New Year’s Eve in London

New Year’s Eve in London is always amazing. The city goes all out to welcome the New Year in and this year there will be an extra emphasis on the celebrations as we’re also going to be welcoming in the start of a new decade.

It would be impossible to list all the parties and celebrations that will be taking place, as there are just so many different types of things to do, but here a few ideas to keep you occupied at the end of this decade.

First of all, let’s take a look at what the city is laying on for free, in the form of an enormous fireworks display that will take place at the London Eye. If you are offered a ticket for the fireworks, do not hand over any money as it will be a scam. The best advice to anyone wanting to get a good view of the fireworks, is to arrive as early as possible. Once viewing areas are full, they will close and sometimes popular places can be full by 9pm. Here is a map of the viewing areas. Transport on the way home will be incredibly crowded and some bus routes leaving central London will be reduced due to road closures. However, the good news is that all London transport will be free between 11.45pm on 31st December and 4.30am on 1st January.

If you’d rather be celebrating the turn of the decade in a bar, then London is most definitely the place to be. It’s normal on New Year’s Eve to pay an entrance fee to a pub or bar and you might often get a free glass of bubbly or similar as part of this fee. However, there are some bars that decide not to charge entry. The White Hart in Crystal Palace is one such place. They’re throwing a free Retro evening with 80s music. Whilst fancy dress is not essential, it’s certainly encouraged.

The Bedford Arms in Balham is charging an entry fee. However, you have two excellent options to consider before parting with your money. You can either pay £45 for an evening of top comedy courtesy of Banana Cabaret. The lineup includes Paul Tonkinson, Adam Bloom, Mickey Flannagan and John Moloney. The laughs are from 7pm till 11pm and then as well as a free buffet, there will be a DJ spinning tunes until 3am with two dancefloors. Alternatively if stand-up comedy isn’t quite your thing, then you can pay a reduced ticket price of £15. Arriving any time from 6pm, you will be offered a glass of champagne on arrival and then DJs until 3am.

Late Night London is hosting various New Year’s Eve parties across their London bars. However, the Disco Fever party at Motion bar at Embankment is going to be hard to beat. As you can imagine, the tunes will be 70s and 80s. Your entry ticket will cost £15 but all drinks have 50% off from 7-9pm, so get there early to make the most of the offers.

Heading north now to the ever popular area of Camden and you should definitely consider checking Proud club in Stables Market. This year they’re throwing a Rocky Horror ball. Tickets are priced at £30 or £50 if you want to be included in a VIP champagne and canape reception. Everyone is encouraged to dress up in true R.H style and there will be prizes for the best dressed. Aerialists and spooky stilt walkers are expected to perform.

For a more continental approach to NYE – and by this, we mean a hot and cold Bavarian buffet, some pitchers of beer and international tunes being pumped out all night, give the Bavarian Beerhouse a try. It’s great fun and for £29.50 you’ll get a welcome drink on arrival, the buffet as mentioned, a disco from 10pm-3am and a cocktail at midnight. Drinking beer isn’t obligatory – there’s also an extensive wine list and various shots of schnaps, vodka and jagermeister that can be served as part of a drinking game – what could be more fun?

Well perhaps an evening spent bowling at All Star Lanes, that you may remember us raving about on last week’s post on Bowling in London. Now, pricey it certainly is. But at £85 per head, you get free entry, a game of bowling, a 3 course dinner, a glass of champagne on arrival and all the house wine and beer that you can drink from 7pm until 3am whilst DJs play rock ‘n’ roll, disco, reggae and hip hop in the background.

Obviously these are only a few examples of what you could do on New Year’s Eve 2009/2010, but hopefully you’ll agree that there are some fun and entertaining ideas here. Happy New Year!