New Year’s Eve in London is the biggest event of the year. If you’re a student living in the capital, you’ll know all about the many sights and sounds of London throughout the year. It is one of the best cities on the planet, but at Christmas and New Year it truly comes alive! If you’re staying in your London student apartment over New Year there are so many different options available to spend NYE out on the town, see something magical, watch the fireworks on the city skyline, or have a party pub crawl with your friends. We’ve put together some of the best NYE events London has to offer this year…

1. London NYE Pub Crawl

This collaboration between I Love Student Nights and London Pub Crawl promises to be one hell of a night and one of the best student NYE events The Capital has on the calendar this year. By signing up for this pub crawl you’ll get access to a few different types of new year festivities across London as you make your way from one venue to the next. It can be hard to plan exactly where to go in London on NYE, so why not take the hard work away and be guided through town from the buzz of Leicester Square to the cool Soho and the famous Covent Garden? With tickets from £8 offering discounted and free entry to certain venues, free shots, and party games all round, you’ll be saving a lot of money on what you would have paid for the same night out without the pub crawl guide and the group of new friends you’ll make along the way!

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Meet at Bar Soho, 23-25 Cold Compton Street W1D 5JL 7.30pm – 8.30pm start

2. The Sky Tonight Live

Running until 4th February, the last day of the year is one of the most special times to explore the universe at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. If you’re after something a little different on the day before the parties begin, or you want to do something on NYE that doesn’t include a night out and a party, looking up at the stars is certainly a great choice. The Sky Tonight is presented by an astronomer, showcasing what is in the stars for the coming month. It is a fascinating planetarium show, and afterwards you can see the Prime Meridian Line to straddle the eastern and western hemisphere with one step or go through the Time and Longitude gallery for a profound look at time.

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Peter Harrison Planetarium – The National Maritime Museum, Greenwich. SE10 9NF Various opening times; £8 tickets

3. The Curling Club

Another option that is running every day until 3rd January 2023, The Curling Club brings everything you’ve loved about the Winter Olympic sport of Curling - you know, the one with the sweeping brushes on the ice? If you’ve ever thought it looks easy or that you just want a go at it, now you can. The Curling Club will be in residence on the Southbank and at The Shack in Twickenham for the apres-ski nightlife, winter-inspired cocktails and Alpine street food. You’ll have the chance to have a go at curling under the guidance of Eva Muirhead OBE (four-time Olympian and member of Team GB).

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Southbank Centre, Waterloo. SE1 8XX Tickets from £15pp / Open 11am – 11pm each day

4. Rockaoke NYE London

The Rockaoke NYE party at The Star of Kings is an epic way to bring in the New Year! Live karaoke with a band to back up your warbling is so much fun. You can belt out your favourite anthems from decades past, pretending that you’re Freddie Mercury, one half of Lennon and McCartney, Debbie Harry, or as one of our colleagues memorably did in the past on karaoke, Meatloaf! The Star of Kings is one of the best traditional pubs in Kings Cross, just a 5-minute walk from Kings Cross Station. The drinks flow, the food is delicious, and there are three floors of fun with live DJs, comedy nights, and quiz nights. This NYE the live band karaoke promises to blow the roof off the place.

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126 York Way. N1 0AX Tickets £10 p/p

5. Tequila Mockingbird New Year’s Eve

Throughout London, the Tequila Mockingbird parties are extravagant affairs. Dress up for a night of drinking and dancing with your nearest and dearest. The tickets give you bottomless cocktails, beer and pizza, prosecco, and a fabulous party location for the night. Doors open at 8pm, so book a ticket with your group of friends to be whisked to your designated area to party for the night. Your ticket includes 2 hours of bottomless prosecco, beer, pizza, and porn star martinis from 8pm – 10pm, and a massive party atmosphere that goes on until the wee small hours.

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Various London locations – Brixton, Shoreditch, Covent Garden etc. Tickets from £10 p/p

6. Sounds Familiar Music Quiz

Not your average quiz, Sounds Familiar is the biggest party you’ll ever go to! This New Year’s Eve edition will blow your socks off, bringing together the biggest party anthems, chart classics, indie bangers, power ballads, hip-hop, and guilty pleasures, all wrapped up in a lively quiz format (sort of). You can buy tickets for teams of 2 people up to large groups of 10. You’ll dance away to over 100 tunes during the night and it’s the perfect way to bring in the new year.

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Jerusalem Bar, 33-34 Rathbone Place. W1T 1JN £22 per single ticket – Doors: 6pm Quiz: 7.30pm Close: 2am

7. The London Eye Fireworks

The massive firework display along the Thames returns this year, a long-established part of London’s skyline on New Year’s Eve for many years now. The dazzling display sees thousands upon thousands of people descend upon Westminster Bridge, Embankment, Waterloo Bridge, and Victoria Embankment to see the fireworks from the London Eye. 100,000 lucky ticket holders will welcome in the new year, with a global audience of millions tuning in on the TV. As the chimes of Big Ben bring in 2023 the fireworks will be set off in an incredible display of celebration.

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Best Places To Watch The Fireworks For Free

Finding a good spot to watch the London NYE fireworks for free can be daunting, but there are a few good places where you can get a good, full view of the fireworks on the skyline, bringing in 2023 in style.

Alexandra Palace

Ally Pally is one of the best places to be at any time of year, but it is also a good location to get clear views of the London Eye fireworks and the wider London skyline. Just take a brief glance and you’ll see a whole host of firework displays across the capital.

Cannon Street

Just down the river from Westminster, Cannon Street is a fantastic place to watch the fireworks on NYE. Right beside St Paul’s Cathedral, the riverside walk includes a great designated area to watch the fireworks.

London’s Bridges

Some of the bridges closest to the London Eye are part of the ticketed event, but some others close by are open to the public. Lambeth Bridge is close to the Houses of Parliament that has a pavement space for the public to get a decent view of the fireworks. Millennium Bridge and Southwark Bridge are open to the public too, with a clear view. Vauxhall Bridge is another that is further away from the ticketed event but still provides a good viewing point.

Primrose Hill

One of the best destinations in North London. for those looking to see the sheer size of the fireworks on NYE. It is a distance from the London Eye but there is a clear view from here and panoramic views of the London skyline and other fireworks displays that are taking place.

Greenwich Park

The park and the Royal Observatory offer similar views to Primrose Hill but in the East of London. It is the perfect picture postcard view of the London skyline, taking in the London Eye and the main fireworks as well as any firework displays in the east. London Eye fireworks nye

8. London New Year’s Day Parade

Okay so this isn’t actually New Year’s Eve but it’s still worth a mention as Central London on the 1st of January is also a magical place. New Year’s Day offers hope for the future, a fresh start, and a cold chill in the air to wake you up after the celebrations the night before. The annual London New Year’s Day Parade is one of the most eye-catching ways to blow away the cobwebs, with thousands of performers taking part from all round the world. You’ll see dancers, acrobats, marching bands and more, parading through the centre of London with confetti in the air.

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Route runs from Piccadilly to Parliament Square, via Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square and Whitehall. So there we have it, the end of our guide of the best 8 NYE events in London, and of course New Year’s Day too! Do you have a personal favourite? Alternatively, have you booked something completely different that is not on our list? Let us know @_homesfostudents. London is a wondrous place on New Year’s Eve, and we hope you make the most of it this year, or wherever you’re celebrating! Read next: New Year’s Resolution List For Students 2023.

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