The best European cities for New Year

What you are actually buying

New Year in a European city is a single evening that costs roughly what a whole long weekend costs at any other time of year. That is worth saying plainly, because groups routinely book it without doing the arithmetic and then feel cheated.

It is worth it if the group specifically wants the event: a street party, a fireworks display over a famous skyline, a big night out with the whole city participating. It is not worth it if you want to see the city, because everything except bars and restaurants is shut, museums close, and the streets are too crowded to walk.

Edinburgh, the organised one

Hogmanay in Edinburgh is the most structured New Year celebration in Europe: a multi-day festival with a torchlight procession, a ticketed street party along Princes Street, a concert, and fireworks off the castle.

The advantage is that it is properly run and you know what you are getting. The disadvantage is that the main street party is ticketed and sells out, hotel prices are among the highest in Europe that week, and Scottish weather in late December is not on your side.

Book accommodation in September or October. Tickets for the street party go on sale months ahead.

Berlin, the biggest street party

Berlin runs one of the largest open-air New Year events in Europe along the Strasse des 17. Juni at the Brandenburg Gate, free to attend, with a stage programme and midnight fireworks.

Berlin is also the best European city for a group whose plan is clubs rather than a street party, and the clubs run through into 1 and 2 January rather than closing at 03:00.

It is one of the cheaper capitals for New Year, though prices still roughly double.

Madrid, Lisbon, and the southern option

Madrid gathers at Puerta del Sol to eat twelve grapes at midnight, one on each chime of the clock, which is a genuine national tradition rather than a tourist event. The square is packed and access is controlled, so arrive early or watch from a bar.

Lisbon has fireworks over the Tagus from Praca do Comercio, is milder than Northern Europe at 12 to 15C, and is significantly cheaper than the northern capitals even at New Year.

Both cities eat late and go out later. Nothing meaningful happens before 22:00 and the night runs to 06:00.

• Madrid: twelve grapes at Puerta del Sol, arrive very early
• Lisbon: fireworks over the river, milder weather, better value
• Both: dinner at 21:00 or later, night runs until dawn

Vienna, Prague, and the classical version

Vienna runs a Silvesterpfad, a New Year trail of stages and food stalls through the old town, plus the famous New Year Concert on 1 January, which is broadcast worldwide and is nearly impossible to get tickets for.

Prague has fireworks and an old town that looks spectacular, though the city moved its official display to 1 January some years ago and private fireworks in the streets can be genuinely hazardous.

Both are beautiful and both are crowded. Both impose long minimum stays over New Year.

What it costs, and the minimum stay trap

Accommodation over New Year typically runs 60 to 150 percent above early December for the same room. Many hotels impose a three or four night minimum stay covering 30 December to 2 January, and a significant number add a compulsory New Year gala dinner charge of EUR 60 to EUR 200 per person.

Restaurants on 31 December frequently move to a fixed New Year menu at two to four times the normal price, with no a la carte option. If your group wants a normal dinner, book a place that has explicitly said it is serving normally, or eat at 18:00.

Realistic three-night totals per person excluding flights: Prague EUR 450 to EUR 800, Berlin EUR 500 to EUR 850, Lisbon EUR 450 to EUR 800, Vienna EUR 650 to EUR 1,100, Edinburgh EUR 700 to EUR 1,300, Amsterdam EUR 750 to EUR 1,400.

The cheaper alternatives

Go 27 to 31 December and fly home on the 31st. You get the decorated city, the post-Christmas sales, and the low-season prices, and you spend New Year at home.

Or go 2 to 6 January. Prices collapse immediately after 2 January, the cities are empty, and in many places the decorations stay up until Epiphany on 6 January. This is the single best value week of the entire winter.

Or pick a smaller city. Porto, Krakow, Ljubljana, and Valencia all have proper New Year celebrations at a fraction of the capital city price.

• 27 to 31 December: decorated city, low season prices
• 2 to 6 January: the cheapest week of winter, decorations still up
• Smaller cities: Porto, Krakow, Ljubljana, Valencia
• Book by early October for the night itself