It my be difficult to blow off the hangover and drag yourself out of bed, but if you want a fun, festive and unique way of starting the New Year's here’s what you could take part in:
London's New Year's Day Parade involves more than 10,000 performers every year, from dancers to acrobats to musicians to cheerleaders... and they certainly make the effort.  The costumes are superbly colourful and bright, the various giant puppets incredibly ostentatious and the performances themselves have obviously been practiced for months on end.  

The 3.5-kilometre route starts at the Ritz Hotel (pick a landmark location – and if you happen to have the immense good fortune to be staying at the Ritz then you’re in exactly the right place), then marches down to Piccadilly Circus.  From there it moves on to Trafalgar Square, which will doubtless be decked out as elegantly as always and will provide many a fantastic photo opportunity.  Next stop is Whitehall, before finally finishing up at Parliament Square, which is beautiful in normal hours, and promises to be truly spectacular during the Parade.

The Parade considers itself to be a “Celebration of Nations”, which means you can have a go at searching for your own country’s celebrations among all the floats and helium balloons and craziness.  It also happens to be the Parade’s 26th anniversary – the first one took place in 1987, in a lot smaller a size, but still very bright and joyous.  Since then the Parade has just got bigger and better, and now there will be an estimated half a million people watching on the route itself, and the TV coverage will attract millions more.

The transport situation is obviously going to be a little topsy-turvy, with the bus routes altered to accommodate the Parade, but the tubes will all be running.  That said, the tube stations for stops along the Parade Route are likely to be very busy, and the streets will be very crowded, so factor in some extra time for your journeys.

You can, if you’re feeling really extravagant, buy tickets for one of the grandstands that provide huge views over the Parade.  The main grandstands are in Piccadilly and Whitehall (wrap up warm!) and you can even purchase VIP grandstand tickets for the very end of the Parade route.  

And, if you really feel that all this is a little too energetic for New Year’s Day, then don’t worry: It only lasts from 12pm until 3pm, and then you can crawl to the nearest cafe for a nice, relaxing cup of tea.