Full details of this year’s saunter sans purpose, determined by the same principles of flannerie as ever, but with a new starting point. All photos by Soulstealer Photography.
The 2026 Grand Flaneur Walk takes place on Sunday 17th May. This will be the sixth incarnation of The Chap’s saunter sans purpose during the Summer (last year we staged our first Grand Flaneur Winter Walk), and, like all previous six iterations, the principal feature of the walk is that is has no purpose, timetable or destination. In an age of one’s devices buzzing with scheduled appointments and people shouting “Where are you?” or “Where am I?” into their phones, this is more difficult than it sounds. Truly to saunter sans purpose is an art, one at which the chaps and chapettes who regularly attend our Grand Flaneur Walks are past masters. Not for them the whining from the rear guard of “Are we there yet?”; not a word of impatience nor demands for destinations issue from their ranks, since all of them, to a man, woman or child, are perfectly happy to keep walking until someone announces that we have arrived.
What exactly is a flaneur? you may ask. Is it like a dandy or a quaintrelle (a female dandy); one who enjoys dressing up and having their photograph taken at every opportunity? Yes and no. A flaneur may or may not be well dressed, since their appearance is of no consequence to them – although The Chap’s ever expanding coterie of flaneurs is known for its spectacular sartorial appearance, with outfits that range from 18th century guards officers to Belle Epoque courtesans and everything in between. The flaneur’s principal aim is to wander the streets of any grand city in the world, exploring its nooks and crannies without the burden of destination or schedule.
The genuine flaneur’s raison d’etre is observed so obediently that previous Grand Flans have ended up in as unpredictable zones of London as Camden, Fleet Street, Belgravia and the Aldwych. The starting point has formerly been on Jermyn Street, but this year marks a change in this tradition.
The new point of departure for the 2026 Grand Flaneur Walk will be at midday in Covent Garden, specifically the outdoor areas pertaining to Courtyard Wine Cellars – a warren of converted cellars beneath Covent Garden Piazza, full of fine wines, ancient flagstones and history, in other words the ideal location for a gathering of sharply dressed flaneurs and flaneuses. This change of starting point is due to the laudable reason that the doyens of said drinking establishments will be offering complimentary beverages to those in attendance.
In all other respects, the 2026 Grand Flaneur Walk will be the same as all previous Grand Flans, inasmuch as this is possible given the infinite variables of direction that the walk can take. Last year’s Grand Flaneur Winter Walk, for example, paused for a glass of Piper Heidsieck at a pop-up bar on the Piazza before proceeding, as was spontaneously decided, towards Clerkenwell. The joy of this event is that, only a few hours previously, not a single flaneur or flaneuse had any idea they would end up in Clerkenwell.
So if you’re tempted to become part of this much-photographed throng of flaneurs and flaneuses, feel free to join us at midday in Courtyard Wine Cellars, where a complimentary dram will set us on our merry way towards Baudelaire only knows where. All are welcome to join us; there is no ticket, fee or registration required. All we ask is that you don the finest outfit in your possession, and that not once during the entire walk do you ask us what our destination shall be.
