“The holiday season is one of the most fun times of the year.”
For starters, New Year’s Eve is just around the corner but there’s office parties (and the chance to get close to that girl from accounting you’ve been eyeing since July), festive times in the bars and festive city-wide events.
1. New York City
With the huge tree and ice skating rink in Rockefeller Plaza, strolling by decorated shops and falling snow, the Big Apple is the world’s best place to get into the holiday spirit. And when it comes to holiday spirits, there’s lively bars all over the city where people duck into to take a break from shopping, to get out of the cold and to go to after office parties.
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2. London
Very similar to the feeling and atmosphere of NYC . Except people go into pubs.
3. Germany
European Christmas markets are great places to spend the holidays and they are all over Germany from Berlin to small towns. And there is always beer involved so you can party with locals.
With a EuroRail pass you can spend a week or more going around to different cities and villages, which is a great winter party vacation. By the way, while you’re in the neighbourhood, head over to Switzerland and check out the Christmas markets in Zurich, Bern and Basel; in the latter go hit this happening Irish Bar.
There’s shopping as well as a festive mood at these top Holiday party places.
4. Newport Beach, California
The world’s biggest and best holiday boat parade is here, so big it lasts for nearly and entire week. As a result, the entire Orange County coastal community is buzzing for a month. The 2015 dates are Dec. 16-20 (there are also boat parades in Marina del Rey, Long Beach and Redondo Beach on December.
5. Chicago
The weather in the Windy City is chilly if not downright freezing, but there’s a great Christmas feeling to the place, and Chicagoans love to warm up with drinks in the bars.
The top places for the holiday bars are “The Loop” downtown and Rush & Division. PubClub’s favorite spot in the latter – anytime of the year – is The Lodge.
6. Manhattan Beach, California
No need for heavy coats and gloves here; instead bring your shorts and sandals! This beach community just south of the Los Angeles airport is warm, has great sunsets and lively bars throughout the season.
The reason it makes this list is that it has one of the world’s top events, the Holiday Fireworks, a spectacular show set to music of the season over the Pacific Ocean. Thousands watch along the beach, on The Strand and in the street, and not only are the bars packed but there are dozens of house parties. It’s always the second Sunday in December.
7. Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
Like Newport Beach, Lauderdale has a huge boat parade. It’s part of a series of holiday events, most of which lead to a great party scene. Yet Lauderdale’s biggest attraction is that it is close to so many other Florida coastal cities, all of which have a bit of a different scene and their own holiday events, so it’s like being in several different places without ever leaving the same general area. Those places include Palm Beach and for singles, especially Delray Beach.
8. Key West, Florida
The Conch Republic has those awesome nightly rituals at sunset, bars along the water and on Duval Street. Its boat parade is Saturday, Dec. 12 in front of (of course) a bar.
9. Ski Resorts, Austria
We could not narrow it to just one location; after all, you could be in the Swiss Alps, Colorado or Whistler and be in a good spot. Austria, and in particular St. Anton, has a great party scene. Whistler is good, too (plus it pours Canadian beer!). The slopes are right there, and so, too, is ski apres.
10. Waikiki Beach, Hawaii
With weather in the 80s, surfers and canoes catching slow-rolling waves and Mai Tais just over the shoulder, it may be difficult to get in the actual holiday frame of mind here. But when you watch the Hawai’i Bowl in TV and see those scenes while you are freezing to death, don’t you wish you were there instead of bundled up at your snowy location?
This feature originally appeared in PubClub.
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