In the evening after an adventurous day at the Camden Town Market and East London along the Brick Lane area, it was time to prepare for New Year’s Eve.
After freshening up at my hotel, I met up with Annalee for a last supper of 2014. The meal of choice? A perfectly cooked dish of fish and chips, courtesy of the Marquis Cornwallis, a pub near the hotel that became our stamställe or go-to place for cider and chips as though we were temporary regulars.
After dinner, we headed off to Leicester Square via the Piccadilly line to get the perfect, non-ticketed spot. Central tube spots were exit only, so we headed in as close as we thought was reasonable. Tickets were implemented for the first time this year for spots along Westminster Bridge, the London Eye, and other locations along the Thames. Sorting out these tickets, especially from abroad, was a bit confusing and our plans were not solid in advance, but we didn’t mind having tickets.
Trafalgar Square was the closest you could get to the Thames from Leicester Square, and we settled into a spot where we had a direct view of Big Ben as he counted down the New Year and the fireworks by the London Eye. If you don’t find the idea of crowding with similarly excited people from all over the world in central London with a view of Big Ben and the fireworks for New Year’s exciting, this blog post may not be for you. But for us, being in the middle of everything in one of the world’s most vibrant and important capitals was definitely a great experience to start 2015. I didn’t bring my Nikon because of the crowds and our plans for after the fireworks, but my iPhone photos will serve this post well enough.
We were also lucky enough (take that as you will) to enjoy some pre-fireworks show entertainment. A group of young men who fancied themselves to be very daring climbed the equestrian statue of Charles I and sparked futile announcements from the policemen watching from Nelson’s column. First just two braved the climb, with one eventually riding the horse with the unfortunate Charles I, which the crowd appreciated, and then a whole pack of of them decided to follow suit. The crowd didn’t cheer the followers too much.
Watching Big Ben count down the new year and taking in the sea of people and phones in the Square was, in a word, special.
The tricky aspect of being in the middle of everything is getting out of everything. After the fireworks, we headed up to Piccadilly Circus and then to Green Park station. It was a rather festive walk- when else will you walk in the middle of typically super busy, high traffic streets with everyone else in town? From there, we took a 110% full train to Knightsbridge to meet friends at the Mandarin Oriental for a champagne toast.
Not being the type to party all night and all morning regardless of the occasion, we later headed back to our hotels for some new year sleep.
My suggestions for firework viewing locations:
-The ticketed area for Westminster Bridge, etc.
-The Marriott County Hall Hotel, where I stayed the last time I was in London, with a room overlooking the Thames and Big Ben. The hotel bar and terrace also have excellent views.
-Trafalgar Square, towards the northwest corner, with views of Big Ben down Whitehall and the fireworks down Northumberland.
-A London skyscraper. Now several of these would have awesome views and a swanky ambiance (hello Shard), but also come with a hefty ticket price.
Happy New Year!
Read about the other days of my trip below:
- My holiday travel preview: Florida, Stockholm, London
- Utlandssvensk i Sverige: I Uppsala Igen [Back to Uppsala, Sweden]
- Uttlandsvensk i Stockholm: Gamla Stan, Djurgården, Riddarholmen
- #StockholmsJul: Ljus och dekorationer runt stan [Christmas in Stockholm City]
- A return traveler’s guide to London: Day 1
- A return traveler’s guide to London: Day 2
- A return traveler’s guide to London: Day 3
anchored & adrift 
Like the creative lights in the London streeets.