Lonely Planet’s 7 great places to spend New Year’s Eve -- that aren’t Las Vegas or New York City
Lonely Planet says there are more interesting places to go on New Year’s Eve than party-centric Las Vegas or New York City.
Take New Orleans, where you can watch a French icon — the fleur-de-lis — drop in Jackson Square, and fireworks over the Mississippi River with the majestic St. Louis Cathedral in the background.
Experts with the travel guide company came up with seven destinations they consider “unique” to ring in 2017. New Orleans was the only U.S. destination to make the list.
Here are the others:
Matera, in southern Italy, is a UNESCO World Heritage city that hosts a live nativity scene with 150 performers during the holiday season.
Melbourne, Australia, where rooftop bars are the perfect place to watch fireworks.
Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, where bars will be lively and traditional dishes are the thing to order.
Nassau, the Bahamas, where Junkanoo is a Carnival-scale street celebration that lasts from Dec. 26 to New Year’s Day.
Hangzhou, China, offers a “peaceful way to see in 2017,” Lonely Planet says, by visiting the Yongfu Temple and sip tea at its teahouse.
Sydney, Australia, where there’s a fireworks show in its famed harbor and a boat parade where “vessels of all shapes and sizes decked out in dazzling white rope-light dance across the water to the sound of live music.”
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