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Iceland and New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve in Reykjavik Iceland

With the country’s dark winter days, holidays take on a special and lively characteristic. Iceland’s famous New Year’s Eve Celebration is the largest in Europe.
Millions of fireworks are set off throughout Reykjavik during this auspicious evening with community bonfires that take place all over the city. Musicians perform traditional Icelandic music and residents and visitors gather before the enormous bonfires to visit, celebrate and prepare for an evening of magnificent pyrotechnics and fun.

Iceland’s New Year’ Eve Celebration is an absolute blast and one of the best ways to take part in the festivities is to book a package deal with one of the city’s hotels. For the entire evening’s events, the cost is very reasonable.

The Grand Hotel Reykjavik is a modern and first-class accommodation that is perfect to stay in while visiting the city; they offer a great New Year’s Eve celebration package as well. Dress up, because the evening starts with champagne and strawberries in the hotel’s wonderful open-space bar, located just outside of the ballroom. Guests from around the globe mingle with each other sipping divine vintages and listen to live music, while admiring everyone’s stylish attire.

Now it’s off to be seated at your ballroom table draped with white linens and festive holiday décor, as you decide to visit the appetizer tables spread with delectable morsels. After your appetizers, it’s time to peruse the luscious dinner buffet; you can forget watching your waistline.

New Year's Eve in Iceland Once your leisurely dinner is finished, you must put warm clothing over your dashing duds and take the big, comfy tour bus located outside the hotel to a few bonfires. Oh, and you must try the Icelandic schnapps Brennivin (provided by hotel) while seated on the tour bus headed to the Bonfires. The bonfires and first stage of fireworks take your breath away, until ultimately, you must head back to the hotel to sip more champagne and nibble on a huge variety of gourmet goodies and chocolates.

It’s time, go out onto the hotel’s balconies and bring your cameras, the count-down to midnight commences with an explosion of fireworks. The entire city is alight with the most beautiful and astonishing fireworks displays you will ever see and they just don’t seem to end!

Moreover, the celebrations don’t end at midnight. The partying continues with all of the city’s hotels and clubs featuring live music and dancing until the wee hours of morning. And of course, you’ll drink plenty more Champagne and Brennivin.

For additional information on Iceland’s fantastic New Year's Eve Celebration visit IcelandTouristBorad.com

Icelandair is the country’s reliable and highly rated airline. Customer service staff and flight attendants all provide friendly, helpful, and organized service. Have you ever seen another airline set your incoming luggage upright on the conveyer belt so that you can just grab it and be off? The cabins are clean and comfortable even in economy, with footrests and a good selection of in-flight movies.

Patrice Raplee is an experienced travel photojournalist and editor of Travel Excursion and Seattle Spotlight for Positively Entertainment magazine. In addition, she writes a monthly travel column for the award-wining site Offbeat Travel. She is a member of North American Travel Journalists Association (NATJA), International Travel Writers Alliance (ITWA) and the Recording Academy. Her photographs and articles have appeared in numerous international publications, as well as NW newspapers such as the Seattle Times, the Stranger, Seattle Weekly and the Oregonian. As a freelance photojournalist, she has also worked with acclaimed musical entertainers, such as Santana, Billy Joel and Steven Tyler. Patrice travels the globe to cover destinations that feature fascinating culture, art, culinary, history and soft adventure.
All photos by Patrice Raplee

© 2010