How To Spend A Great New Year’s Eve In London – Watch the London Fireworks

To prepare for New Year’s Eve, sometimes you need to plan out in advance; spontaneity might be charming, but if you’re planning on spending New Year’s Eve in London, you must plan out in advance to have everything going smoothly without stressing.

If you plan to spend New Year in London to watch the fireworks, here is what you need to know to plan this out based on my experience with London NYE fireworks!

How To Spend New Year’s Eve In London – Watch the London Fireworks

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10 Tips For A Successful Fireworks Watch For New Year’s Eve In London:

Spending New Year’s Eve in London watching the fireworks can be a fantastic experience. Here are 10 simple tips to make the most of it:

1. Plan Ahead: London’s New Year’s Eve fireworks are incredibly popular, so plan your trip well.
2. Purchase Tickets Early: If tickets are required, buy them as soon as they become available. They tend to sell out quickly.
3. Arrive Early: Arrive at your chosen viewing spot early in the evening to secure a good vantage point. Crowds start to gather well before midnight.
4. Dress Warmly: London can be chilly (or rainy!) in December, so dress in warm layers. Don’t forget a hat, gloves, and a scarf, especially to wait for the fireworks; you might be there for a while.
5. Bring Snacks and Drinks: Consider bringing snacks and non-alcoholic drinks to keep you comfortable while you wait for the show to start. Alcohol may not be allowed in certain areas.
6. Use Public Transport: London’s public transport is your best bet for getting to and from the event. Traffic can be heavy, and many roads may be closed; even without the fireworks, it’s not a good idea to drive in London when you visit.
7. Stay Informed: Keep an eye on the weather forecast and any updates regarding the event. Ensure you have a charged smartphone with maps and apps to stay informed.
8. Safety First: Be aware of your surroundings, especially in large crowds. Keep your belongings secure and avoid overcrowded areas if you’re uncomfortable.
9. Enjoy the Atmosphere: New Year’s Eve in London is festive! Soak in the street performers, live music, and other entertainment that can be found throughout this beautiful city.
10. Capture the Moment: Don’t forget to bring a camera or smartphone to capture the stunning fireworks display and your New Year’s Eve experience in London, but it’s best to capture it with your eyes and be present in the moment!

Remember that plans and regulations can change quickly (as we have seen in previous years with the c*vid), so checking the latest updates from the official London New Year’s Eve event organizers as your trip approaches is essential to avoid nasty surprises.

Enjoy the festivities and have a memorable New Year’s Eve in London!

How To Buy London NYE Fireworks Tickets?

To buy London New Year’s Eve fireworks tickets, visit the official event website or the Mayor of London’s website. Look for a dedicated section with ticket information.

Tickets often sell out quickly, so be prepared to purchase them as soon as they become available. You need to create an account on the ticketing website, select the number of tickets you need, provide payment information, and receive a confirmation email or voucher and voila.

Make sure to be fast and have a stable internet connection when you do so!

On the night of the event, arrive early with your tickets and any required identification for entry (although they didn’t ask us for any I.D. when we went!)

Price of the London fireworks Tickets depending on the zone:

20£

You can check out the ticket sale here; they sell extremely fast, so be ready.
There are six ticketed viewing areas: Blue, Red, Pink, Green and White, plus an Accessible Viewing Area (Orange).

Lastly, if you didn’t get a chance to buy your ticket at the release date, you can always try this secondary ticket broker website. It is, however, more expensive.

I apologise, as I had initially linked the link below it as the primary place to buy tickets, as I didn’t read enough into it when updating this post, and this is the link (albeit updated for 2023 now) I had from my time buying extra tickets when I viewed the fireworks with my friend in 2017.

You can buy the tickets and check the map of the viewing areas here.

My Experience Of London’s New Year’s Eve Fireworks!

For some reason, I have never seen any fireworks in Paris for New Year’s Eve.  I tried a few years ago to celebrate it at the Champs Elysee, but it was pretty underwhelming, to be honest.
New Year in London always appealed to me; starting the new year in London with fireworks over the Thames was quite magical.

So, to start 2017 on a blast, some friends and I decided to take the leap and plan our trip to London to spend New Year’s Eve there and see the fireworks.

31st December 2016

We arrived in London very early in the morning @ Gatwick Airport. Most low-cost flights to London from Europe usually land either at Gatwick or Luton.
For our stay of 3 days and two nights, we spent 170€, including the plane, which I think was pretty cheap for this period of the year. 

Of course, travelling by bus from Paris and then staying at a hostel could have been cheaper.

Paris to London: Bus, Train or Plane? Read more 

At this point, all we had to do was check in at our hotel later on since everything else had been planned out since September.

Let me explain why; you can’t just walk in and sit wherever you want around the Thames to watch the fireworks, avoid issues, and regulate how many people come into the city of London to sell tickets a few months before the venue.
Although I am pretty sure many free viewing spots might exist, they’re probably as much, if not even more, crowded than the actual venue.

GET LONDON FIREWORKS TICKETS

The tickets are on sale early. The 2017 fireworks were at the beginning of October, and for the 2018 fireworks, tickets were on sale in early September.
You can sign up for the newsletter to know exactly when the tickets will sell out, as the date of the sale changes every year. But it’s roughly around September and October, most of the time.
They sell quickly, so don’t miss it! Also, you can only buy up to 4 tickets per person. So if you’re more than four people, have at least two people trying to buy the tickets.

Each has a different colour code. We picked the red area as the tickets sold out quickly, which was the only area left.

When we attended the London nye fireworks, the tickets were £10 each. As of 2023, the prices have increased tremendously!

You can buy the tickets here.

Although if you miss it out, like my friend and I when I was planning for it, you’re airheaded sometimes, and life gets in the way.
No worries, there’s the second sale with more tickets later, but the website is laggy. I guess it’s just as laggy on the first sale, though.

So, you’d better try buying your tickets on the first sale to be safe and guarantee you some peace of mind.

New Year’s Eve in London – Before the fireworks

Suppose you plan to eat at a restaurant, just like in most big cities, you should book a table beforehand. Most of the restaurants, even the tiniest ones, will be crowded.
You need to book a table if you want to eat dinner in a restaurant. Many Brits and tourists are in town this last day of the year, even more than usual. Hence, you’ll be disappointed if you hope to get a table without prior research and booking.

We opted for a simple dinner and games at the hotel before we headed out around 10 p.m. to go to the fireworks to get a spot.

Of course, many people were already there, so the best places were taken; none of us fancied waiting for more than two hours only to see a firework in the cold of England.

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Watching the London NYE Fireworks!

Do I need to tell you what you have to do during the fireworks?

ENJOY YOURSELF.  It’s that easy. Do it for you, not for Instagram pictures or god knows what.
I don’t have any nice shots of the fireworks for two reasons: I suck at taking night pictures and couldn’t be bothered to set my camera. I just wanted to enjoy the moment with my friends.
Our location wasn’t that great, with the bridge right in front of us.

New Year in London After The Fireworks

Now, if you want to go out to a pub or clubbing, most places on New Year’s Eve charge some entrance fees. Also, remember that not all tube stations are open around the fireworks area.

We weren’t too keen on spending that much money, so we hung around for a bit and eventually returned to our hotel.

Also, remember that not every line of the tube is open. So it might be wise to check this beforehand.

We did walk around the area after the fireworks – and got lost. So despite our knowing about this, it took us quite some time to find another station to return to our hotel.

We saw some Christmas decorations and cool people, so at least that wasn’t too bad. I wish I didn’t play it fancy by wearing heels because even if they’re comfy when you walk for around 3 hours, it hurts. As you can see in the photo above, I was ready to rest!

We had an extra day before returning home to Paris because we didn’t want to fly straight back home on the 1st as that would have been tiring, and going to London without wandering around would be sad! I recommend you do the same and don’t fly directly back home and take a day to enjoy the city and rest yourself!

Overall, it is an enjoyable event.
Although, as I wrote above, the place you pick might make your experience of the fireworks change, keep in mind that the most important thing is that you have fun and enjoy your night if you’re going to see the London NYE fireworks.

Also, follow me on Instagram to check out my travel adventures around Europe and more lifestyle content @cpt_lyne!

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New Year’s Eve In London: Watching the nye London fireworks

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✈ Best Travel Ressources To Plan Your Next Trip

✈ How To Find Flights?

– Skyscanner; it is a good comparator for finding the cheapest flights.
– Google Flight is also a good help when it comes to comparing flights.

✈ Where To Book Accommodations?

– Booking.com: plenty of options and ways to get discount the more you book.

✈ Best Sites To Book Activities

My go-to website when I need to book an activity is GetYourGuide when I can’t get a ticket directly on the website or if it’s easier to go through them.

– Klook if you need to book more than just activities and would like to get everything from the same website—(i.e. transport cards, car rental, hotel…).

✈ Other helpful travel resources

– Radical Storage: If you need a place to keep your luggage for an extended period when you travel, I recommend using them. It was a great help when we needed a place to keep our luggage safely while we left the city for a few days.
– TheTrainline: If you love to travel by train like me, then TheTrainline needs to be your go-to website for train travel in Europe. It is very reliant and easy to use.

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