THE BEST NEW YEAR'S EVE HOLIDAY DESTINATIONS AROUND THE WORLD
by Cindi Sutter, Founder & Editor Spirited Table® - Can’t wait for 2021? Take a peek at some of the best New Year’s Eve Destinations from around the world. Thanks and credits to Conde Nast Traveller!
From the biggest beach parties to the most spectacular fireworks on the planet, here are our suggestions of where to see in the New Year in style.
New Year's Eve will look a little different in 2020, with many of the world's biggest events canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Below, you'll find our edit of the top destinations out there for a blow-out NYE, as well as details of the brilliant parties, fireworks displays, and local traditions that normally take place at this time of year. Check out our regularly updated guide to where is safe to travel to right now from the UK, and always check local restrictions and guidelines before traveling.
It’s easy to sneer at New Year’s Eve: too expensive, too crowded, too much pressure to have the greatest night of your life. OK, you could hunker down at home – or you could make it really memorable by hitting up one of the best New Year’s Eve parties in the world. From fireworks blasting across breathtaking backdrops to raucous street parties in cool capitals and all-night raves on blissed-out beaches, there’s no shortage of amazing ways to ring in a new year. If you're set to be closer to home, see our guide on how to spend New Year's Eve in London.
BEST FOR: NEW YEAR'S FIREWORKS
REYKJAVIK, ICELAND
THE MAIN EVENT
The Icelandic capital’s midnight fireworks are a community effort: everyone buys their own from ICE-SAR, the national search-and-rescue unit, in what is its most lucrative fundraising project of the year. The result: when the clock strikes 12, the sky explodes with hundreds of mini firework displays, lighting up the entire city. It’s a spectacular sight, but listen out for the sounds, too: fire engines and ships docked in the harbour all ring their bells and blow their horns to welcome the New Year.
THE LOCAL VIEW
Revelries ramp up long before the countdown, with community bonfires kicking off all over town from 4pm (a bonus of those long winter nights). A large crowd of locals gathers at landmark Hallgrímskirkja Church to launch fireworks and watch the display at midnight – offering a great vantage from its perch on Skólavörðuholt hill.
WHERE TO STAY
Hotel Borg has been Reykjavik’s most luxurious address forever, but for something a bit more boutiquey, try 101 Hotel: all Scandi minimalism, with a swank bar, heated oak floors and sheepskin rugs in the rooms, plus a basement proffering Japanese baths.
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NEW YORK CITY, USA
THE MAIN EVENT
Sure, Times Square isn’t the most original recommendation. But it is the archetypal NYE in NYC. If you’re going to do it, do it from the Renaissance Hotel’s R Lounge – the bar windows offer peerless views of the famous One Times Square building due south, where the ball drops.
THE LOCAL VIEW
Make like a real New Yorker and swap Manhattan for Brooklyn. There’s free fireworks and live music at Prospect Park Want to go the full hipster? In a Williamsburg warehouse, the BangOn! NYC shindig is a space-themed rave with trippy installations.
WHERE TO STAY
At some of our favourite New York digs, the Lowell Hotel. This stylish retreat on ritzy East 63rd Street has had a facelift, and it looks lovely. Expect an airier Pembroke Room for tea, a new, gorgeous neoclassical foyer and bedrooms that are the last word in elegance.
Read about New York's best restaurants
EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND
THE MAIN EVENT
The Scottish capital’s famed three-day Hogmanay extravaganza usually kicks off on 30 December, with a Viking-style torchlight procession along the Royal Mile. The big night itself includes Concert in the Gardens, which wraps in time for gig-goers to catch unequalled views of midnight fireworks over Edinburgh Castle. Celebrations continue on New Year’s Day with live music and the traditional fancy-dress dip in the freezing Firth of Forth (known as ‘the Loony Dook’). For more information on the many events that normally take place, visit edinburghshogmanay.com.
THE LOCAL VIEW
You probably won’t spot many Edinburgh natives at official Hogmanay festivities for one, entirely rational, reason: they know to be sceptical about the weather. Instead, find the Scots hedging their bets with indoor jollities before bagging a free spot to watch the castle’s midnight display. Smart, boho Stockbridge has a wealth of great pubs: The Scran & Scallie, run by Michelin-starred chefs Tom Kitchin and Dominic Jack, offers laid-back pub grub, but with flair. Then it’s off for a wee dram or two and folk music at nearby basement joint The Bailie Bar, followed by a trip to Inverleith Park, which offers the best free view of the countdown fireworks in the city.
WHERE TO STAY
The Balmoral is the grandest hotel in Edinburgh, and the most comfortable place to recover from Hogmanay celebrations. For something more on-point, Eden Locke, in a New Town Georgian townhouse, offers a perfect storm of millennial pink and Elephant’s Breath, brass detailing, wicker chairs and tropical plants.
Read the ultimate travel guide to Edinburgh
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SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
THE MAIN EVENT
Sydney Harbour’s firework extravaganza is watched by more than a million people gathered along the foreshore – but a better idea is to join the boatfuls of revellers bobbing in the water. You can hire out a boat, bring your own bubbles and start the countdown early. Landlubbers might prefer to reserve an outside table at one of the waterfront restaurants by Sydney Harbour Bridge for a front-row seat.
THE LOCAL VIEW
Alternatively, motor out to Cockatoo Island and set up a moonlit picnic in preparation for the show; you can even camp or glamp there for the night, as long as you book a spot in advance. New Year’s Eve without the end-of-night battle for a taxi? Yes, please.
WHERE TO STAY
All about the pyrotechnics? The Four Seasons Hotel Sydney overlooks Sydney Harbour, the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. For a more local feel, book the new Paramount House Hotel in inner-city foodie hub Surry Hills. An industrial concrete-and-copper aesthetic meets furniture, bathroom products – and beer – by independent Aussie makers.
Read about Chippendale, Sydney's coolest neighbourhood
BEST FOR: NEW YEAR’S STREET PARTIES
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BEIRUT, LEBANON
THE MAIN EVENT
Beirut’s legendary party scene makes for a memorable outing any night of the year, but in 2017/2018 the city elected to put on an official shindig in its streets and immediately landed on various ‘best of’ lists – prompting it to go even bigger in the following years. Place de l’Etoile is packed with merrymakers, as live bands, DJs, and fireworks ring in the next decade, and a spectacular light show beams out of the square’s 1933 Art Deco clocktower. This being Beirut, things don’t typically wind down until after dawn.
THE LOCAL VIEW
The city’s nightlife scene has more than its fair share of bling-bling clubs, but to get among the Beiruti in-crowd, bar hopping in hip Gemmayzeh and neighboring Mar Mikhael is where it’s at. The latter’s Anise is a firm favorite, where craft cocktails are concocted with Lebanese spirit arak and locally foraged herbs.
WHERE TO STAY
The Albergo – by Relais & Châteaux – is steeped in an old-world charm, from its antique-furnished rooms to the orange juice in a Murano glass jug and macarons brought to your room when you arrive.
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK
THE MAIN EVENT
When the clock strikes 12, the ordinarily restrained Danes gather at Town Hall Square for a rowdy, BYO bacchanal of popping champagne corks, whooshing rockets, and fizzing Roman candles. For a slightly more orderly take, twinkly Tivoli Gardens lights up the sky with its own Firework Festival; its restaurants are all serving New Year’s dinners, and the roller coasters are open – plus, plenty of glögg stalls serve liquid courage.
THE LOCAL VIEW
Watch how Copenhageners abandon hygge for hedonism on New Year’s Eve as thousands of merry folk take to the streets to light their own fireworks just after midnight. A favored local spot to watch the mayhem – which is loud, raucous, and just a tad nerve-wracking – is Queen Louise’s Bridge, which stretches across The Lakes, in the heart of the city.
WHERE TO STAY
Sanders, on a quiet street just a short walk from ever-lively Nyhavn, is enchanting. Style-wise, it combines Danish mid-century modern and British Colonial (wickerwork here and there, palms in pots), and there’s a fifth-floor conservatory with views over the city.
See the best Copenhagen hotels
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BARCELONA, SPAIN
THE MAIN EVENT
Barcelona is a city of night owls, so the revelry doesn’t really start gearing up until about 11 pm. That’s when crowds gather at Plaça d’Espanya to watch the midnight pyrotechnics on Montjuïc, the hill just above. A few yards from here, Poble Espanyol, the open-air architectural museum, hosts a huge dance party until 6 am.
THE LOCAL VIEW
One of the stranger traditions – other than eating a grape for each chime at midnight (seriously, everyone does it) – takes place at Plaça de Catalunya, in the city centre. As soon as the New Year has been rung in, the assembled thousands throw their Cava bottles into the middle of the square. If that sounds slightly frightening, head instead for the most popular club bashes: Pacha rages all night.
WHERE TO STAY
Join the creative crowd at Soho House Barcelona, in a palm-tree-lined square just off the seafront. Along with its speakeasy bar/cinema and basement spa, don’t miss the roof terrace for poolside views of Port Vell marina.
Read about El Poblenou: Barcelona's hot new neighborhood