We walkthe cityafter it stops

Night walking routes between the last train and the first. Six people, one guide, no coach and no headsets.

Routes run every night the trains do.00:47 → 04:55

Rain-slick street at night, figures walking between lit shopfronts, signage stacked into the distance

Why after midnight

The city you queuefor at noon is notthe city at two

Between the last train and the first, the streets belong to deliveries, shift workers and the people cleaning up after the evening. The signage stays on. The crowds do not.

We walk that gap on foot, at conversation pace, and we end at a station in time for the first train home. Nothing about it is a tour: there is no commentary, no flag and no fixed stop for photographs.

Narrow alley hung with paper lanterns, a single figure walking away from the camera — Photograph — Simon L

Method

Four ruleswe do not bend

01
Walked, never driven
Every route is covered on foot end to end. Between five and twelve kilometres, at a pace that lets you stop.
02
Six people, once
One guide and five walkers. A group that fits on a pavement and can hear each other without anyone raising their voice.
03
Light before landmarks
Routes are drawn around what is lit at that hour, not around what is famous. Most of it you would walk past in daylight.
04
Ends at a station
Every route finishes at a station gate a few minutes before 04:55. You go home on the first train, not in a taxi.

Wide junction seen from above at night, screens and signage lighting the wet crossing — A junction that stays lit long after the last serviceLing Tang

Six routes

Distance, walking time and the hour we set off. Nothing else is fixed.

01Wet concreteThe long one. Starts where the last train empties out and follows lit frontage until the frontage runs out.8.2 km4 h 10Sets off 00:55
02ReflectionsA route that only exists in rain. It is cancelled on dry nights, and we say so when you book.6.4 km3 h 20Sets off 01:10
03Back alleysThe shortest and slowest. Single file for most of it, so the group stays small even by our standards.5.1 km3 h 00Sets off 01:30
04CrossingsBuilt around the eleven crossings that stay lit all night. You wait at every one, whether or not anything is coming.9.8 km4 h 40Sets off 00:50
05Shutter streetEverything is closed. That is the point — the shutters are painted, and after two you can finally see them.7.0 km3 h 35Sets off 02:00
06Last lightBegins before the last train and ends after the first. The only route that sees both ends of the window.11.3 km5 h 05Sets off 23:40

Empty street corner under a red-lit shop sign, the crossing bare of traffic — The hour when a crossing is just a crossingFrancois Hoang

The window

Four hoursand eightminutes

Everything we do happens inside one gap in the timetable. It opens when the last train leaves and closes when the first one arrives, and it is the same length every night of the year.

Last departure: 00:47
Length of the gap: 4:08
First departure: 04:55

Conditions

What youwalk on

Surface, light and pace for each route. Drag a card aside to see the next one.

01 / 06

Wet concrete

Sets off 00:55

Surface: Pavement, one underpass
Light: Shopfront and sign
Distance: 8.2 km
On foot: 4 h 10

Wet road surface at night reflecting magenta and cyan signage in long vertical streaks — Ground light — the only route that needs rainValentin BEAUVAIS

Walk with us

Readyto walk?

Tell us which route and which night. We answer the same day, and we say no when the weather is wrong for it.

Start a bookingRoutes fill from six people down to none, in that order.

We walkthe cityafter it stops

The city you queuefor at noon is notthe city at two

Four ruleswe do not bend

Walked, never driven

Six people, once

Light before landmarks

Ends at a station

Six routes

Four hoursand eightminutes

What youwalk on

Wet concrete

Readyto walk?