london new years eve

buy_my_cookies

hi all,

me my gf and another couple have decided to go to the fireworks in london this year, and seeing as there are a few locals on this forum i'm looking for advice.

where is the best plce to watch the fireworks?
what time should we get there?
can we drink whilst watching them? (bring our own i mean)
whats a good thing to do before hand?
where can we go after, clubs/bars (can i prebook any tickets online a search online just shows places that are doing packages kind of show/meal/club and over £100 dont want to spend that much)
will it be tickets to get in everywhere?
and what time is the PT free from/till?

we are staying at the London Central Moorgate travel lodge.

thanks

sketchley

http://www.visitlondon.com/events/detai ... -in-london

sketchley

&
http://www.london.gov.uk/nye

buy_my_cookies

thanks, that answers all my questions about travel/fireworks etc.
any tips on good places to go before/after? when i search for bars/clubs there soooo many i'm confused (norfolk boy here so im used to everyone just meeting in the local barn)

is the London's New Year's Day Parade worth watching?

sketchley

Last night I eat in Disoom which is near Covent Garden / Leicester Square which is excellent. If you like Indian food but want to try a different take on it, this place is excellent. You cannot book so get there early and be prepared to queue. http://www.dishoom.com/

As for somewhere to drink there are so many bars and it depends on what you want to drink and if you want a trendy place with a DJ and an old fashioned boozer with saw dust on the flaw.

Club we you are spoilt for choice, depends on what music you want to listen to and what kind of club you want to go too. Good place to start http://www.timeout.com/london/ and also http://www.harderfaster.net/?sid=08a0eb ... yyy=2011#6 if you fancy the harder side of clubbing.

jds_1981

Note one of those linked pages says that locations fill up from 8pm. Believe it....

Clever Pun

Stay whichever side of the river you want to go to later on

buy_my_cookies

serious, i got to be there by 8pm?

Clever Pun- is that because they shut bridges or is it just really packed?

still cant decide what to do after, and a lot of clubs have sold out of prebook tickets now it seems. any good bars we should visit?

clarkey cat

I'll be at home probably asleep before 12 because my little man has hand foot and mouth.

Ben6899

Honest answer?

Don't bother; it'll be a fuck1ng nightmare.

pete54

If you really want to see the fireworks I'd go up to Parliament Hill on Hampstead Heath. That's what I did last year, but won't be bothering this year. They really aren't that good. They close the roads around the Embankment, so you can't get anywhere near unless you are there hours before.

Headhuunter

Everyone has to do NYE in central London at least once but once is enough. I have lived in London since 1999 and we spent millenium eve in central London. Since then we have always spent NYE at friends' places outside the centre of town. In 99/00 we had a nice Thai meal in Soho but then I seem to remember we spent the rest of the night shuffling through crowds and every bar was rammed and charged to get in. Even scabby little pubs you wouldn't normally give a 2nd glance were full to the rafters and charging a tenner to get in and trying to get a drink at the bar took 45 mins of pushing and shoving! The fireworks will be good as long as you can get a decent viewpoint but I would avoid the West End, Soho etc and possibly try to find somewhere a litttle out of the way, perhaps south of the river? As CP says, I think crossing the river could be difficult with the sheer number of people milling about on the bridges... Good thing is that the Tube runs all night (fairly infrequent service though) so you can move about, although Moorgate is so central that if it came to it, you could walk back from to your hotel...