December 31st marks New Year’s Eve and the beginning of 2025! While you reflect on all your achievements and regrets about the previous year, it’s time to think about how to make your New Year’s Eve in London a night to remember.
Different cultures have different traditions to celebrate New Year’s Eve. In Mexico, people must eat 12 grapes at the turn of midnight. In Scotland, ‘first-footing’ sees party-goers putting a lump of coal outside the front door. The last person to enter after midnight must bring the lump of coal to bring good luck for the year ahead. In England, most traditions centre around drinking some form of alcohol.
Sometimes, it can feel like everyone in London drinks alcohol. It’s so normal in the culture here that we often don’t even use the word ‘alcohol’ after ‘drink’. From groups singing on the train home from a football match to brides-to-be and their hen-parties, it can feel like there are very few sober people. It’s important to have a good time and to celebrate in the way that YOU want to! So, here are three ways to bring in the New Year in London, without drinking.
Fireworks
Every year, London hosts a huge firework night in the centre of London, set over the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, and the London Eye. Called ‘the Mayor of London’s Fireworks Display’, tickets to the event are now sold out.
But you’re in luck! London has lots of hills. You can stand on one of them and look at the same fireworks that others paid £20-£50 to see – for free! Primrose Hill is one of them, and you can reach it from Oxford Street by taking the Northern Line to Chalk Farm before walking for about 15 minutes to reach the hill. It’s totally free to enter the park, but you should beware that Royal Parks, the charity managing parks owned by ‘the Crown’ (the Royal Family), has advised that Primrose Hill is not an ‘official’ viewing point for the fireworks.
Despite this, though, it will remain open to the public. It’s a great hill to look out across London, and although “big groups” won’t be allowed, there’s nothing to stop you and a couple of friends from watching the fireworks from there.
Tower Bridge is also open, but offers no view of the fireworks – so don’t bother going. Better options are Lambeth Bridge and Vauxhall Bridge, which are a little bit further away from the centre of London, but offer more room to breathe and better views!
Ice Skating
Most ice rinks will be open well beyond Christmas Day, into January and sometimes even February. There are ice rinks held in many iconic London venues. The ice skating at Battersea Power Station is one of the most photogenic, set over three rinks and surrounding a 30ft Christmas tree.
Unlike the two other activities mentioned in this article, this is not free; but it’s relatively cheap! With tickets starting at £10, you’ll still have some spare cash for trying some of the delicious British (and non-British) cuisine on offer to you at the nearby stalls.
After you’ve finished ice-skating, you could finish your afternoon with a traditional roast dinner. Though most British food is mostly bland, boring or even downright disgusting, this meal can be genuinely tasty. It includes vegetables, gravy, and something called a Yorkshire pudding.
If you don’t want to be out late at night, but still want to mark the occasion, this is a great alternative!
Stay at Home
Many Londoners don’t go out on New Year’s. It sounds depressing, I know. But on New Year’s Eve, most places will have queues down the street. After queueing in the blistering cold – possibly for hours – you’ll likely have to pay way over £20 just for entry. Fun fact, two years ago I took an Uber 100 meters down the street. It cost me £17. If you don’t want to be surrounded by drunk British people, swap the night out for a night in.
Consider inviting a few people over. Maybe you could play something – like Monopoly, UNO or Jenga. Why not cook your favourite meal? Perhaps write down your New Year’s Resolutions? What are some things you want to achieve in the coming year? Staying in might be the perfect way to bring in the New Year. You won’t wake up tired, regretful and depressed. You’ll likely wake up peaceful and clear-minded for the year to come.
In my opinion, the most important thing about having a cosy night-in during a British winter is lighting. Get yourself a lamp. Maybe some fairy-lights. It might make you feel something in these cold and lonely months!
Enjoying Your New Year
London can be a lonely city. Walking home down any street on a Saturday has been known to make people feel as if they’ve never had friendship in their entire lives. It can feel like everyone is doing something all the time. Despite this, a report published by the Mayor of London’s office, one in 12 Londoners – or 700,000 people – were severely lonely between 2018 and 2019.
Don’t let these statistics get you down. If you want to make friends, there are plenty of ways to do it. But you can also find comfort and joy in living your life the way that you want to. This New Year, I encourage you to celebrate in whichever way that you want to.
Appendix
hen-do: a tradition in which a future bride and her friends go out to celebrate before the day of her wedding. As per usual, it often involves drinking.
drinking: British people might, for example, say ‘I was drinking until 3am last night’. They don’t mean water.
photogenic: looks good in a photograph
Author: Kit, a teacher at Speak Up London