Vienna

Why visit: New Year’s Eve in Vienna is more than galas and storied balls, even though there are lots of those to be had. Revelers crowd the Silvesterpfad, or New Year’s Eve Trail, in the city center. The birthday celebration, fueled by warm mulled wine and toffee apples, lasts from 2 p.m. to right after midnight, when the chimes of the Pummerin bell ring out from the tower of St. Stephen’s Cathedral and a fireworks show dazzles over the Prater Park. The majestic Imperator Teach, a “palace on rails,” takes visitors into the brand new year in high-priced fashion with a black-tie dinner and a stop on a Danube bridge at nighttime for an amazing view of the city’s fireworks. For an extra casual celebration, head to the Rathaus (city hall) to observe the New Year’s Eve concert projected on a huge display screen. Be sure to devour some Glücksschwein, or good-luck sausage, which you’ll discover in each shape, from suckling pig to pig-shaped marzipan treats.

Where to stay: Offering 26 rooms in a 19th-century house right by St. Stephen’s Cathedral, the Hollmann Beletage mixes contemporary with vintage-world elegance. Its eight-seat cinema displays Austrian films nightly.