The Clubland Curiosities Walk
London, United Kingdom
This walk through Saint James’s explores how London displayed wealth, power, and taste through clubs, royal warrants, and elegant shopping spaces. From Brooks’s to Boodle’s, it reveals the private world of elite club culture and the social and political influence behind it. Stops at Berry Bros. & Rudd and Fortnum & Mason show trade meeting royal approval, while Princes Arcade and Burlington Arcade bring the polished world of covered shopping arcades to life.
The stops
- 01 Brooks's
Brooks's is a private club at 60 Saint James's Street founded in 1764 and housed since 1778 in a building designed by Henry Holland.
- 02 The Stafford
The Stafford is a luxury hotel in Saint James's Place occupying seventeenth-century buildings whose wine cellars may be the oldest in London.
- 03 Berry Bros. & Rudd
Berry Bros. & Rudd is a wine and spirits merchant at 3 Saint James's Street trading on this site since 1698 and holding two Royal Warrants.
- 04 Royal Automobile Club
The Royal Automobile Club is a private club at 89 Pall Mall founded in 1897 and housed since 1911 in a French Beaux-Arts building by Charles Mewes and Arthur Davis.
- 05 St James's Square
Saint James's Square is a formal square in Saint James's laid out in the seventeenth century and long associated with aristocratic town houses and political power.
- 06 Princes Arcade
Princes Arcade is a covered shopping arcade linking Piccadilly and Jermyn Street, built in 1883 and substantially rebuilt in 1932.
- 07 Burlington Arcade
Burlington Arcade is a covered shopping arcade opened in 1819, running from Piccadilly to Burlington Gardens and famous for its beadles.
- 08 Royal Academy of Arts
The Royal Academy of Arts occupies Burlington House on Piccadilly, a seventeenth-century house enlarged in the early eighteenth century and used by the Academy since 1868.
- 09 Fortnum & Mason
Fortnum & Mason is a department store at 181 Piccadilly founded in 1707 and famous for its food hampers, royal links, and clock with moving figures.
- 10 Boodle's
Boodle's is a private club at 28 Saint James's Street founded in 1762 and housed in a 1775 building by John Crunden.
The narration at every stop is in the app — this is the map of where it takes you, with a line on each stop.
More walks in London
The Seven Dials: Sinners, Actors & Scribblers
London, United Kingdom
Millbank: From Penitentiary to Palace of Art
London, United Kingdom
The Smithfield Martyrs & Monks Walk
London, United Kingdom
The Old City: Fire, Fagin & the Gallows
London, United Kingdom
Walk The Clubland Curiosities Walk with a voice in your ear.
Download Odyssey Guide on iPhone to start this walk.
Download on the App StoreiPhone · iOS 16 and later