Last-minute city breaks for New Year’s Eve

http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2014/dec/23/last-minute-new-years-eve-city-breaks

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You may think it’s too late, but if your New Year’s Eve plans don’t feel very exciting, there is still time to book a trip to celebrate abroad. All you need to do is choose a city ...

Skyscanner.net is a good place to start. It told us it has a few easyJet flights from Luton to Amsterdam next week, getting you to the Dutch city in time for the partying. There’s one departing on 31 December, landing at 2.15pm and returning on 2 January at 1.20pm, for £167pp. For events with tickets available, including tickets on the door, see iamsterdam.com. Easytobook.com had a few hotel rooms left for those dates, with doubles from about £270 for two nights. Hotels.com has two nights for two at the Crowne Plaza for £276.

Skyscanner also throws up Ryanair’s Stansted to Dublin flights, arriving at 11.30pm on 30 December and returning on 1 January at a hangover-friendly 6.50pm. Or you can fly from Edinburgh to Dublin from £37 one way. With such a short break – and long pub crawl – sleeping isn’t obligatory, but you could lay your head at one of 414 Airbnb rentals still available in Dublin for those dates.

Also on Skyscanner we found a Swiss Air flight from Heathrow to Geneva arriving on 31 December at 9.35am and returning on 7 January, for £97pp. The Alps are your oyster, with dozens of ski resorts and plenty of lairy events near here. Onthesnow.co.uk has a good overview: it was written last year but most listings still apply.

EasyJet suggests flying Gatwick to Naples on 29 December, returning on 1 January at 11.40am. On New Year’s Eve you just keep on eating until the bell tolls at one of the city’s late-night restaurants – be sure to order lentils, the traditional dish which ensures money and good fortune for the coming year – then watch the fireworks set off from just about every house in the city.

EasyJet also has flights to the party-hard city of Hamburg, on 31 December arriving at 10.45am, flying back on 4 January. Silvester (New Year’s Eve) in Hamburg means clubbing, and fireworks over the riverside landing stages. Hamburg-travel.com has a loft in the red-brick Gastwerk Hotel Hamburg for €83 a night, or the city’s Generator hostel has bargain beds and its own party.

Easyjet says there’s also good availability on its Manchester-Copenhagen, Bristol-Barcelona, Bristol-Berlin, Edinburgh-Munich and Belfast-Krakow routes.

St Mark’s Square is the most famous place to see in midnight in Venice. Ryanair has flights from East Midlands from £92 return over the New Year period.

Monarch Airlines says Birmingham or Gatwick to Madeira, or Birmingham to Turin are good bets over the party season, with flights around £80 return.

If you’ve been a Scrooge when it comes to gifts, you could consider four nights in Swedish Lapland at Sörbyn Lodge, Luleå, with snowmobiling, husky sledding and a seven-course New Year’s Eve feast, plus a chance of seeing the northern lights. Departing 31 December, it costs from £1,625pp full -board based on two sharing, including flights, with The Aurora Zone (01670 785 012, theaurorazone.com).

• All the above flights were available at the time of going to press