Updated: 11/20/2018 | November 20th, 2018
New Year’s Eve is the biggest party of the year. It’s a celebration that brings people together to celebrate all the potential that a new year offers. It’s a day of hope and celebration.
And it’s not too far away either!
Soon, people from around the world will be ringing in the new year soon with fireworks, festivals, friends, parties, and songs. It’s a fun holiday that knows no nationality.
If you’re ready to stay up past your bedtime and indulge in the revelry, here are my top ten best places to go for New Year’s Eve in 2018:
1. New York City
Times Square has been a focal point of New Year’s activity for more than a hundred years. Around one million people will crowd into the square to watch the famous ball drop. On top of that, around a BILLION more people will watch from home, making this one of the biggest events of the year — every year!
If you want to watch the ball drop in person, be sure to arrive early (people start gathering in the afternoon to get a good spot) and dress warmly! However, there are lots of parties throughout the city and most New Yorkers try to aim for some of the downtown clubs and bars or a house party!
Check out my free travel guide to New York City for more information on how to get there, save money, and enjoy the city during your visit!
2. Sydney
Australia is one of the first countries in the world to experience New Year’s Eve making Sydney the first major city in the world to greet a new year (sorry New Zealand, you aren’t as big!). The city hosts one of the largest firework displays in the world. They last almost a full fifteen minutes and are best viewed from one of the boats in the harbor or surrounding hills. After the display, the celebrations usually last until dawn. Locals love enjoying this day as it’s also in the middle of their summer so the weather is always great! Unsurprisingly, accommodation disappears fast so be sure to book well in advance if you want to spend the New Year down under!
Check out my free travel guide to Sydney for more information on how to get there, save money, and enjoy the city when you visit!
3. London
London rings in the new year with an astonishing fireworks display that’s launched from the London Eye. The fireworks can be seen from rooftops and balconies all across London, so you don’t need to leave your hotel to get a good view. If you want to get out there and really experience the display, the best views are from Westminster Bridge and the north embankment of the River Thames (opposite the London Eye).
Check out my free travel guide to London for more information on what to see and do in London when you visit during the holiday!
4. Paris
Paris is the perfect destination for a romantic New Year’s Eve getaway. It has high class dining, clubbing, fantastic fireworks, and the chance to sip Champagne on the Champs-Elysees. Around midnight, you can watch the Eiffel Tower’s light show. Another great place to spend the evening is Montmartre, as it offers spectacular views of the entire Paris skyline.
While you won’t get the same level of epic fireworks as you would in Sydney, there are still great parties through the city and many people light off their own fireworks from the Champs-Elysees. The city stays open late!
Check out my travel guide to Paris for more information on spending New Year’s in Paris! It includes things to do, see, costs, and how to get around!
5. Ko Phangan, Thailand
Over 20,000 young people cram on Haat Rin beach in Thailand to celebrate the New Year. Backpackers and travelers from around the world dance, paint themselves up, and drink buckets of alcohol from dusk until the first dawn of the new year. They fill the beach and it’s one of the wildest outdoor parties there is on New Year’s.
If you’re looking to start the new year on a beach and plan to be in Southeast Asia, this is one of the best and most fun places to be. I’ve spent three New Year’s here and loved every single one!
Check out my travel guide to Ko Phangan for more information including information on the famous Full Moon Party.
6. Kiribati
What better way to ring in the New Year than to be the first person to do it? This spot in the Pacific is officially the first place in the world to see the New Year. It’s like going into the future! Tourism here has picked up in recent years as the locals have tried to capitalize on that interesting fact but the island remains mostly an untouched getaway. There’s not much to do here and accommodation isn’t by any means luxurious but what better way to spend the new year than on an island in the South Pacific? Be sure to plan this well in advance as few flights go here and limited accommodation makes its difficult to find spots.
7. Tokyo
If a single night of partying isn’t enough for you, head to Tokyo. The capital city of Japan starts celebrating on the 29th of December, giving you a few extra days to let loose and give the year a proper send-off. Not only do they start early, but the party almost doesn’t stop. New Year’s celebrations here continue until January 4th. While most of the major tourist sites in the city are closed during this time, the streets of Tokyo (as well as all restaurants and clubs) are packed with locals and visitors alike. The city offers up numerous fireworks displays, dancing, and all the karaoke you can sing!
Check out my travel guide to Tokyo for more information on what to do, see, and ways to save money.
8. Las Vegas
The city that parties every night throughout the year certainly knows how to throw a New Year’s Eve bash to remember. There are so many clubs, hotels, bars, and casinos to choose from in Las Vegas, Nevada, that it’s almost impossible to not celebrate in style. Outdoors, “The Strip” is closed to traffic so everyone can watch the grand fireworks displays high above the city’s neon lights. If you want to wade through the crowds, make your way downtown to Fremont Street and join the massive block party, complete with confetti, a massive wine toast, concerts by big-name rockers, and a five-block-long illuminated canopy 90 feet overhead, on which state-of-the-art sound and light shows are shown.
Check out my travel guide to Las Vegas for more information on enjoying life in Sin City without spending a sinful amount of money.
9. San Juan Del Sur
This holiday hotspot in Central America is a surfing and beach mecca for travelers of all ages and styles. During New Years, the city is bursting with tourists and locals who come from the surrounding area to enjoy time on the beach, with their families, and party hard (Nicaraguans sure know how to have fun!). This is definitely a place to go if you’re looking to get bit crazy and then nurse your hangover on the beach the next day. There’s usually a giant beach party where locals and tourists mingle, dance, drink, and countdown a new year together!
10. Edinburgh
When it comes to New Year’s Eve celebrations, Edinburgh is one of those places that can’t be beat. Their Hogmanay is one of the most fun parties I’ve ever been too. Each year, over 100,000 people take part in the two-day celebration that involves a Viking procession, fireworks over the castle, bonfires, concerts, and a carnival. It’s out of this world fun. It gets super crowded and you’ll need tickets to the shows so be sure to book in advance. You can even walk the viking procession to the bonfire!
Check out my travel guide to Edinburgh for more information on taking a holiday there.
BONUS: 11. Anywhere your friends are!
No matter where you are in the world, this holiday is about celebrating with friends and family. Wherever they are will be the best place to celebrate. Who wants to spend such a great day with strangers? Paris, London, New York, a jungle, the beach, your home — it doesn’t matter. As long as you are with those you like and love, it will be the best New Year’s party in the world.
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New Years is an incredibly fun holiday where you can cut loose, stay up late, wash away the old, and ring in the new. If you’re looking for the best places to celebrate new years eve in the world, look no further than this list. But remember, no matter where you are, so long as you are with people you enjoy, you’re in the best place to celebrate!
I’ll be celebrating New Year’s Eve in Colombia so if you’re down there, say hi!
For other top travel lists and destination ideas, check out these posts:
- Great Festivals of the World
- Top Ten Historical Sites of the World
- 5 Destinations Under 30 Dollars Per Day
Book Your Trip: Logistical Tips and Tricks
Book Your Flight
Find a cheap flight by using Skyscanner or Momondo. They are my two favorite search engines because they search websites and airlines around the globe so you always know no stone is left unturned.
Book Your Accommodation
To find the best budget accommodation, use Booking.com as they consistently return the cheapest rates for guesthouses and cheap hotels. I use them all the time. You can book your hostel – if you want that instead – with Hostelworld as they have the most comprehensive inventory.
Don’t Forget Travel Insurance
Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. It’s comprehensive protection in case anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it as I’ve had to use it many times in the past. I’ve been using World Nomads for ten years. My favorite companies that offer the best service and value are:
- World Nomads (for everyone below 70)
- Insure My Trip (for those over 70)
Looking for the best companies to save money with?
Check out my resource page for the best companies to use when you travel! I list all the ones I use to save money when I travel – and I think will help you too!
Chris Noble
Ahhh, to be with my fam and peeps from PepyRide in Siem Reap this year for new years. I think ‘Anywhere your friends are’ is rightly the best place to be, helps if it’s a different country though !
CanCan (Mom Most Traveled)
Where not to go: Shanghai. Boh-riiinnnng!
Julie
Valparaiso, Chile is supposed to be incredible as well. I was there a couple months ago and the word on the street is that the fireworks show over the large bay is the best in the world! Because the city is surrounded by hills, you should be able to get some great views.
Anna
Oooh, yes…how about up North in Canada in very expensive Ski Chalet, fully paid for by your friends? Jealous yet? Haha..hope you’re having a blast on your vacation!
Tanya
Nice Paris shout-out! It’s a great place to celebrate anything.
nicoleantoinette
I’ve done NYC, Paris, and London.
Clearly I need to do the rest.
Happy (almost) New Year!
Erica
Another great post. So far London is my favorite city to spend New Year’s Eve, but I really want to experience NYE in New York, Paris, Vegas and Sydney in the future. But I must agree, just like Christmas, celebrating with people you love is more important than where you are.
Angela Nickerson
Tomorrow I am blogging about ringing in the new year in Rome — another fabulous place to be. This year I am in Philly. I have a group of friends who gather every New Years. It is a long-standing tradition, and it doesn’t matter where we are so long as we are together.
Happy New Year! 🙂
Juan Perez
And what about Prague..? ;o)
Happy New Year 2009…
Talia Clare
This is an absolutely fabulous article. I am now inspired to actually make something of New Years, whereas before, I never really celebrated. Christmas was usually enough, but now I want more. Thanks for writing this, and thanks for the incredible pictures.
Celine
Hi Matt,
I’ve enjoyed – or endured the freezing cold of – a New Year’s Eve at Times Square a few years back. It was crazy, but incredibly exciting.
Dropped in to wish you a happy New Year and may 2009 bring in peace, joy and life’s best to you. Happy Travels.
Linda
Great list, though I’m not impressed at the dig at New Zealand (we have cities of over a million people! Well, we have one.)
I’m surprised you didn’t include Edinburgh – it’s regarded by many as THE place to be at New Year’s (or Hogmanay as they call it in Scotland). There’s a huge party and fantastic fireworks, not to mention heaps of guys wandering around in kilts.
Linda
Juan, I think Prague is better for Christmas.
susan
Glad Boston made the list 🙂 Have a happy New Year!
Quickroute
Happy New Year from a hot n’ humid Buenos Aires!
NomadicMatt
everyone has some great places that I need to put on my list to check out. I’ll have to look at all these places- so many places, so few years….
Happy 2009 everyone!
Carla
So far I’ve done 5 of out the 10 places on your list and by far Paris was my favorite. I look forward to checking out the rest!
ansella
Happy (belated) New Year Matt!
I’m longing for the new year in Tokyo, I’ll be there soon someday ^^
I enjoy reading your posts, keep on nomadic will ya, other wise the posting might stop and of course I must wasting my time looking for some cool blog again to read (we dont want that to happen ;p)
‘grab a cable to link’
kelsey
hey another great one…New Orleans! Went there last year and it was awesome! huge party spot!…everywhere!
Wendy Sewell
Definitely agree! Bourbon Street is madness on New Year’s Eve – awesome!
Wendy Sewell
Great list! One of our favorites was a New Year’s Eve we watched the fireworks over the Lake Palace (think Octopussy) in Udaipur – beautiful!
Hope 2010 brings all the best things in life!
Kerry
It doesn’t really surprise me that many would claim their cities and country as the first, funny though that New Zealand has the first major cities in the world that greet the New Year, it may not be as BIG as Australia, since you believe over population to be a criteria for being bestowed this honour, but us Kiwis love our lush open spaces, and striking scenic beauty so feel free to claim the New Year as being your first!, we here in NZ know who get’s to welcome it in first and are happy to stand aside have a beer and laugh at the rest of the wannabes!!!
Kevin
Paris isreally boring with new years eve. This year no fireworks at all at the Champs and the Eiffel Tower. it’s really horrible to be here in Paris ..
Roel
Paris is a great city, but indeed now fireworks this year.
The atmosphere was OK, but I expected more. Anyway I had a great time with my girlfriend.
Next year another city probably.
Antonio
ANYWHERE people are allowed to purchase firecrackers on the streets and light them up themselves! (I’m from the Philippines where its literallly a WAR ZONE during New Year with firecrackers exploding left and right, and up in the air and on the ground!). There is NO better way to do it! And public Fireworks displays are BORING! 😀
Lesley
really people, get a grip.
Edinburgh, Scotland
dan
What about taiwan? 2nd worlds tallest building(by like 3 feet) and more fireworks shot off of it that you could ever believe
Benn
Berlin and Edinburgh have massive celebrations with huge parties, and would certainly sit in my top 10 of cities to visit for NYE celebrations.
Allen Trottier
Times Square for New Years Eve would be crazy. I’d like to do it at least once.
Steve Gordon
I am from the U.S. and I’ve been to NYC and L.V. (nice list btw), but I’m suprised the Rio de Janeiro didn’t make the list! If you are into travel, you have got to experience it.
Nidhin
I was wanting to go a different place other than goa(India) for this NYE….
From what I have heard, Sri-Lanka is a great place to party and at the same time it will not pinch your wallets 🙂
For those of you’ll wanting to try out new places than the aforementioned, my suggestion would strongly be Goa (or) Sri-Lanka.
Helen
Edinburgh really is the home of NYE celebrations. Scotland loves NYE so much there is even a special name for it: Hogmanay! London doesn’t come close to the street parties in Edinburgh. If you haven’t been to Edinburgh for Hogmanay Matt, then I suggest that could be a plan for next year!
Helen
Matt, I just read the post about your visit to Hogmanay 2014. It is a great reflection of the vibrancy of this event. Glad you got a chance to experience it. Having moved from Scotland to Australia, I will miss Hogmanay but I am looking forward to going to Sydney for NYE at some point.
Owen Lloyd
I’ll be in Ljubljana I believe this New Year, hope it’ll be great! Love the post man, great content as usual. If anyone is down check out my blog content at theroamingman.com
Thanks!
Hollie
Hogmanay in Edinburgh is an awesome way to spend the new year! There’s a 24hr party train that runs out of London taking you straight there to experience it all, and then back again.
George
Great list! I know that everybody is proposing a place, I thought of adding Athens: celebrating NYE in Acropolis is quite something!
Oscar Brumel
Wow, Thanks for the tip about Edinburgh! I’ve been there countless times and I had no idea that they like to put up a show on the new years eve.
Might go there this year, who knows! The tickets are always cheap to Scotland from where I live.
Aside from that, I wanted to thank you for your book on how to travel the world for 50$ a day. Last month I completed it and I must say that it was an awesome read.
Pete Rojwongsuriya
For me, it’s definitely being back home in Bangkok, where the weather is much cooler now, excellent for doing outdoor activities, which is not easy to do in a place like Bangkok and best of all, the city is empty because all the locals go to either the north or the south to celebrate, which means it is the only time of year Bangkok is free of the dreaded traffic!
The quiet empty Bangkok is the best. 🙂
Mark Gwilliam
Ouch…as a Kiwi, Auckland surely warrants being called a major city! 🙂 Apart from that I loved your post Matt. I’m looking forward to being first to see 2019 from Auckland’s beautiful harbour and waterfront!