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It's approaching 11pm on a Friday. Dinner was excellent, the company better, and nobody is ready for the evening to end – but the restaurant is stacking chairs, and the city is calling time. You’ve resigned yourself to heading home. This August, the evening might have other ideas.
Blacklane, the global chauffeur service, has launched 'Shortcut to Summer': a limited-edition range of first-class vehicles operating across London between 9pm and 5am, offering select guests the freedom to stay in the moment for one stop more.
Guests booking Blacklane's by-the-hour service for 14th or 15th August may find themselves in a car carrying the Shortcut to Summer Collection – a curated in-car guide to London after hours, spanning in-the-know bars, late-night restaurants, arts and culture, and grounding escapes.
Browse the Collection, choose your stop, then press The Blacklane Button – the signal to your chauffeur that the evening isn't over yet. They'll take you straight there and wait patiently to complete the journey home, leaving you free to let the night unfold rather than think about what comes next.
Our by-the-hour service is built around freedom – our guests dictate the journey with no fixed end point
The Collection is as thoughtful as you’d expect from Blacklane. Topping the list is Archive & Myth, the award-winning cocktail spot and Blacklane's official partner for the weekend. Behind its passcode-protected door, a dedicated Blacklane table and a welcome drink await. Elsewhere, The Coburg at The Connaught keeps a strictly no-reservations policy and serves caviar past midnight; Chop Chop offers roast duck and dim sum until 4am; and Ronnie Scott's welcomes walk-ins to its Late Late Show for live jazz until 3am.
The quieter experiences are equally considered. Guests can book a last-minute guided sauna and ice bath at Canary Wharf’s Arc, watch the sunrise from Primrose Hill, or savour a dawn chorus to themselves in Richmond Park. Alternatively, head to New Covent Garden Flower Market, in full flow from 4am and rarely witnessed by those outside the trade. Or simply hand the decision to the chauffeur, who knows London at all hours better than most.
"Our by-the-hour service is built around freedom – our guests dictate the journey with no fixed end point. With Shortcut to Summer, we wanted to take that one step further. We're handing our guests a spontaneous adventure they didn't know was on offer, to make the most of a London summer whilst it lasts." says James Dow, Blacklane's general manager for the UK and Ireland.
In a summer when spontaneity can feel in short supply, a chauffeured shortcut to it – with every detail already taken care of – might be the most London luxury of all.
'Shortcut to Summer' runs on 14th and 15th August 2026 in a select range of Blacklane's first-class vehicles across London, with two hours of additional chauffeur time to take you to your chosen destination and then home – or onto the next adventure – with their compliments. Journeys must be booked by 23:59 on 12th August via Blacklane's by-the-hour service, on the app or at blacklane.com, using the code STSLONDON.
Blacklane is offering one Square Mile reader the chance to experience 'Shortcut to Summer' at its fullest: a chauffeur entirely yours from 9pm to 5am for an extended experience, plus a table at Archive & Myth and a tipple on the house. Enter now. Entries close at 23:59 on 10th August 2026. Terms and conditions apply.
