New Year’s Eve in London

The single most useful thing about New Year’s Eve in London is a date that has not been announced yet, and almost every guide to it is already telling you what to do without mentioning that.

The Mayor’s fireworks are ticketed. The Greater London Authority has confirmed the event for Thursday 31 December 2026, from 8pm to 12.30am on New Year’s Day. On tickets, their own wording as of September is that “a date for the ticket release will be announced soon”.

That is the whole planning problem. The allocation is limited, it goes quickly when it opens, and the release is not on a fixed calendar you can work back from. Register for the announcement now rather than checking in December.

What a riverside ticket actually is

Worth being straight about before you chase one.

It is several hours of standing outdoors in late December. You are in a fenced viewing area on the embankment, you arrive long before midnight because the areas fill and close, and you leave on foot with a very large number of other people. The fireworks last about twelve minutes, which is how long last year’s display ran.

That is not an argument against going. It is an argument for knowing what you have bought, because a great many people picture a vantage point and get a crowd. If the idea of four cold hours to see twelve minutes sounds wrong to you, it probably is, and the rest of this page is for you.

What is already confirmed and bookable

These two have published their dates and are open across New Year, which almost nothing else has done yet.

Skate at Somerset House

Address

Somerset House, Strand, WC2R 1LA

Nearest

Temple or Charing Cross

Hours

11 November 2026 to 10 January 2027

Price

Adults 13 to 28.50 pounds, children from 11 pounds, plus a 1.50 transaction fee per ticket

Standing

In the eighteenth century courtyard of Somerset House

How to get in

It runs to 10 January, so the quiet week between Boxing Day and New Year is inside the season and is the best time to go: the December slots are the contested ones. The price moves through the run, from 13 pounds at the quiet end to 28.50 at the busiest, so the cheapest session costs less than half the dearest, and a family booking of at least one adult and one child takes 10 per cent off.

Hyde Park Winter Wonderland

Address

Hyde Park, W2 2UH

Nearest

Hyde Park Corner or Marble Arch

Hours

19 November 2026 to 3 January 2027, daily except Christmas Day

Price

Timed entry ticket from 1 pound off peak in November up to 9.50, and free with a 25 pound online spend, 30 or 50 pounds of ride credit, or any package. Everything inside is paid for separately

Standing

A funfair rather than a Christmas market

How to get in

Open through New Year and closed only on Christmas Day, so it is one of the few dated things you can rely on for the 31st and the days around it. Entry is a timed ticket that four published routes make free, and everything inside is paid for separately, which is the thing to understand before taking a group.

The part nobody plans and everybody regrets

Getting home is the hardest transport problem of the London year. Around a hundred thousand ticket holders leave the riverside at the same minute, with more outside the fences, the central stations close or go exit only to manage the crowds, and the walk out of the cordon is longer than the walk in.

Transport for London has not published its New Year arrangements for this year yet. They go up in December and they change annually, so anything you read now quoting last year’s free travel or last year’s night service is a guess. Check TfL directly in the last fortnight of December rather than trusting a guide written in September, including this one.

What does not change: walk north. The pressure is on the river, and every station within ten minutes of the embankment inherits it. Twenty minutes on foot away from the water puts you somewhere you can actually board a train.

The New Year’s Eve London alternative most people should take

Book dinner somewhere with a room you want to be in, and do not chase the fireworks at all. You will hear them. You will see them on a screen if you care. You will be warm, seated, and forty minutes from your bed rather than four hours.

Two things to know if you go this route. New Year’s Eve is almost always a fixed price menu rather than the usual carte, frequently at two or three times a normal evening, and it is often non refundable. And the good rooms sell out in November, not in the last week.

The restaurants guide and the hotels cover the rooms worth paying a premium to sit in. The bars cover the other version of the evening.

Practical notes

Register for the ticket announcement now. It is the one action on this page with a deadline you cannot see.

Book restaurants in November. Not December. The fixed price menus are published in the autumn and the good ones go.

Assume a premium and a non refundable deposit on anything dated 31 December, and read the cancellation terms before you pay rather than after.

Check TfL in the last two weeks of December. Their New Year arrangements are published then and they differ every year.

The 1st of January is the underrated day. London is quiet, cold and largely closed, the parks are empty, and the parade is on. It is a far better day to be in this city than the night before.

Everything dated here was taken from the organisers’ own published information and rechecked on 28 September 2026. The fireworks ticket price and release date are not yet announced, which is stated rather than guessed. Confirm before you commit to anything.

Winter Wonderland runs until 3 January, so it is still open either side of New Year, and it publishes four separate ways to avoid the entry fee.

Where to go next

Things to do in London at Christmas covers the rest of the season, including the fact that on Christmas Day there is no public transport at all. The Christmas markets guide sorts the four different things that go by that name.

For the evening itself, the restaurants, the bars and the hotels.

Questions we get asked

When are the London New Year's Eve fireworks 2026?

Thursday 31 December 2026, with the event running from 8pm until 12.30am on 1 January 2027, confirmed by the Greater London Authority. The fireworks themselves are the part around midnight and last about twelve minutes. The hours either side are the crowd arriving and leaving.

How do you get tickets for the London New Year's Eve fireworks?

They are ticketed through the Mayor of London and the release date has not been announced. As of September the official wording is that a date for the ticket release will be announced soon, and you can register to be told when. The allocation is limited and sells out, so registering beats checking back in December.

How much are London New Year's Eve fireworks tickets?

Not yet announced for this year. Anything quoting a price now is either repeating a previous year or guessing. The official event page states the release date is still to come, so the honest answer is to register for the announcement rather than budget from an old figure.

Is it worth going to the London fireworks?

It depends what you are picturing. A riverside ticket is several hours standing outdoors in late December inside a fenced viewing area, arriving well before midnight and leaving on foot in a very large crowd, to see about twelve minutes of fireworks. Plenty of people find that worth it once. If it sounds wrong to you, book a warm room instead.

What is open in London on New Year's Eve?

More than on Christmas Day, when the city stops entirely. Hyde Park Winter Wonderland runs to 3 January and closes only on Christmas Day. The Somerset House ice rink runs to 10 January. Restaurants are open and mostly on fixed price menus, which are usually published in the autumn and sold out by December.

How do you get home after the London fireworks?

Walk north, away from the river, before you try to board anything. The stations closest to the embankment absorb the entire crowd at once and several go exit only. Transport for London publishes its New Year arrangements in December and they change every year, so check them directly in the final fortnight rather than trusting anything written earlier.