Was in London for the Millennium. For the brief time of the fireworks, squashed against a bajillion other people on Waterloo Bridge, it simply wasn't worth it. All routes to get home were not available. Buses and Trains weren't running. Tonnes of people at Victoria station. Couldn't find a taxi. We ended up walking home which took a couple of hours.
Chill with the family or with friends in the warm indoors and watch the fun on the telly.
I loved watching them from Hampstead Heath a few years ago - much quieter than I thought it would be - and I loved my warm bed straight after at the Premier Inn too!
Much better to stay warm and safe at home and watch the new year celebrations on tv. I will be having a very quiet, very low key meal with the family and will settle down with a book and glass of something sparkling and possibly a hot candlelit bath and then be tucked up in bed asleep well before midnight.
Reading this has put me off London, I didn't realise you had to have tickets to see the fireworks. I just assumed anyone could just wander up to the Thames and watch
You could until last year.
Tickets are for the designated viewing areas. You may be able to get a decent view from some other places.
It's ticketed this year for the first time. But the tickets are sold with timed arrivals as they can't have everyone turn up at 11.55. So that will mean hours spent waiting in the cold for 10 - 15 minutes of fireworks.
This is why we sold ours, we had to be in by 9.30! So I sold them on eBay, not for some inflated price, I put them on at 99p and they sold for the market rate.
Personally, I'd go into London and find somewhere you can see the fireworks from, perhaps somewhere in Temple or one of the bridges would give you a good view, you can see the Eye for a long way so I'm sure you'll see something.
as an alternate point of view, I've been down to Embankment to watch the fireworks for the last 4 or 5 years, and really love it!
I'll come onto this year's ticketing in a sec, but previously what happened is you could turn up at 8pm, bring your own food and drink, pick your spot and enjoy the show. The last couple of years it has been getting busier earlier, I've gone down at 6pm to get a good spot for photography. Around 9:30 - 10pm they stopped letting anyone onto the main viewing areas.
With the right attitude, the wait is OK, (much better from about 9pm when they start playing music). But there isn't anything to do, other than chat to the people you're with and the people nearby. There tend to be cheers every hour as Big Ben chimes, though the last hour last yr was pretty rough and a lot of the crowd had lost their energy for the final stretch. Its very much a tourist crowd - lots of people from overseas or from other parts of the UK, few from London; I think this may change this year with the tickets and forward-planning required.
The show is great though, certainly one of the best fireworks displays of the year, and I get to maybe 20+ annually. Given the choice of being at home, or being in a crowded bar where there's simply a countdown and a cheer at midnight, or seeing a massive fireworks display with thousands of other people, I'd go for the fireworks everytime!
Anyway....this year its ticketed. Which I hate, but reluctantly have paid for. I'm disappointed with the number of tickets, they've halved the capacity of last year. The timing on our tickets is 7pm-9:30pm so there is still a long wait (and I suspect a bit of a rush at 7pm to get to the front... no real need unless you're taking proper photos, the view is good all over)
It looks like a lot of surrounding roads such as Whitehall and Parliament square will be closed off as well, so there's going to be a lot more revellers looking for bars nearby.
But I'm v excited to go tonight, will feed back what its like tomorrow, and how the ticketing goes.
so last night was quite different to previous years, it used to be you'd wander along Embankment during the day and a few hardcore people would be grabbing their spot for the evening. Last night, the earliest you could enter the area was 7pm, so it wasn't till around 9pm that the place properly felt busy.
It was definitely more relaxed than previous years, occasionally it can feel a bit tense in the crowds, people were also able to sit down this time - before there'd be a stack of tannoy annoucements that everyone needed to stand as there wasn't enough room.
Crowd were in good spirits, didn't see any trouble, though the queues to get into the area were very long at times and I question the need for airport scanners and bag searches. There seemed to be fewer families - spending £40-60 just to get in to the area put people off I suspect.
The organisers can rightly consider it a success, the reduced numbers worked (I think we can get a few more in) and it made for a shorter wait in the cold.
HOWEVER, all this could have been accomplished without charging members of the public £10/head. The fireworks are primarily for the TV and international audience, (and are designed as such) and the budget already comes out of London taxpayers budget.
Restrict the numbers sure (they have done this every year anyway, stopping people once
an area is 'full') - and if its easier than turning people away, have a free ballot for tix. But no need to charge people.
so last night was quite different to previous years, it used to be you'd wander along Embankment during the day and a few hardcore people would be grabbing their spot for the evening. Last night, the earliest you could enter the area was 7pm, so it wasn't till around 9pm that the place properly felt busy.
It was definitely more relaxed than previous years, occasionally it can feel a bit tense in the crowds, people were also able to sit down this time - before there'd be a stack of tannoy annoucements that everyone needed to stand as there wasn't enough room.
Crowd were in good spirits, didn't see any trouble, though the queues to get into the area were very long at times and I question the need for airport scanners and bag searches. There seemed to be fewer families - spending £40-60 just to get in to the area put people off I suspect.
The organisers can rightly consider it a success, the reduced numbers worked (I think we can get a few more in) and it made for a shorter wait in the cold.
HOWEVER, all this could have been accomplished without charging members of the public £10/head. The fireworks are primarily for the TV and international audience, (and are designed as such) and the budget already comes out of London taxpayers budget.
Restrict the numbers sure (they have done this every year anyway, stopping people once
an area is 'full') - and if its easier than turning people away, have a free ballot for tix. But no need to charge people.
Fireworks were awesome btw
I was there on NYE also and pretty mcuh agree with everything you have said.
Was my first time at the London NYE fireworks and had heard many horror stories. One of our group was a Londoner and had been twice before & vowed never to go again. However, this NYE he was shocked and couldn't believe how close we could get. The reduced numbers obviously worked. We were never pushed, shoved or squashed. We had a good spot opposite the London Eye and even had room to dance about! I seen no trouble at all.
While the tickets had times on them this wasn't strictly enforced. Ours said last entry 9.30pm but we got in at 10.30pm.. This was probably one of the best years to go as the ticketing system was new and a lot of it was likely trialling what will work in the coming years. We all said we would not be surprised at all if the capacity is increased next year.
The £10 was well worth it in my opinion. Particularly as it kept the crowds manageable. I can see others points of view that the event should be free though. Perhaps free tickets on a first come first served basis would be best. Or some sort of random ballott system.
I was there on NYE also and pretty mcuh agree with everything you have said.
Was my first time at the London NYE fireworks and had heard many horror stories. One of our group was a Londoner and had been twice before & vowed never to go again. However, this NYE he was shocked and couldn't believe how close we could get. The reduced numbers obviously worked. We were never pushed, shoved or squashed. We had a good spot opposite the London Eye and even had room to dance about! I seen no trouble at all.
While the tickets had times on them this wasn't strictly enforced. Ours said last entry 9.30pm but we got in at 10.30pm.. This was probably one of the best years to go as the ticketing system was new and a lot of it was likely trialling what will work in the coming years. We all said we would not be surprised at all if the capacity is increased next year.
The £10 was well worth it in my opinion. Particularly as it kept the crowds manageable. I can see others points of view that the event should be free though. Perhaps free tickets on a first come first served basis would be best. Or some sort of random ballott system.
Are there any hotels or boutique apartments a person could stay in that offer decent view of this? Balconies and/or roof terraces with a vantage point would be brilliant!
I assume it would be expensive but I'd like to visit and see these fireworks one day and that's the way I'd like to do it if possible. Party in the hotel room/apartment and pop outside at midnight to watch. I think it would be great.
Wouldn't mind if it wasn't right up close, as long as it offered decent view, something like where this video starts would be nice - http://youtu.be/SXk-7tA21Kw?t=3m1s That looks to be from a rooftop somehwere in the area.
Edit: Looks like the Savoy is a go-er! Now to save for 10 years.
I know, true. I think ticket touting is just an inevitable aspect of modern life.
The alternative is to get people to send in their photo to get printed on the ticket which is then checked at the gate (like Glastonbury). Or to make sure that ID checking is enforced for each ticket. I doubt it is worth the effort for the London NYE fireworks though, which when all is said and done is a 10-15 mins event.
Are there any hotels or boutique apartments a person could stay in that offer decent view of this? Balconies and/or roof terraces with a vantage point would be brilliant!
I assume it would be expensive but I'd like to visit and see these fireworks one day and that's the way I'd like to do it if possible. Party in the hotel room/apartment and pop outside at midnight to watch. I think it would be great.
There are several hotels wthin the ticket zone; the guests of which managed to get first dibs on the spots, getting in before the general public were allowed in.
There's a Guoman hotel, and the Corinthian directly opposite the Eye, and the Savoy is just a bit further down the river.
A much cheaper option is going to Somerset House, which offered river views for £45.
Comments
Chill with the family or with friends in the warm indoors and watch the fun on the telly.
You could until last year.
Tickets are for the designated viewing areas. You may be able to get a decent view from some other places.
I don't think that's accurate personally.
You won't get into a viewing area anyway this year, as it's a ticketed event now and obviously all the tickets have been sold.
(I see most of this has been answered multiple times.)
This is why we sold ours, we had to be in by 9.30! So I sold them on eBay, not for some inflated price, I put them on at 99p and they sold for the market rate.
Personally, I'd go into London and find somewhere you can see the fireworks from, perhaps somewhere in Temple or one of the bridges would give you a good view, you can see the Eye for a long way so I'm sure you'll see something.
I'll come onto this year's ticketing in a sec, but previously what happened is you could turn up at 8pm, bring your own food and drink, pick your spot and enjoy the show. The last couple of years it has been getting busier earlier, I've gone down at 6pm to get a good spot for photography. Around 9:30 - 10pm they stopped letting anyone onto the main viewing areas.
With the right attitude, the wait is OK, (much better from about 9pm when they start playing music). But there isn't anything to do, other than chat to the people you're with and the people nearby. There tend to be cheers every hour as Big Ben chimes, though the last hour last yr was pretty rough and a lot of the crowd had lost their energy for the final stretch. Its very much a tourist crowd - lots of people from overseas or from other parts of the UK, few from London; I think this may change this year with the tickets and forward-planning required.
The show is great though, certainly one of the best fireworks displays of the year, and I get to maybe 20+ annually. Given the choice of being at home, or being in a crowded bar where there's simply a countdown and a cheer at midnight, or seeing a massive fireworks display with thousands of other people, I'd go for the fireworks everytime!
Anyway....this year its ticketed. Which I hate, but reluctantly have paid for. I'm disappointed with the number of tickets, they've halved the capacity of last year. The timing on our tickets is 7pm-9:30pm so there is still a long wait (and I suspect a bit of a rush at 7pm to get to the front... no real need unless you're taking proper photos, the view is good all over)
It looks like a lot of surrounding roads such as Whitehall and Parliament square will be closed off as well, so there's going to be a lot more revellers looking for bars nearby.
But I'm v excited to go tonight, will feed back what its like tomorrow, and how the ticketing goes.
I think that the only very slight letdown was the soundtrack to the fireworks. Other than that, I loved it.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-30646918
It was definitely more relaxed than previous years, occasionally it can feel a bit tense in the crowds, people were also able to sit down this time - before there'd be a stack of tannoy annoucements that everyone needed to stand as there wasn't enough room.
Crowd were in good spirits, didn't see any trouble, though the queues to get into the area were very long at times and I question the need for airport scanners and bag searches. There seemed to be fewer families - spending £40-60 just to get in to the area put people off I suspect.
The organisers can rightly consider it a success, the reduced numbers worked (I think we can get a few more in) and it made for a shorter wait in the cold.
HOWEVER, all this could have been accomplished without charging members of the public £10/head. The fireworks are primarily for the TV and international audience, (and are designed as such) and the budget already comes out of London taxpayers budget.
Restrict the numbers sure (they have done this every year anyway, stopping people once
an area is 'full') - and if its easier than turning people away, have a free ballot for tix. But no need to charge people.
Fireworks were awesome btw
I was there on NYE also and pretty mcuh agree with everything you have said.
Was my first time at the London NYE fireworks and had heard many horror stories. One of our group was a Londoner and had been twice before & vowed never to go again. However, this NYE he was shocked and couldn't believe how close we could get. The reduced numbers obviously worked. We were never pushed, shoved or squashed. We had a good spot opposite the London Eye and even had room to dance about! I seen no trouble at all.
While the tickets had times on them this wasn't strictly enforced. Ours said last entry 9.30pm but we got in at 10.30pm.. This was probably one of the best years to go as the ticketing system was new and a lot of it was likely trialling what will work in the coming years. We all said we would not be surprised at all if the capacity is increased next year.
The £10 was well worth it in my opinion. Particularly as it kept the crowds manageable. I can see others points of view that the event should be free though. Perhaps free tickets on a first come first served basis would be best. Or some sort of random ballott system.
I assume it would be expensive but I'd like to visit and see these fireworks one day and that's the way I'd like to do it if possible. Party in the hotel room/apartment and pop outside at midnight to watch. I think it would be great.
Wouldn't mind if it wasn't right up close, as long as it offered decent view, something like where this video starts would be nice - http://youtu.be/SXk-7tA21Kw?t=3m1s That looks to be from a rooftop somehwere in the area.
Edit: Looks like the Savoy is a go-er! Now to save for 10 years.
I know, true. I think ticket touting is just an inevitable aspect of modern life.
The alternative is to get people to send in their photo to get printed on the ticket which is then checked at the gate (like Glastonbury). Or to make sure that ID checking is enforced for each ticket. I doubt it is worth the effort for the London NYE fireworks though, which when all is said and done is a 10-15 mins event.
There are several hotels wthin the ticket zone; the guests of which managed to get first dibs on the spots, getting in before the general public were allowed in.
There's a Guoman hotel, and the Corinthian directly opposite the Eye, and the Savoy is just a bit further down the river.
A much cheaper option is going to Somerset House, which offered river views for £45.
http://www.somersethouse.org.uk/ice-rink/new-years-eve
Dunno if its any good though!