Episode 43: The Best New Year's Eve Destinations around the World

Angie Orth:

It's December 31, and you're putting on that fabulous outfit you've been waiting all year to wear, or maybe you're just putting on flip flops and heading to the beach for some fireworks. Whether it's a glitter bath or a laid-back island vibe you're looking for, everyone wants to welcome the new year with a bang.

The big question is where are you going to be on New Year's Eve? This week, I have 2 of my most trusted travel experts here to help you decide where and how to ring in the new year. First up, a voice you'll recognize if you listen to our Paris episode.

Lee Abbamonte:

I've been to Vegas for at least 2 New Year’s. I've been to Miami for at least 2, and I've been in L.A. a couple times as well.

Angie:

That's Lee Abbamonte, he'll be sharing his favorite New Year's Eve destinations and his thoughts on those all-out, big-city New Year's Eve experiences. Then you'll hear from my fun-loving friend, Alexandra Baackes, better known as “Alex in Wonderland.” She's quickly becoming the go-to expert for New Year's Eve celebrations in every culture.

Alexandra Baackes:

I'm so hooked on these New Year's vibes now. I celebrated Rosh Hashanah this year, I'm not even Jewish. I just wanted another one, I'm hooked.

Angie:

So, whether you're looking for an excuse to travel or you want to see how the year-end party plays out around the world, you'll find your perfect New Year's match in today's episode.

Hi Lee, welcome back to the show. We are so glad you're here to talk to us about New Year's Eve.

Lee:

Thanks for having me, as always. It's a pleasure to see you.

Angie:

I imagine that you have lots of good New Year's Eve stories. Tell me the top New Year's destinations for you.

Lee:

Last year, I was in Sydney. I always wanted to be in Sydney for New Year's because it's the first major fireworks display. It's always in the late morning on CNN and it's the first one you see every year. It actually really did live up to the hype. It was pretty awesome.

Angie:

Are the Sydney fireworks just all around the harbor? Does it come from one specific place? What's the focal point that people are looking at?

Lee:

They shoot it from both in the water, like in the harbor, and then off the Sydney Harbour Bridge. What they do in Australia is pretty smart, at 9 p.m. they set off fireworks for older people, and then they do another fireworks display at midnight. So, it's no matter how old you are or how late you like to stay up, you can see the fireworks.

Angie:

In terms of landscape, where was your most beautiful New Year's Eve?

Lee:

I was in Cape Town, which was really cool. That's another southern hemisphere destination, but it's one of my favorite cities in the world. If you've ever been to Cape Town, it's probably the most scenic city on earth for New Year's. It was pretty cool down in Camps Bay, which is like the hoity-toity beach area in Cape Town. I just had a blast because there are a bunch of bars and restaurants, and you kind of hop around and then you get families and people celebrating on the beach right in front of you. It's just nice and very chill, a little bit like Australia, but even more chill because there are less people. That was a pretty cool spot. You're saving a lot of money when you're paying in rand, so it's nice.

Angie:

So, it's a nice money-saving place to celebrate New Year's especially if you can use points or miles to fly there, right?

Lee:

It's a long flight, and if you can upgrade or use points or miles you save some money and heartache.

Angie:

What about U.S. destinations? I know you're a big Vegas guy. What do you think about Vegas for New Year's?

Lee:

Vegas is really expensive because you want to go out and party, right? When I was younger, we used to go to nightclubs and you had to pay a couple hundred bucks to get in, and then you can't get a drink. It's a nightmare. I hate stuff like that.

New York is the same way. If you go out to fancy bars or restaurants, you pay all this money for all you can drink, food, and stuff, and you can't even get to the bar.

I found the same thing with Miami, and if you just want to go out in those places and have a nice dinner, it's usually prix fixed and you get some champagne or whatever it is that comes with it.

I do recommend doing that type of thing out here in L.A. They have some pretty cool deals on New Year's as well. Especially because most people on the East Coast are asleep by the time it gets to New Year's out here, so it's a little more chill than it is on the East Coast.

Angie:

You've obviously been everywhere, but is there a destination that you'd like to visit specifically for New Year's Eve?

Lee:

One place I wouldn't mind doing New Year's someday is Rio. I think that'd be cool, or Buenos Aires especially. I think Buenos Aires would be really cool because I just love Argentina, and I love the Argentinian people. I imagine Rio can get a little bit rough, but I think it'd be pretty cool being on Copacabana watching some fireworks. But Buenos Aires is probably the top place I'd like to go for New Year's.

Angie:

What are you doing for New Year's this year? Do you have it figured out yet?

Lee:

Probably some easy like Cabo or Hawaii if I do anything from L.A.

Angie:

And if you go to Hawaii, what island would you go to?

Lee:

My 2 favorite islands are Maui and The Big Island, so if I could find something reasonable on either of those I'd be all in.

Angie:

How do they celebrate in Hawaii? You said you've been there a couple of times. What do they do in Hawaii?

Lee:

It’s super chill. You go out to dinner at your resort, they give you a lei, the shells, and the whole thing, and they have guys playing music. It's just really nice, very couple-y, very family. It's just chill, which you'd expect in Hawaii, right?

Angie:

Exactly, and there can be so much hype around New Year's that causes anxiety for a lot of people, so there really is something to that laid-back island approach.

On that note, what advice do you have for people who are thinking, “Oh, I need to make New Year's plans now?”

Lee:

My best advice for New Year's—just having gone to a lot of different top spots that people would consider top spots—is less is generally more with New Year's. Because if you go to one of these big, fancy parties where it's like $500 for all you can eat and drink, and there are 2,000 people in the room, keep in mind there are only 4 or 5 bartenders, so you're going to be waiting in line half the time, people are going to be bumping into you. You might get a drink or 2, but that's about it. It generally ends up being more of a hassle than it's worth.

My essential advice is to go to cool places, but just do chill things like a nice dinner or go over to someone's house. That type of thing, as opposed to the big exorbitant parties in like Vegas, New York, Miami, or L.A. If there's something on your bucket list destination like with mine—Sydney. It wasn't like I was going to go crazy to do it, but it worked out and I was really happy that it did, and that was probably the coolest place I've ever kind of rung in New Year's.

Angie:

That's definitely at the top of my bucket list and I like the idea that it lives up to the hype, but it is also chill. The days of the fancy party, standing in line, and the many, many people, and 4 bartenders are long gone. Last year, we were at the lake and it was just us and people shooting fireworks off their dock, and that was wonderful. It's kind of not necessarily where you are, but who you're with and the environment you put yourself in.

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Lee shared some great New Year's Eve destinations, especially for anyone who craves a calm, laid-back place to bring in the new year. Next up, I've got Alex on deck to tell us where to go if you're looking for a bit of culture.

Alexandra:

Hello!

Angie:

Alex, welcome to the show. We are so happy that you're here. So, if Mariah Carey is the queen of Christmas, you could be the queen of New Year's around the world.

Alexandra:

Thank you so much for having me. This is so much fun, we're talking about one of my favorite things today.

Angie:

One of your most memorable celebrations was in Baños, Ecuador. You were originally hoping for a beach party, but the hotels were sold out, so you ended up somewhere in the mountains, right? Can you tell us a little about that?

Alexandra:

Every hotel in the entire town was sold out, so we had to retreat to the mountains and it ended up being one of those really magical accidents. Here we were in a town in Ecuador I had never heard of before this trip, and in my mind, New Year's Eve at that time was high heels, sequins—OK, it's still those things—instead we were in our Keds and sweaters, and we discovered this incredible tradition of people creating these effigies and masks out of paper mache. It was building up to this frenzy on New Year's Eve. Then on the day itself, it was like a big street party on the night of New Year's Eve and people were burning these effigies in the middle of the street and it was just a big, multi-generational party. So, that was just so fascinating to get to experience a completely different take on New Year's Eve, instead of a ball dropping, art projects burning.

Angie:

It's so interesting to go around the world and see how people from different places and cultures celebrate.

Alexandra:

I joked that for 2023, I was chasing New Year's around the world because I did celebrate December 31 on New Year's Eve here in the U.S. at a friend's beautiful New Year's Eve wedding in the mountains of Idaho. Then, I flew to Indonesia and I celebrated Nyepi, which is the Balinese New Year, a tradition that involves a lot of beautiful, big statues that people create and parade through the streets. They call them Ogoh Ogohs. You have this incredible, beautiful parade, there's all the gamelan music. Then, the next day was one of the most unique experiences I've had in my New Year’s travels around the world, which was 24 hours that you have to be completely inside. They close the airports, they close all stores, they close all businesses. Even the hospital closes down for everything except the emergency and maternity wards.

And you aren’t meant to use any electricity. Really, if you're doing full Nyepi, as I kept referring to it, you are not even meant to speak. You're meant to spend the day in complete silence and reflection.

Angie:

What I like about Nyepi is it's the same thing I like about New Year's Eve in general, it's the reflection part. I like writing in my journal and thinking of the word for the year and no one's allowed to bother you. No one is breaking your silence.

Alexandra:

Taking that time to process and intention set, I can't tell you how many times this year I've been like, “Boom, I journaled on that.” So, that's a tradition that I am going to be bringing into my New Year's now for the rest of my life.

Angie:

Where did you go after Bali?

Alexandra:

I carried on to Thailand from there and celebrated Songkran, which is Thai New Year. Songkran is a big country-wide water fight, and it's really beautiful because it evolved from this tradition of going to temple and being sprinkled with cleansing water to start the year fresh.

I like to joke that we clearly have a lot more sins to wash away these days because now like you get mowed down in the street with a Super Soaker, a little sprinkle is not going to cut it anymore. It's aggressive, but it's really fun. That's a good way to celebrate New Year's.

Angie:

Let's get local. Do you have a favorite U.S. destination for New Year's Eve?

Alexandra:

New Orleans was the best because it had that street party vibe that I had in Baños, Ecuador, that we would have on the beach in Ko Tao, Thailand where you’re just wandering around hearing live music. And at like 11:55 p.m., we very spontaneously were like, “Wait, we want to see the fireworks!” We ran down to the river, scrambled up, found a seat on the rocks, and watched this beautiful New Year’s Eve fireworks celebration. Then we continued back to keep boogying to live music—probably at the same bars that you and I went to when we were in New Orleans together.

Angie:

Cannot confirm.

Alexandra:

You know I love a fancy glass of champagne, but I had a pretty good time drinking a hurricane out of a foot-long plastic souvenir cup that New Year's. So, I would definitely recommend New Orleans if you're looking for a super fun, but low-key in the logistical planning sense.

Angie:

What's your number one tip for planning New Year's?

Alexandra:

I think when you do your little New Year's intention setting and you're thinking about what you want to bring into the year, think about how you can bring that into your New Year's. Whether that's sitting next to someone you love, finding some silliness and joy, or literally having a bubble bath and watching the ball drop on a livestream.

Angie:

I couldn't agree more. Whatever you're trying to take with you, start it on the 31st, start that intention and roll with it the rest of the year. Just pick a fun place to do it and you can't go wrong. As long as you're … what do they say? It's not where you are, but who you're with that really matters. And that's so true, right? Especially on New Year's.

Alexandra:

I think the other thing that matters is no matter where you are or what you're doing, you should be wearing glitter. Even if you are at home alone in your bathtub. That's really important to me, and I think more people should consider that.

Angie:

With that wise and shimmering piece of advice, I think we can conclude our New Year's Eve episode. Lee Abbamonte and Alexandra Baackes, thank you for joining us. And thank you to our listeners for being with us.

If you're planning a trip, be sure to connect with AAA Travel Advisor, check out AAA.com/travel, or visit your local branch. If you enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and leave us a review. I'm Angie Orth, thank you for traveling with AAA.