3 Best Places To Celebrate New Year's Eve

Spending New Year’s eve in a new city is always a bit exciting, as they celebrate in such different ways around the world – some more beautiful and romantic, others more crazy and even dangerous.

Some people don’t like New Year’s eve because of all the expectations that the night usually doesn’t live up to.

The best way to avoid being let down by your expectations is to simply go somewhere you know will be truly awesome.

Here are 3 great places to celebrate the New Year…

Thailand – Watch Your Problems “Float Away” In The Sky

While the ”real” new year in Thailand is Songkran, celebrated in April, the calendar new year is also celebrated around the country, and whether you’re on the islands down south, Bangkok or in one of the cities up north, New Year is a great time to celebrate in Thailand.

Last year we celebrated in Chiang Mai, where they have a wonderful market where you can sample traditional Thai foods and snacks, but the most memorable events of the evening is when people light flying lanterns which rise to the sky and mix with thousands of other lanterns, like stars.

It is considered good luck to release a lantern, and they are symbolic of your problems and worries floating away – can there be a better way to end the old year than to release all your problems and worries, and starting a new year with good luck?

Edinburgh – One Of The World’s Biggest New Year Celebrations

In Edinburgh one night of celebrating the new year is not enough – there, they celebrate for four days with a festival called Hogmany.

The festival kicks off with the Torchlight procession on December 30^th, where thousands of torch carriers create a river of fire in the street, leading to Calton Hill.

If you want to celebrate New Year in Edinburgh you can still buy tickets for the festival, and could stay at one of the many great hotels such as the Jurys inn Edinburgh.

The festival is full of fun events and shows, with a street party, concerts and live bands, the whole city comes alive and celebrate the New Year with a bang.

Edinburgh hotels are known to be booked up long in advance for their many festivals, but it’s always worth a try.

Samoa – Celebrating A New Year The Way It Has Never Been Done Before

One of Samoa’s main draws has been the ability to stand on Cape Mulinu’u, the western-most point of Earth, and with the dateline barely 20 miles away, gazing into tomorrow.

Now, all of that is about to change - Samoa has decided to change their time zone, and no longer be one of the last countries to celebrate the New Year – but one of the first.

So if you want to be one of the first to experience such a strange once-in-a-life-time events, head to Samoa and see the New Year at a completely different time.

Those visiting Samoa during the end of this year, will ”lose” a couple of days, going to bed on the 29^th , and waking up on the morning of 31^st of December, just one day away from the New Year of 2012.

While it’s too late now to book a trip to Samoa over the New Year, every new year after this will be very different.

Since American Samoa will stay on the California side of the dateline, you will be able to celebrate the same day twice without leaving the Samoan chain – this means that you can celebrate New Year’s eve on the same date on two different days, by taking an hour’s flight across the islands!

Where are you going to be spending New Years eve this year?

(photo credit: 1 - 2 - 3)