Best countries for New Year's Eve: eight traditions compared

How we chose: named traditions, not a league table

No published dataset ranks countries by the quality of their New Year's Eve, and any list that claims to is expressing opinion. We used a narrower rule that a reader can check. A country is included when Wikipedia's New Year's Eve entry or a country-specific reference describes a distinct custom or public event, and when we could confirm the details on the page.

That rule favours places with well-documented public events and leaves out countries where celebrations are mainly private. Wikipedia describes modern Irish celebrations as typically small home parties, and the Netherlands as a time many people spend at home with family or friends, for example. Neither is a worse choice, but the experience is different if you are travelling and do not have a home to join.

We also avoided repeating dates or schedules except where an organiser publishes them. Check the official event site nearer the time.

Scotland: Hogmanay and the first-foot

Hogmanay is the Scottish name for New Year's Eve and the celebration of the new year. Wikipedia says it usually runs from 31 December to 2 January, with New Year's Day and 2 January (a Scottish bank holiday) included. Edinburgh's celebrations are described as among the largest in the world; in 1996-97 about 400,000 people attended, a figure recognised by the Guinness Book of Records, and numbers were later restricted for safety.

The organisers' own programme for 2026/27 lists a Torchlight Procession on 29 December, a Night Afore Party on 30 December, a concert beneath Edinburgh Castle and the street party in the city centre on 31 December, and a free, unticketed live music trail called First Footin'. Tickets for the main events are sold through the organiser's site, so check what is ticketed before you travel.

Elsewhere, Wikipedia describes the fireballs ceremony at Stonehaven, where swingers carry burning fireballs up the High Street as the bell marks the new year, and the burning of the clavie at Burghead in Moray. Edinburgh's event was cancelled in 2024-25 because of high winds, which is a reminder to keep a plan B. See Edinburgh and the wider Scotland hub for apartment-style stays.

Spain: twelve grapes at the midnight chimes

The Twelve Grapes is a Spanish New Year tradition in which people eat one grape with each of the twelve bell strikes at midnight on 31 December. Each grape and strike stands for one month of the coming year, and the custom is said to bring good luck and prosperity.

Wikipedia says the custom is recorded from at least 1895, became widespread in 1909 when Alicante vine growers promoted it to sell a surplus harvest, and is most famous at the Puerta del Sol in Madrid, where the year's change is broadcast nationally. Television coverage began in 1962 on Televisión Española.

For a base, see Madrid, and families can browse family-friendly stays in Madrid. Portugal has a related custom with twelve raisins, according to Wikipedia's New Year's Eve entry.

Australia: Sydney's harbour fireworks at 9pm and midnight

Sydney New Year's Eve is an annual fireworks event first held in 1976. The official site says fireworks light the harbour at 9pm and midnight. Wikipedia says the evening show, formerly the family fireworks and now called Calling Country, involves Indigenous Australians, while the midnight show is the main display, launched from barges in Port Jackson and from landmarks including the Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Wikipedia says organisers estimate that about 1.5 to 1.6 million people attend in person, with tourists a large share. The official site lists 48 vantage-point locations and a separate ticketed section; Wikipedia adds that in 2023 the state government made nearly all paid viewing sites on Crown land free, though the Royal Botanic Garden and Taronga Zoo still charge for tickets. Because arrangements change, check the official viewing guide for access, capacity and entry times.

Because the show is a harbour spectacle, accommodation near the water or with a balcony view is a different proposition from a stay elsewhere in the city; see Sydney and the Sydney stays with a kitchen page for self-catering options.

Brazil: réveillon on Copacabana beach

In Brazil, according to Wikipedia's New Year's Eve entry, the feast is called réveillon. Wikipedia's article on Copacabana says an estimated 2 million people go to the beach to see the spectacle, that the fireworks are counted among the world's biggest and run roughly 15 to 20 minutes, and that the first display took place in 1976.

The article also says that, starting in the 1950s, groups from cults of African origin such as Candomblé and Umbanda gathered on the beach dressed in white for ritual celebrations. Wikipedia's New Year's Eve entry adds that wearing colours with religious symbolism is common. We did not confirm further details of those practices, so we do not describe them here.

Rio is the obvious base: Rio de Janeiro has apartment-style stays, and the wider Brazil hub covers other cities. As with any event of this size, check current official guidance on crowds and transport.

Japan: Joya no Kane and the 108 bell strikes

Joya no Kane is a Japanese Buddhist bell-ringing event held on New Year's Eve. Wikipedia says the bell is struck at midnight on 31 December as part of the Ōmisoka celebrations, and that most temples strike it 108 times. The article gives three explanations for the number, including 108 sins, and says the practice spread across Japan partly through radio broadcasts in the late 1920s.

The pages we read do not say which temples welcome visitors, so check the temple you plan to visit. A version with 33 strikes exists in South Korea.

For a base, see Tokyo and Kyoto. Our where to stay in Tokyo for a month guide helps if you are staying beyond the holiday.

Germany, Iceland and Greece: a gate, a capital's fireworks and a coin in the cake

Germany: Wikipedia says fireworks are very popular, with the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin as the focal point where midnight fireworks are centred. Its Brandenburg Gate entry describes the area as one of the large public areas in Berlin where over a million people can gather. Dinner for One is also a New Year's Eve television tradition in Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Estonia.

Iceland: Visit Reykjavík invites visitors to join 200,000 people for the city's fireworks, and Wikipedia says the comedy special Áramótaskaupið is the most-watched television programme of the year in Iceland.

Greece: Wikipedia says a midnight fireworks display is held over the Parthenon in Athens, and families cut a vasilopita at midnight; whoever finds the coin hidden inside is said to have luck for the year.

Browse Berlin, Reykjavík and Athens for apartment-style stays.

Eight countries at a glance

The table lines up the customs described above. It records what the cited pages say, not a judgement about which is best. Event details change every year, so treat the table as a starting point.

Planning a New Year's stay: events, kitchens and cancellations

Whichever country you pick, three practical points apply. First, big events can be changed or cancelled; Wikipedia says Edinburgh's Hogmanay event was cancelled in 2024-25 for high winds. Read the flexibility terms before you commit, using our guide to aparthotel cancellation policies.

Second, in countries where the evening is a home meal, a kitchen is more useful than a restaurant table. Wikipedia describes a special family dinner in Sweden, a festive meal in Norway, and a midnight snack of oliebollen in the Netherlands. Cooking in an aparthotel kitchen covers what to expect.

Third, groups and multigenerational trips often find an apartment easier than separate hotel rooms; see group and multigenerational aparthotel trips.