Best Places to Celebrate NYE

///TRAVEL

Deciding where—and how—to celebrate New Year’s Eve is no easy task. It is, after all, one of the most important nights of the year.  Architectural Digest made a list of the most extravagant ways to ring the New Year.  There were so many fabulous ideas of celebrations that I had to share a couple with you.  

Make sure to vote for your favourite at the end of this post. - Marie Trepanier

RIO: A BESPOKE BEACHFRONT BASH

If you’re considering the road to Rio, be warned that the fireworks-viewing and rooftop festivities at the city’s famed Copacabana Palace Hotel are already wait-list-only. There’s still time, however, to book a stay at one of South America specialist Blue Parallel’s two ocean-side Rio penthouses: the six-bedroom Sugarloaf or five-bedroom Corcovado.

VENICE: ROYAL TREATMENT ALONG THE CANALS

The normally sleepy off-season city is wide-eyed and fully awake for New Year’s Eve, however, featuring a preview of the forthcoming Carnevale festivities in the form of a huge fireworks display over Piazza San Marco. Italian luxury-vacation specialists Bellini Travel can pull out all the stops for the celebrations, securing the two dozen seats in the Royal Box of Teatro La Fenice—Venice’s recently reopened opera house and one of the most famously beautiful theaters in all Europe—for the annual New Year’s Eve concert, preceded by Champagne and canapés and followed by a private, after-hours tour of Basilica di San Marco. Then it’s on to a private dinner, performances by Fenice musicians, and fireworks-watching at one of the canalside palazzi.

REYKJAVIK: NATURE’S FIREWORKS BY HELICOPTER

Fireworks are well and good on New Year’s Eve, and there are plenty of places to see spectacular displays. But for the northern lights—nature’s own pyrotechnic extravaganza—you’re a bit more limited. Thankfully, some of the world’s best views of the aurora borealis (expected by NASA to be more impressive this year than at any time in the last half-century) are just a quick chopper ride from the rich social scene in Reykjavik.

VIENNA: HAVE A BALL IN HIGH AUSTRIAN STYLE

Are those the romantic strains of a waltz? Vienna’s classic Kaiserball may be kicking off a new chapter this year—it’s being renamed “Le Grand Bal”—but it remains a highlight on the international New Year’s circuit. As ever, it will be held in the magisterial Hofburg Palace—the former home of the Habsburgs and now the seat of the Austrian republic—parts of which date back some 600 years. The luxury central and eastern European travel experts at Exeter International can secure custom access to this black-tie-only event, including a ride to the ball in one of the horse-drawn fiacre carriages for which the city is famous, a red-carpet reception, and a gourmet dinner before the event officially opens to the general public.

ANTARCTICA: BLACK-TIE TIMES CRUISING THE FROZEN CONTINENT

Black tie? Check. Five-course dinner? Check. Giant icebergs, calving glaciers, six types of penguins—plus seals, dolphins, and whales? Check, check, check, and . . . check.  This 12-day journey combines the wonders of wildlife-watching and some of the most extraordinary natural vistas in the world with the kind of first-class luxuries for which Silversea is renowned. On New Year’s Eve itself, as the coast of Antarctica comes into view from the ship’s deck, guests will enjoy a gourmet meal, prepared by the Silver Explorer’s Relais & Châteaux–partnered restaurant and served on tables set with silver, crystal, china, and sparkling candles, followed by music, dancing, and a countdown to 2013.

MT. KILIMANJARO: CELEBRATING 2013 AT THE TOP OF THE WORLD

Here’s a New Year’s experience you’ll be talking about for decades: Micato Safaris can time its custom-tailored treks up Kenya’s Mt. Kilimanjaro so that adventurers make their final ascent in the wee hours of January 1, reaching the mountain’s summit at the crack of dawn and celebrating with a Champagne toast at the apex. These eight-day round-trip treks take a variety of routes, matching the path to the hardiness of the participant. (There’s no mountaineering or technical experience required and Micato’s camp staff arranges for porters to haul all gear, keeping everyone comfortable, but those who make the climb should be in relatively good shape.) And while Kili is no Everest, it’s no slouch, either: At 19,340 feet, it’s among the world’s highest mountains and, in fact, is the tallest freestanding mountain on the planet.

                                  VOTE

Your Dream Place to Celebrate NYE is ...

VIENNA: Have a Ball in High Austrian StyleREYKJAVIK: Watch the Northern Lights by HelicopterRIO DE JANEIRO: A Bespoke Beachfront BashANTARCTICA: A Black Tie CruiseVENICE: Royal Treatment Along the CanalsMT. KILIMANJARO: Celebrating at the top of the World