Escorts in Piccadilly, W1J: who is close, and how soon
Half past seven on Piccadilly, and the street is doing what it does before the shops open: buses heading west towards Hyde Park Corner, a low sun coming down the road from the Circus end, the plane trees along the Green Park side still dripping from the night's rain, and the shutters down along the arcades. A night on Piccadilly ends in this ordinary light, and the morning deserves the same care the evening had. Mayfair, north of the street, is home to three companions on the board and Soho, beyond the Circus, to three more; for Piccadilly escorts the night is the ten hour booking on the rates, from a late supper into the morning, and she is generally with you roughly an hour after the office's yes, later in the rush, while the chat gives her exact time.
On the ground
Piccadilly in practice
Landmarks on the arrival slip
By postcode, never by nameW1J 9BR, W1J 7BJ, W1J 8LT, W1J 7BH, W1J 7QY.
Nearest stations
Walking timePiccadilly Circus, 2 minutes. Green Park, 4 minutes. Hyde Park Corner, 8 minutes.
Getting there
W1JTravel is included across Zones 1 and 2, and counted from the moment the hour is set rather than from when she leaves.
On the board
Nearest prints to Piccadilly
Who works here
On the board in Piccadilly
The eight prints above are a first shortlist for Piccadilly tonight. Any of the twenty eight on the who is free page can be asked for by name instead.
Note 02
Breakfast, street by street
The morning's first decision is which side of the road to eat on. To the south, Jermyn Street runs parallel to Piccadilly through St James's, a street of shirtmakers, a cheesemonger and old shopfronts with their names in gold, and it keeps several places that open early for breakfast. It is the more formal choice, and at that hour the quieter one, since most of its shops are still closed and the pavements belong to people on their way to work.
To the north, White Horse Street leaves Piccadilly and leads into Shepherd Market, the little grid of lanes in the corner of Mayfair where cafés and small restaurants share a few narrow streets and the pace is closer to a village than to the West End. And Piccadilly itself has more than one grand dining room along its length where a cooked breakfast is taken seriously, for a morning that wants tablecloths and a newspaper.
Note 03
A walk while the city wakes
Across the road, Green Park is the obvious walk, and early in the day it is at its quietest: the paths run under the planes towards the palace end, the grass is wet, and the traffic noise falls away within a few trees. There are no flower beds, only grass and trees, which suits a slow morning with nothing to look at but the light. A loop across the park and back to Piccadilly by another gate is enough to clear a head before the day begins.
The other walk goes south, through the churchyard of St James's Church, Wren's parish church for the new West End of the 1680s, which stands between Piccadilly and Jermyn Street with a way in from each and a small garden of remembrance beside it. From Jermyn Street, Duke of York Street leads down into St James's Square, where the garden in the middle and the London Library on its edge make a still point before the offices fill. St James's at that hour is as quiet as central London gets.
Note 04
Leaving without fuss
A quiet departure on Piccadilly is mostly a matter of choosing the right door onto the street. The main road is broad, busy from early and never short of taxis, which makes it an easy place to leave from: on a Piccadilly pavement at eight in the morning everyone is on their way somewhere and nobody is looking at anyone else. The side streets to the north, Albemarle Street, Dover Street and Berkeley Street, are quieter still and lead into Mayfair within a block. She leaves as she arrived, as your guest, and the rest of the morning is yours.
For the guest's own departure, the stations do the work: Piccadilly Circus is two minutes' walk from the street, Green Park four and Hyde Park Corner eight, and the Piccadilly line from any of them runs direct to Heathrow, while Victoria, for trains south and to Gatwick, is one stop from Green Park on the Victoria line.
Note 05
North into Mayfair, south into St James's
Piccadilly is a boundary as much as a street, with Mayfair above it and St James's below. A guest with a morning meeting in Mayfair walks up Berkeley Street to Berkeley Square, or up Albemarle Street towards Bond Street; one with business in St James's goes down St James's Street towards the palace, past a wine merchant and a hatter that have traded there for centuries, or through the covered arcades that link Piccadilly with Jermyn Street.
The Green Park side offers the gentlest start of all: westward along the park's edge towards Hyde Park Corner, trees on one side the whole way and the city waking on the other. It is the right direction for anyone whose day begins in Knightsbridge or Belgravia, and the right pace for a morning that began late.
For a guest with a free morning rather than a meeting, the stretch of Piccadilly between the Circus and the park rewards a slow walk once the doors open. Hatchards, London's oldest bookshop, has sold books on the street since 1797, and Fortnum & Mason, a few doors along, has traded here since 1707. Neither needs a plan, and both are a gentle way to let a late morning run on into the day.
From The Roundup
Two notes worth reading for Piccadilly
Asked most often
Piccadilly, asked and answered
Which streets near Piccadilly suit a late breakfast?
Is there a quiet garden to sit in before the day starts?
Is there a direct train to Heathrow for a morning flight?
Which way out is quietest on a weekday morning?
One zone either way
Next along from Piccadilly
Last strip
Say a name and an hour
Write in with a length, a time and the zone you are staying in, and a name from the board comes back with a window attached. That is the whole of the arrangement.