New Year’s Eve Trip 2013 | Where to Go?

It may not be New Year’s yet, but it is that time of year when I start pondering the possibilities of our New Year’s Eve trip. In case you haven’t been following along, we decided to go down the alphabet and visit cities we have never been to before for New Year’s Eve. In 2011, we visited Amsterdam and I wrote several posts here on my blog that you can take a look at and see all of the fun we had. Just put Amsterdam in the search box above and have at it. In 2012 we went to Berlin and although colder than I normally like, we had a blast.

Now we are up to the letter C and while there is an abundance of options, I can’t quite decide. One of the requirements when choosing a city is that it can’t be somewhere we have traveled to previously. Another is that if it is ridiculously far away by plane, then it probably won’t work as we won’t have a full week to spend at our destination and so we have to plan wisely. The last one is expense, which basically is self-explanatory, but if a flight is a couple thousand dollars, it’s probably not going to make the list.

Yesterday afternoon I came up with a short list after excluding some insanely great options that didn’t make the list. Most of those were either in Australia, New Zealand, or Asia. Here is what I found:

Calgary, Alberta, Canada: Located 50 miles east of the Canadian Rockies, this city has so much to offer including a fun filled New Year’s Eve celebration. With a population of over 1.1 million residents, Calgary is the largest city in Alberta. We especially love how many active things there are to do here from skiing, snowboarding, skydiving, horseback riding, and so much more! No direct flights from Boston to Calgary and flights can go through Toronto or Montreal before heading onto Calgary.

Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island: What young girl didn’t grow up reading Anne of Green Gables? Well, I certainly did and this is where the series takes place. With a population of just over 35,000 people, although not a big city, there is plenty of options here for culture, entertainment, and fun. No direct flights from Boston as well, which means we might have to spend the better part of a day traveling to Toronto or Montreal and then onto Charlottetown.

Cardiff, Wales, UK: The capital and largest city in Wales, Cardiff has a population of nearly 350,000. With a tremendous amount of history, sports, and culture, Cardiff is an exciting option for our New Year’s Eve plans. Staying at the voco hotel in Cardiff, for example, could be a good idea, especially if the plan is to see what Cardiff has to offer. At least this means not having to worry about getting home before the fun begins!

Considering I have been to England and Ireland and will be traveling to Scotland soon, visiting Cardiff would mean that I had the chance to visit all of the United Kingdom. Their Winter Wonderland even boasts a spectacular firework finale to bring in the new year. No surprise that once again I’ve picked a city that doesn’t offer a direct flight option so we would have to probably fly to Dublin or Edinburgh or another UK city before flying to Cardiff. You can view an amazing slideshow of images of Cardiff from the Visit Cardiff website by clicking here.

Do you have any suggestions or ideas to help me decide? I really haven’t made a final decision and probably should start deciding soon. Feel free to add your comments below and I will most definitely keep you updated on my travel plans.