New Year’s Eve has never been my favorite holiday.  The forced “fun”and thinking that life changes at midnight wiping the old year’s slate clean and offering a tabula rasa isn’t quite realistic in my experience.  As I entered my 40’s, I settled into my single girl comfort (after work) of the couch, pizza and wine to toast the New Year at 7pm East Coast Time when London celebrated because I knew I’d long be asleep by my midnight. Each year, I said “I’m going to go to see the London Fireworks for New Year’s Eve in London next year and not be on this couch”.  So I signed up for the email notices from the City of London but then missed the email notice so I ushered in 2017 back on my couch. 2018 was going to be different – I was determined to be in London, on The Thames, to watch the London fireworks with The London Eye and Big Ben in the distance.

 

The Bucketlist Plan – London New Year’s Fireworks

So I made a note of when the tickets would be released (October) and put the date & UK time in my calendar for a reminder.  The City of London, in their effort to produce a safe environment on New Year’s Eve by controlling crowds and keeping a secure border, has implemented a ticket fee (£10 GBP for 2018), which seems fair enough but for many locals it caused an uproar when first announced.  So this time, my notification led me to check my email for the notice to buy a ticket. I quickly began my research into what area what best before hitting “buy”.  I bought two tickets to the “Pink Area”  on Waterloo Bridge, received my confirmation email and was thrilled to be able to be “live in London” at midnight hoping that this bucket list item could be crossed off.

I would still be single going and was doubtful of a midnight, romantic comedy, “When Harry Met Sally”, kiss but I wouldn’t be on my couch and that was a plus.  When my job was eliminated and I was made redundant a few weeks after booking my trip, I was a bit apprehensive about taking a trip whilst unemployed because of the costs but I had already booked the non-refundable trip so I was a go.

Researching the Pink Area of Waterloo Bridge, it was imperative that I avoid any form of transit that night as it would be packed with people all night long.  The underground tube journey would be free after a certain time to make the crowds easier to deal with and avoid lines at tap in/tap out.  I decided that I would walk to Waterloo Bridge and looked at all the hotel options on the south side of the bridge to make life a bit easier.  I had two interesting choices – Sea Containers Hotel London (formerly the Mondrian Hotel London) at Sea Containers and Citizen M Bankside.  Both were easy walking distance to the Pink Area security checkpoint.

Collecting Tickets for London Fireworks at New Year’s Eve

When buying tickets, you can opt to have them mailed to the U.S. or pick them up in person.  At the time, I wasn’t sure what I was doing but having dealt with international mail before, I took no chances and chose to pick up my tickets in person.  “See Tickets”, the ticket distribution company, set up a collection booth at Trafalgar Square starting at 8 a.m. for two days prior to the event as well as day of event.  Since a majority of attendees live in the UK and could get tickets in the mail, I was happily surprised that the booth was empty when I arrived to pick up my tickets.  I needed the confirmation number (email) and photo ID and I was now in possession of my tickets and overall instructions for the night.

Pre-Event Walk Through – Pink Area on Waterloo Bridge

I don’t like surprises so I did a walk through inspection of the area the day before.  I walked along the Southbank from the London Eye down to my hotel, The Mondrian Hotel at Sea Containers, easily finding my Pink area entrance at the IMAX Centre (hard to miss circular building with Times Square lighting and displays at the base of the Waterloo Bridge).  The signs for the various security entrances had been placed and the area was getting ready for street closures to complete the process.

London Fireworks Street Closures and Hotel Access

As my hotel, Mondrian London, was within the street closure area, the hotel provided wristbands to wear the day of fireworks to be able to access the hotel without fireworks tickets.  The roads near the hotel were closed and the main road lined with portable loos (port a potty) and signage.  The intent was to drive pedestrians in one area to control the crowds and flow of people to the underground station to queue up.  When I returned to the hotel at 6 p.m., the roads were just starting to close and no one was checking for wristbands.

Security Check at London Fireworks

The line for security was quite long as it wrapped around the block directly below the bridge. There were two lines in the area so make sure you are in the right one.  Luckily the rain had stopped and while the streets had a few puddles, the night sky was clearing.  It was cold but not so bad.  Since this is London, you are allowed to bring alcohol in with you but nothing in glass bottles.  The guy in front of me left the line and ran into the corner store to buy some beer.  You are also allowed to bring blankets, food and friends (with tickets of course).

The couple in front of me and the couple behind me were each speaking in another language so I didn’t make any friends in the queue to adopt me for the fireworks.  The line ended up moving quite quickly and in less than an hour I was on the bridge.  Just prior to the bag check, there was, as expected, people who thought they could blend into the line (in London queue jumpers) but I wasn’t having it neither was the local man a few people behind me.  This is where my very American personality comes in handy as neither couple in front or behind me were pushing the two groups away.  The local guy and I got the groups to walk toward the end of the line.  None of us would let them skip the hour wait and butt in.

Watching London Fireworks from Waterloo Bridge for New Year’s

Waterloo Bridge is a motor roadway with a small center divider.  The sides of the bridge have pedestrian walkways but those were closed to ticketholders and allocated to event security.  The bridge contained a plethora of portable loos and nary a line.  My map also said there was food and drink for sale but I never got that far over the bridge.   My initial spot on the bridge, I was standing with many people huddled on the ground to keep warm.  One guy was swaying back and forth and with two hours until midnight he was clearly drunk already so security easily removed him.  I decided to venture to the loos (thankfully I had a US flashlight (UK torch) with me as they don’t have light inside) and then on the way back found a small slice of the curb to sit on for the next hour and a half.  No one spoke to me but I had a great people watching spot for the night.  It was a nicely mixed crowd – young, old, families, groups of friends and a few solos like me – overall a happy crowd.

There was room to walk for most of the night on the back of the bridge.  The music was on the other side of the river and faint in the distance.  I should have tuned into the television coverage while I was waiting but didn’t want to drain my battery as I was saving it for the photos and videos of fireworks.

London New Year’s Fireworks on the Thames

With five minutes to go, I stood up on my small spot of a curb so had a nice elevated view over most of the people.  Then the countdown began…….5…..4…..3….2…..1 followed by 12 (exact) minutes of fireworks.  Unfortunately with the restoration of Big Ben ongoing for the next couple of years, the bells were silent.  I was bummed by this but hey I was finally off the couch with an up close view of the fireworks in my favorite city.  Starting the New Year differently than any in the past.

Overall Thoughts – Pink Area Waterloo Bridge Fireworks

It was easy to secure London Fireworks tickets online and pick them up in person.  I spent £20 for two tickets and wasn’t able to convince my friends to sit with me on the bridge as many were happy to avoid the transit and be on their own couch with wine.  Staying near the Waterloo Bridge, I only had to walk ten minutes to the Pink Area was a fantastic decision.  And the fireworks were just stunning.  Watching them for years on television was always pretty cool but seeing them in person was wonderful.

London Fireworks Tips – Waterloo Bridge:

1. Allow an hour for security line if you want to arrive early to find a great spot on Waterloo Bridge
2. Bring a blanket and scope out the elevated middle divider curb for your group so that you can stand above the crowds for an unobstructed view. 
3. For most areas you will be crowded as the clock nears midnight obviously so be prepared to stand in the cold for the few hours. The key is layers, layers and more layers to keep warm.  
4. You might want to pack a thermos of hot chocolate, mulled wine or tea to keep you warm.

Tickets on Sale Now https://www.seetickets.com/content/london-new-years-eve-fireworks#