Here are some great places to spend your New Year’s holiday—night and day.
Pasadena isn’t as known for what happens before midnight as what happens after: just a few hours into the new year, the Rose Parade provides a grand display of marching bands, good cheer, and mind-boggling floats decorated with millions of flowers. You can reserve seats in the grandstands or stay warm in the curbside crowd. Enjoy the afternoon by scoring seats to the Rose Bowl, an energizing exhibition of college football.
Spend an intimate New Year’s morning strolling through the Butchart Gardens, which are still blooming in January due to the temperate climate. There you can take tea, go ice skating, and enjoy the lingering Christmas decorations. The more adventurous can spend the afternoon looking for waterfalls and nesting Bald Eagles in Goldstream Provincial Park, and the less adventurous can cozy up for a celebratory New Year’s Day concert by the Victoria Symphony at the Royal Theater.
New Year’s Eve get’s a little wild just outside of Phoenix in Tempe with the Fiesta Bowl Block Party, including a special kid-friendly area for the family. The next day kicks off the Fiesta Bowl at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale. If football’s not your thing, you can run the New Years Day 5k or visit the animals in the Phoenix Zoo, rated one of the top 5 zoos for kids in the US.
An option better suited for those with a desire for peace and quiet, Glacier National Park offers a hushed retreat from the lights and noise of urban partiers. Though the park is more difficult to access in the winter, it offers an unparalleled opportunity to view wildlife amid a stark landscape of brilliant white as you ski or snowshoe across Glacier’s many trails.
Not only does Orlando give visitors a reprieve from cold winter weather, it allows the young-at-heart to enjoy the new year in exhilarating fashion at any number of the theme parks in town that are open year-round. If you want to take a break from the lines at a park, you can sit down for some football action at the Capital One Bowl, played annually on New Year’s Day at the nearby Citrus Bowl.
Canada’s version of the New Year’s Eve Times Square celebration occurs at Queen Victoria Park on the northern side of the falls. Wake up after witnessing several fireworks spectaculars and free concerts to explore the myriad of New York State Parks located along the river, or head on down to Buffalo to visit museums, gamble, or catch a Buffalo Sabres game.
