If you want to see out a year with the glitziest of bangs, or set the most beautiful scene and tone for a new one, there’s only one city in which to be!
New Year’s Eve
If you’re the organised type, you’ll find many great options in advance of the night …
- Check out which hotels are offering a multi-course dinner followed by after-partying. For example, Hôtel Particulier in Montmartre, or Terrass” with its spectacular view — just be aware that many sell out quickly.
- Book tickets to one of the sumptuous shows that play in the city’s glamorous theatres during the Christmas period — such as this year’s Swan Lake at the legendary Théatre des Champs-Élysées. You’ll be finished in time to make it to a good vantage point for the Eiffel Tower midnight fireworks.
- Sure, it’s touristy, but a dinner cruise makes the night easy (and cosy), especially if you’re with family. Eat, drink and be merry while you waft up and down the Seine, and enjoy a prime position in front of the Iron Lady when she lights up the start of the new year. There are numerous options, so take the time to study the menus and photos to find the cruise that’s right for you.
- If you’ve always secretly hankered to go to a cabaret show but have never quite found the right occasion to justify the outing, New Year’s Eve is surely it. See what’s offer at the Moulin Rouge, Lido de Paris and Crazy Horse.
If you’re not so into forward planning, or simply like the idea of spontaneity and serendipity, you’ll find many options for dinner and drinks in the smaller restaurants, cafés, hotels and bars around town. Have a bottle of champagne stashed in your bag, for when you make your way towards the Eiffel Tower, and pop it in synchronicity with the fireworks.
Alternatively, spend the evening up at Montmartre, where you’ll also find many kooky and quirky bars and restaurants in which to nip in and out. Just make sure you’re in front of Sacré-Coeur at midnight — there are few better viewing platforms for the Eiffel Tower show.
New Year’s Day
The first of January is not too different from most other days in Paris … just slower. Sure, the shops are closed, but many museums are open, and it’s a particularly great opportunity to see some of the smaller museums you otherwise might miss — for example, the Musée Montmartre, the Musée Jacquemart-André and the Orangerie. Most restaurants will be business as usual, so treat yourself to a lovely long lunch. And walk it off around the streets, still twinkling with Christmas lights.
This year, the marché de noël in the Tuileries will still be trading, so if you want to wander somewhere pretty with a cup of mulled wine in hand, head straight here. And make the time to whirl around the market’s Ferris wheel, too — it will make the day all the more magical.
The perfect way to end it: Hole up in a cosy bar or café, crack open a new notebook, and get to writing your year’s resolutions. There’s nothing like this city to inspire you to live more beautifully!