by barge. Six guests, a chef, a sommelier, and a top speed of four knots. You will see France at the pace it was built for. The wine is included; the patience is not, but it comes.
The barge moves through locks that have not changed in three hundred years, past vineyards that sell their wine at a gate by the towpath. You will eat lunch on deck, swim in the canal where it widens, and sleep in a cabin that opens onto the water. It is the slowest way to cross a country. It is the best.
The Experience
A recent client arrangementA member wanted to reach the Dolomites by train from London, without flying, and without spending more than one night on the way. We booked a private carriage on the Venice Simplon, detached it at Innsbruck, and re-attached it to a regional line through the Brenner pass. He woke in the mountains.
The journey took a day longer than the flight would have. He arrived having read, having slept, and having seen the Alps from a window that opened — which is, by his account, the only way to arrive in the Dolomites. The cost was the carriage hire. The memory was free.
Concierge Tip
One insider recommendationIf you are taking a sleeper train, book the compartment with the window that opens. The air-conditioned carriages are sealed; the old compartments are not. The smell of the country you are passing through — pine in the Alps, salt on the coast, rain on the fields — is the part of the journey you will remember. Ask us for the compartment number. We know which ones open.
The Final Note
Until next monthJuly is a month for taking the long way somewhere — and for arriving better for it. We wish you a prosperous month ahead, with a journey worth remembering and a destination worth the wait.
The next letter arrives at the turn of August. If there is anything you need — a villa, a table, a journey — One Call. Endless Possibilities.
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