New Years in Europe

Ya, Paris, London, Rome, Seville, Madrid, Cannes - I could go on. What do like to do on New Year?

A good friend of mine was just in London for New Years and said it was spectacular. Can't vouch for it myself, of course, but it sounded like a good time to me!

It will be 4 of us- mid 20's. Thinking France, Italy, Switzerland , or Spain.

Paris. Spectacular. Romantic. Few crowds. So much to do.

I am starting to look for the same event. Either New Year or Orthodox Christmas or something between 25 December and 7 January that is unique or spectacular or just memorable. Maybe we should compare notes in a few weeks.

The largest New Year's Celebration in Europe is in Edinburgh, Scotland - yes, I know, Scotland!!! There are a number of events on New Year's Eve, but the largest is a street party with various stages and bands - too early to know what the line up will be for 2015 but you can look at this year's event to get an idea of what goes on. Was there a few years ago - unfortunately, a major storm hit so many of the concerts were cancelled but it was still great fun - lots of people out and about and the fireworks show went on as planned.

Nancy beat me to it, Edinburgh and the Hogmanay Festival is the biggest and best in many way. Scots have always made a big deal out of New Years. Christmas Celebrations were banned for several hundred years and the Scots made up for it at New Years. There are tons of traditions around the holiday. Rampant Scotland is a great source for info about Scotland. This site has some great info as well. The festival itself is over three days.

The year that the festival was canceled was when there were gale force winds. Here a guide that has info on the history of the celebration.

I've heard some people who go to other private events near Prince's Street at Hotels and split their time between that event and the public event.

Vienna is wunderbar at New Years. The city is full of people and a myriad of musical venues.

Berlin, in case you like it loud, crazy and chaotic. Here is a random street scene:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HLwV63d4JM

Edinburgh calls it Hogmany and takes to the streets for a three-day party including concerts, a torchlight parade, fireworks and traditional music and dancing at a Keilidh. Here is a link to the program two months ago http://www.edinburghshogmanay.org/whats-on

A drunken hedonistic festival?