New Year Escapes
New Year in Edinburgh
Want to get away for New Year's Eve? Looking for a party or prefer some peace and quiet? Here's our guide to New Year breaks.
Whether you prefer to spend New Year's Eve partying to the max, unwinding in an secret paradise or enjoying some family fun, we have great ideas for New Year breaks.
Where To Party
Edinburgh, Scotland: The Scottish capital plans to up the ante at Hogmanay this year. The festivities will last from 30th December to 2nd January.
Partying will take many forms, from an outdoor concert with Groove Armada and singer Paolo Nutini, to a ceilidh at the Assembly Rooms and a 'silent disco'.
New this year is Feet First on 1st January, a series of free outdoor performances and plays along the Royal Mile. Tickets cost £10.
Paris, France: The city of light lives up to its name on New Year's Eve. Firework displays range from the grand to the impromptu.
Traditionally, crowds gather at the Champs-Elysées to let off bangers and find a place to watch the Eiffel Tower erupt into a spectacular light show.
For something mellower, head up to the Sacré-Coeur church in Montmartre.
Gisborne, New Zealand: Gisborne in New Zealand boasts that it is the first place on earth to see in the new year.
This year the Rhythm and Vines festival on the Waiohika estate will see performances from today's rockers Kooks, Franz Ferdinand and DJ Carl Cox.
There are 120 performances over four stages and, with a beach 700 metres away, you'll also find surf competitions, volleyball and more than a smattering of VW campervans.
It's surrounded by vineyards, so the wine is guaranteed never to run out, and southern hemisphere sunshine should also be on tap.
Krakow, Poland: Celebrations at the city renowned for throwing the best New Year's party in Eastern Europe centre on its main square, awash with colonnades, history and, from early evening onwards, revellers drinking beer and glühwein.
This is New Year at its most wintry - expect snow flurries and roasted chestnuts. This year there's a free concert mixing Polish favourites and international artists; last year Shakin' Stevens headlined.
Tignes, France: This French ski resort will be holding a free outdoor party for 15,000 people on 31st December.
The mega party promises to go on all night to keep those embracing the -20C temperatures warm through the night and into 2009.
Where To Unwind
Ragdale Hall, Leicestershire: Ragdale Hall Health Hydro and Thermal Spa is laying on a two-night Healthy New Year package from 31th December.
After a fruit-abundant breakfast in bed, while away time in the spa, with its waterfall pool and volcanic salt bath, before being rubbed and scrubbed with a 50-minute treatment - choose from a 'refresh and revive' face and back therapy, a 'natural harmony' facial or a full body massage. You also get either a back, shoulder and neck massage or a conditioning hand or foot treatment.
On New Year's Eve there's champagne at midnight.
Foxhills Resort, Surrey: Watch nearby fireworks light up the sky while lying in the hot tub of the UK's first spa garden.
Featuring yew hedges that form private treatment cubicles, a lawn for tai chi, a natural swimming pool and Finnish sauna, it's the latest addition to the Foxhills Hotel & Resort, which is offering a one-night Delightful Detox package, available on New Year's Eve.
Seaham Hall, Durham: If yoga and circuit training aren't quite your bag, why not combine your spa break with dancing? Seaham Hall is offering a two-night stay from 31st December, where you can pamper yourself rotten in the spa, with no fewer than 45 treatments to choose from, before a slap-up dinner in the Ozone restaurant.
As the clock strikes 11pm you head to the ballroom to waltz your way into the early hours of 2009. Wake up to breakfast in bed before hitting the spa and treating your tired dancing feet to a foot-cleansing ritual.
Budapest, Hungary: Swap a pub crawl for a spa crawl in Budapest.
Locals here have been enjoying the thermal springs that gush from Buda's limestone bedrock for 2,000 years: they'll spend hours each week soaking in the mineral-rich waters of the public spas, many of which are open until late on New Year's Eve.
Where To Avoid The New Year
Hay-on-Wye, Wales: You can make New Year as quiet or as noisy as you like at Cwm Cottage near Hay-on-Wye. Near the border with England, it lies on the edge of the Golden Valley at the end of a secluded lane with just one other house in sight.
Surrounded by fields, it has three bedrooms, a large kitchen and a sitting room with a wood-burning stove. The nearest pub is a mile away, with Hay four miles further.
Knoydart peninsula, Scotland: Known as Scotland's last wilderness, the Knoydart peninsula is an enticing blend of glens, lochs and rivers in a protected landscape that faces Skye, Eigg, Rum and Muck.
It's not an easy place to reach, but worth the effort. Although it's on the mainland, the only access is on a ferry from Mallaig, seven miles away or a 16-mile walk.
The only village, Inverie, is surrounded by three Munro mountains, which effectively block mobile phone signals. Other forms of life are still going strong, including the Old Forge pub, with local food and traditional music.
Where To Take The Family
Disneyland, Paris: If there's one place you can count on for a family-friendly New Year it's Disneyland.
The entire resort is taken over by festive fever, with Santa Claus's Village, Minnie's Jolly Holidays Show and Mickey's Winter Wonderland, and on 31st December there's a Times Square dinner buffet party with Disney characters at Disney's Hotel New York.
Web Links
SkyScanner - Search for the cheapest flights to destinations around the globe.
Eurostar - Book your European train travel online.
Hotels.com - Find the perfect hotel to suit your needs and budget.
Disneyland - Book your place at Disneyland Paris for the New Year party.
Edinburgh's Hogmanay - Official website for Edinburgh's New Year celebrations.
What are you doing for New Year's Eve? Are you going out or staying in? Are you going abroad to see in the New Year?
If so, let us know by leaving a comment in the box below, or share your thoughts with other readers in the 50connect forums.
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