New Year Theatre Breaks 2010
New Years Eve Theatre Breaks - Big Ben
New Year theatre breaks are a great way to bring in the new decade. As it falls on a Friday night this year lots of shows have performances on New Year’s Eve and London is, of course, a fantastic place to be on such an important night. I’ll go through each of the shows, suggest some central hotels, cover some of the great things on in the city centre after the shows close, and suggest some things to do on New Year’s Day.
Shows for New Year Theatre Breaks
All the following shows have performances on New Year’s Eve 2010 . As of today these all still have some tickets, many only as part of theatre break packages. They are going fast so if you want a New Year’s Eve Theatre Break act now.
*Check Availability for Your New Year Theatre Break*
Musicals:
Matilda, A Musical
Oliver! (Matinee only)
Plays:
When We Are Married
Woman in Black
Yes, Prime Minister
*Check Availability for Your New Year Theatre Break*
Hotels for New Year’s Eve Theatre Breaks
You really want to be central to make the most of being in the capital at New Year. I’ve seen quite a few locally organised breaks advertised where they whisk you back to an out of town hotel for a celebration after the show. This is fine but it does mean you miss out on the fun and excitement of Big Ben’s chimes and the magnificent fireworks displays. To me this is part of why you’ve come to the capital. To miss out on it stuck out of the city, no matter how nice your hotel, would be a shame. I’ll explain more about the fireworks and the New Year’s Day Parade later in the post.
Ideally you want your hotel to be in the central area, say not more than 1 mile from the theatre. Sounds expensive? Actually surprisingly not too bad. I looked at good tickets for Phantom of the Opera and 2 nights and found I could get a 3* very central hotel for £250ish per person. This isn’t much different to a normal weekend rate.
New Year Theatre Breaks by Rail
Advice – Come By Rail if You Possible Can
This is one weekend you do not want to have a car in central London. Really, it’s better to come by rail usually anyway but New Year sees vast numbers of road closures and a car is really going to cramp your style. The theatre breaks agencies usually allow you to include your train tickets and can save you up to 40% on the normal price.
After the Show – the fireworks.
You won’t get out of the theatre in time to grab a prime position for the displays. They will all be filled by about 10pm. However, no need to despair. Wrap up warm and get yourself to a spot where you can see the London Eye and you will be able to see a really spectacular show. The chimes of Big Ben are broadcast down the length of the river and then the display starts.
If you prefer you can head for Trafalgar Square. There are no events planned but there is a huge screen which will relay the countdown and chimes and then show the fireworks. Just try to keep out of the fountain! No, really, it’s a really bad idea.
Once it’s over you can smugly watch everyone head for the overcrowded tube as you stroll back to your cosy central hotel.
By the way alcohol is not prohibited in the centre of London on New Year’s Eve so if you did happen to have a hip flask with you it might be a very nice way to bring in the New Year!
New Year’s Day Parade
After a full English breakfast, ( see hip flask above!) and a gentle potter round the hotel it’s time to head off for the parade. This has become a really fun event. It starts at 12 and goes on till 3. This year is the 25th anniversary of the parade and it looks set to be an extra special one.
There are numerous marching bands, floats and performances.
You can get a taster of it from this video:
Ideally why not book tickets for one of the grandstands. They are not too expensive with even the V.I.P. one at Whitehall only costing £20 each. These give you the best view of the parade.
*Check Availability for Your New Year Theatre Break*
