Why Stay Home for New Year’s?
Now that holiday shopping is done, it’s time to stress about New Year’s Eve plans. Sure, you can head to your local “First Night [insert city here]” for a sober community party (B-O-R-I-N-G). Or then there is a shindig at the boss’s house where his daughters will perform songs from the Sound of Music while you fume over the lavish spread paid for with your bonus money. Why not try something new this year- start the year someplace else!
New York flights | hotels | cars
Nothing says New Year’s like Dick Clark, B-List bands and of course Times Square! Everyone should be able to say they braved the cold, crowds and Ryan Seacrest at least once. Claim your plot (aka one square foot of space in Times Square) by 3pm. Bring food, drinks and chamber pot because you’ll be there until the ball drops. Or for an alternative, race into the New Year with the 3.3 Mile Fun Run around Prospect Park in Brooklyn or with New York Road Runners’ 4-mile Emerald Nuts Midnight Run in Central Park. For something less strenuous, take a leisurely walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and ohhh and ahhhh over fireworks from Staten Island, Brooklyn, Central Park and New Jersey simultaneously. If you’re the flexible and quiet type, then check out Jivamukti Yoga Center’s Annual New Year’s Eve Mauna where you’ll yoga in silence until midnight, when the instructor will welcome the New Year with chants of “lokah samasta sukhino bhavantu” or “May all beings everywhere be happy and free.”
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Las Vegas flights | hotels | cars
Instead of gambling with the outcome of your New Year’s Eve experience, head to Las Vegas for a guaranteed payout. Tell the blackjack dealer to hit you with great values on flights and hotels at Kayak.com (Book early). Then welcome the New Year with champagne (it’s legal to drink on the street) and a hundred thousand people on The Strip, while fireworks explode above you in the desert sky. But make sure you’re there by 8:00 p.m. because The Strip will be stacked with partiers, and it will be hard to keep your poker face while trying to get through the crowds. If you plan to have dinner that night, make reservations early because restaurants will fill up quickly. If you still have energy on New Year’s Day, go to a sports book like the one at the MGM Grand Hotel (with just under a hundred TV’s), and bet on the big game and almost every other sporting event happening around the world. Regardless of how you plan to spend New Year’s in this roulette table of a city, get ready for an adventure that will spin round and round and land on a great time.
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Barcelona, Spain flights | hotels | cars
If you want to bring in the New Year by competing in a party triathlon, then head to Barcelona where only the fit and ambitious cross the finish line of an amazing night. Prepare yourself that afternoon with a siesta and then carb up that evening with a great meal at one of the city’s many restaurants like the Mediterranean inspired Taxidermista. Make sure you’re at the starting gates, (Placa Catalyuna, Placa Real) a few minutes before midnight, armed with twelve grapes. The first stroke of midnight is the starter’s pistol so you’ll want to begin eating your grapes (one for each stroke of the clock), and make sure they’re all gone before the last stroke, for a year of good luck. If you’re still in the game, race into one of the bars and nightclubs in the Gothic Quarter and Las Ramblas. Dance and socialize and keep hydrated with plenty of the Spanish sparkling wine, cava. The last leg of the race will be heading to the beach to drink hot chocolate and snack on churros. You’ve crossed the finish line when you see the sun rise.
Find the Best Fares from your home airport to Barcelona
Bangkok, Thailand flights | hotels | cars
If your idea of a perfect New Year’s Eve destination is one which offers events featuring world-class entertainment, imported DJ’s spinning at swanky clubs and dazzling firework extravaganzas, then how about one night in Bangkok? OK, it’s a long trip, so you might want to spend more than one night but that’s how the song goes. There are three official venues in the city offering music and stage performances so choose between the newly revamped CentralWorld, the National Stadium, or at Sanam Luang near the Grand Palace. If you’d prefer something more intimate and within stumbling distance, many hotels including the Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel & Towers, Millennium Hilton and The Shangri-La Hotel host private dinners and parties. Or float into the New Year on a dinner cruise along the Chao Phraya River which offers great views of the spectacular fireworks display. Finish up your celebration with a Thai tradition and head to a temple on New Year’s Day to ensure happiness, health and good fortune for the year to come.
Find the Best Fares from your home airport to Bangkok
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Happy New Year!
Steve and Paul, Kayak Founders