New Year’s Eve 2026 in London

By the ULTIMATE London Editorial Team

The Thames fireworks: tickets, viewing areas and travel

The official fireworks open with the bongs of Big Ben, then thousands of fireworks and hundreds of lights burst around the London Eye, ending with “Auld Lang Syne”. Around 100,000 people watch from six ticketed areas on both banks. The event runs from 8pm on 31 December to 12.30am on 1 January 2027, and entry to the viewing areas is from 8pm to 10.30pm.

Tickets are sold only through Ticketmaster, up to four per buyer, in two batches: the first is on sale now, and a final, smaller batch follows later in the year. The Blue, Pink and White areas cost £55 and the Red, Green and Orange areas £40, with £20 off each ticket for London residents (checked against your card’s billing postcode). Everyone needs a ticket, children included; there are no refunds.

Blue, on Victoria Embankment, faces the London Eye head-on; Green, behind the Eye, is the closest. Orange, on Albert Embankment beside St Thomas’ Hospital, is the accessible area, with seating, a hearing loop and a Changing Places toilet. You cannot move between areas on the night, so book your whole group into the same one. Under-16s must be with an adult, and the organisers advise against bringing young children.

Our advice: roads close to traffic from 2pm, and Westminster, Golden Jubilee, Lambeth, Blackfriars and Waterloo bridges are shut to walkers before and after the show. Use the station named for your area (Victoria, Charing Cross or Embankment for Blue; Waterloo for Green, White and Orange), carry photo ID that matches the booking name, and expect the stations to be very crowded afterwards.

London.gov.uk: London New Year’s Eve 2026 →   London.gov.uk: road closures →

Hotel galas: The Savoy and The Londoner

The Savoy welcomes 2027 with Midnight Under the Big Top: a Champagne and canapé reception, a five-course dinner, the band Totem, and the fireworks over the Thames at midnight. Elsewhere in the hotel, Gallery serves a five-course dinner with a Champagne reception and live entertainment, and a New Year’s Eve high tea; the American Bar has cocktails, Champagne and live music. The hotel prints no prices: book through its New Year’s Eve page.

On Leicester Square, The Londoner’s Masquerade Ball fills the Ballroom and the Gallery from 7pm until late, with a gala dinner and an after-party; tickets start at £145. Downstairs, Whitcomb’s has an early four-course sitting from 5pm (from £130, with Veuve Clicquot on arrival) and a late five-course sitting from 8pm with live entertainment (from £195), and the rooftop bar, 8 at The Londoner, takes tables and private booths to see in 2027.

Our advice: both hotels sell out their New Year’s Eve tables early; book now, and stay the night so that you need not cross the closed West End after midnight.

The Savoy: New Year’s Eve →   The Londoner: New Year’s Eve →

Rooftops and dinner on the South Bank: Sea Containers

On the South Bank, Sea Containers London’s Dressed to the Nines fills the 12th Knot rooftop bar from 7pm to 2am with Champagne, cocktails and DJs; the fireworks cannot be seen from the bar, so they are shown on a big screen. Gordon Ramsay at Sea Containers serves a three-course menu (beef Wellington among the dishes), and Lyaness, the cocktail bar, is open from 2pm to 2am with DJs (no tickets, but book a table).

Our advice: the hotel’s Ultimate NYE View sleepover, with a room or Thames Suite facing the river, gives a private view of the fireworks and a New Year’s Day toast at Gordon Ramsay.

Sea Containers London: New Year’s Eve →

Thames dinner cruises

Thames Luxury Charters sails from Butler’s Wharf Pier, by Tower Bridge. Its New Year’s Eve on the Thames boards from 6.30pm; at 7.15pm Tower Bridge lifts for the Dixie Queen, where a four-course dinner is served with live music and unlimited drinks (spirits and cocktails extra). At 10pm guests move to the Elizabethan for a DJ, the fireworks and a midnight Champagne toast; back at the pier by 1.15am. Tickets are £550 per person.

The same company’s smaller Edwardian sails from 9pm to 1.15am, at £350 per person. Our advice: menu choices for the Dixie Queen are due by Friday 20 November, so book now.

Thames Luxury Charters: New Year’s Eve on the Thames →

A ceilidh in Primrose Hill

For a New Year’s Eve with no dress code but plenty of dancing, Cecil Sharp House, the home of English folk dance on Regent’s Park Road, holds its New Year’s Eve Ceilidh from 8.30pm to 12.30am (doors 8pm), with the Brown Boots Boogie Band and the caller Tina Morris. Tickets are £55.50, or £45.50 for under-30s; it is recommended for everyone over ten.

Our advice: afterwards, the top of Primrose Hill, a short walk away, looks across the whole city as private fireworks go up from every borough.

Cecil Sharp House: New Year’s Eve Ceilidh →

New Year’s Day: the London Parade

On Friday 1 January 2027 the London Parade, with more than 8,000 performers, takes over the West End from 1pm to 4.30pm, setting off on Piccadilly by The Ritz and winding through St James’s and Trafalgar Square to finish on Whitehall, by Parliament Square. It is free to watch from the pavements; grandstand seats are ticketed.

Our advice: on New Year’s Eve the Tube runs late but busy, and stations near the river may close at short notice to prevent overcrowding; check Transport for London on the day, and book a taxi home in advance.

London Parade →   Christmas in London →

Questions and answers