Dec 20, 2019
The countdown to New Year’s Eve has nearly begun. While the usual suspects such as romantic Paris, historic Rome, and exciting Las Vegas usually make their way into most travel lists, maybe it is time to consider the road less traveled. If you’re wondering where to spend next New Year’s Eve, here’s a look at our top off-beat travel destinations to consider.
Antarctica
Lands of pristine beauty, breathtaking wildlife and inestimable importance in an environmental and historical sense, traveling to the base of the globe, Antarctica, is a long-held dream for most people. To wake in the remote, tranquil land is an experience you will never forget, and certainly one to experience in the New Year.
The Antarctic Peninsula’s west coast is a land of vast white icescapes, towering peaks and a maze of protected channels, home to an abundance of wildlife with vast colonies of penguins, seals and pods of whales. Every day in Antarctica is a feast for the senses, as you savor a rare chance to witness a part of the world few have stepped foot upon.
South Korea
The less explored East Asian destination of South Korea harbors incredible hidden jewels waiting to be discovered in the New Year. Despite a difficult past, today South Korea is one of the fastest growing economies in Asia. Beyond its lively high-tech cities, the country is teeming with natural and manmade wonders, including volcanic craters, lava caves, picturesque waterfalls, ancient fortresses, and even dinosaur fossils.
With autumn turning its tree-lined boulevards into canary yellow dampung-gil (paths of autumn foliage), and spring enveloping the country in pink cherry blossoms, it is almost impossible to take a bad travel photograph in South Korea. In winter, you wouldn’t have to travel far to experience a white Christmas, and you certainly wouldn’t have to wonder where to spend New Year’s Eve.
Myanmar
Jaw-dropping temples, delicate artwork and a transcendent spirituality are but a few of the many beautiful things you’ll find as you journey through this once hidden nation. Get in touch with your spiritual side in the ancient capital of Sagaing where hundreds of painted pagodas and monasteries await. Bagan will take your breath away with the sheer breadth of its temple complexes and spending time among them is a moment you’ll always treasure. Yangon, the largest city of the country, offers up many surprises including a thriving arts scene and the spectacular Shwedagon Pagoda.
Only recently opened to Western travelers, this land of deep spirituality and spectacular treasures will entrance and delight. Celebrate New Year’s Eve at Myanmar and enlightenment will be yours.
Iceland
If you’re wondering where to spend New Year’s Eve and what to do when the clock strikes twelve, soaking in the midnight sun in the land of fire and ice sounds like a pretty good idea. An exciting addition to your travel bucket-list for 2020, Iceland is full of breathtaking wonders. Strikingly beautiful and packed with an endless list of natural attractions, Iceland is a land of extremes. Its coastlines are fringed with rugged fjords, its interior speckled with lava fields, bubbling mud pools, an erupting geyser, active volcanoes and larger-than-life glaciers.
Immerse yourself in the distinctive Icelandic culture, taste unique local cuisine, soothe your body and mind in geothermal waters while being surrounded by a field of black lava, and delight in the sheer abundance of other-worldly sights. Iceland’s magical thrall will have you spellbound in no time.
