Hello! We are a group of seven friends, all 25 years old, looking to celebrate New Year’s Eve in a European country. Last year, we spent it in Berlin, Germany, which was fantastic, but this year we’d love to discover a new festive and beautiful city for December 31st. We’re based in Paris, France, and plan to stay for a week. Ideally, we’d like affordable group accommodations (like an Airbnb or hostel) where we can all stay together. Any recommendations?
Hear me out: Scheveningen, Netherlands. The Dutch have a crazy NYE culture and I think Scheveningen / Den Haag is the craziest of them all. We celebrated NYE in Scheveningen by accident because we couldn’t find a good hotel in Amsterdam and it was the best NYE I have ever had! First, you got to know that the Dutch spend about 105 million Euros in fireworks each year. Almost every household buys some fireworks and lights it up starting from sunset. You’ll get crazy fireworks from about 6PM until 1-2 AM. People are out in the streets, drinking, partying and lighting fireworks. It is insane. Link to article
At midnight, the city will join in and do a massive fireworks celebration (truly the best I have seen worldwide) and on top of that they will light the beach bonfire competition. It is a massive tower of wood being lit on the beach surrounded by people partying and drinking. The bonfire broke the world record for largest bonfire in 2014/2015 Link to Guinness World Records but since then has been reduced in size for safety reasons. It is still pure awesomeness.
The next day, 1st of January, there is the traditional ‘nieuwjaarsduik’ at noon. People gather at the beach to jump into the frigid North Sea. Thousands of people join at noon to undress in their bikinis and swimming shorts to dip into the sea under the beats of dutch house music. It is awesome: YouTube link
Hogmanay in Edinburgh.
Wynn said:
Hogmanay in Edinburgh.
Or the Hogmanay fireballs in Stonehaven.
Go to Prague, watch the fireworks… when all the drunk Russians start fighting each other.
If you like ad hoc fireworks standoffs reminiscent of a warzone manned by drunk locals on one side and gawking locals armed with fire extinguishers protecting their property on the other, then I invite you to any suburb in the Netherlands.
But if fireworks is not your thing, then not Amsterdam/Rotterdam etc.
@Brady
Fireworks in Amsterdam is so tame these days.
Madden said:
@Brady
Fireworks in Amsterdam is so tame these days.
I’m from Amsterdam but moved abroad a long time ago. But isn’t there a ban on consumer fireworks nowadays?
Berlin is a fireworks war zone but definitely worth watching lol.
Somewhere where you won’t freeze your balls off. I am thinking of Crete, Cyprus, southern Spain or, if lucky, Malta or Sicily. Even better would be places like Guadeloupe, Réunion, or the Canary Islands, but they are not in Europe despite belonging to European countries.
Barcelona, Spain is a great place to spend NYE.
At the main market square, you will see people eat 12 grapes, one on each chime as the clock strikes midnight; this is to bring good luck in the new year.
Belgrade not EU, so awesome.
Do you think you and your friends might enjoy NYE in a relatively small town, but one whose celebration has just as much intensity as Berlin’s? I’ve been to both, and Leuven is a great party. I wouldn’t stay there for a week, but you could combine it with Brussels, Antwerp, and/or Ghent. There are lots of young people from the university, you can probably get a great deal on lodging, and it’s obviously an easy trip.
Dubrovnik!
Hogmanay in Edinburgh.
London or Spain.
Mica said:
London or Spain.
London is horrible on NYE - overcrowded, extortionate fees to get in anywhere. The crowds for the fireworks on the Thames are horrendous. Because of this most Londoners just go to someone else’s house and watch the fireworks on TV.
I would try Reykjavik, Iceland. Traditionally, most inhabitants fire fireworks at midnight, so it is a colossal fireworks show. Reykjavík New Years Eve
Tbilisi.
Edinburgh.