All countries have their own special holidays that accentuate their culture. Experiencing Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Carnival in Rio, Diwali in India, and the Spring Festival in China can be eye-opening and inspirational for visitors. There is one holiday that brings all the people around the world together in celebration, New Year’s Eve. Each destination adds its own cultural traditions in addition to fireworks, parties, revelry, music, dancing, food and drink, to make a New Year’s Eve trip around the world into a once-in-a-lifetime dream vacation. My own family of 9, including ages from 8 to 55, will be going to Reykjavik to see the spectacular fireworks displays and neighborhood bonfires.
All of the major travel magazines publish their lists of the best places in the world to celebrate New Year’s Eve. I’ve combined Fodor’s, Travel & Leisure and Conde Nast to give you my own top 20.
- Edinburgh, Scotland
- Sydney, Australia
- London, England
- Hong Kong
- Berlin, Germany
- Reykjavik, Iceland
- The Bahamas
- Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
- New York, New York
- Vienna, Austria
- Koh Phangan, Thailand
- Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Cape Town, South Africa
- Oahu or Maui, Hawaii
- Valparaíso, Chile
- St Petersburg, Russia
- Goa, India
- Las Vegas, Nevada
- Bangkok, Thailand
- Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida
Westlake families can reserve your luxury New Year’s Eve vacation and all other travel needs by contacting their neighbor, Lainey Melnick, the owner of the Westlake-area branch of Dream Vacations, ranked in the top 12% worldwide. Lainey has been a part of the Westlake community for 20 years, and her four children, Alex, Dan, Skylar and Sydney, have attended 6 of the Eanes ISD schools. She is the 2017 recipient of the OPAL Award for Women for outstanding performance and leadership in community and business. Westlake Chamber of Commerce Gold Member.
