New Year's Eve holidays 2007

From exciting street parties to incredible colourful parades, celebrations to bring in the New Year are one of the ultimate reasons to travel across the globe.

Rio de Janeiro's beach party and Edinburgh's Hogmanay may be some of the best known, but travelbite.co.uk has been doing the research to bring you info on plenty more New Year's celebrations that would make a great holiday.

On the list are destinations including Sydney, Berlin and Iceland's capital Reykjavik.

Fireworks, fireworks everywhere in Iceland

There may be plenty of spectacular public fireworks displays this New Year, but if there is one thing Iceland's capital Reykjavik has over other cities it is its wonderfully chaotic displays to bring in 2008.

Many communities across the city will be launching their own fireworks shows, which mark the beginning of the night-long celebrations.

As well as the more traditional celebrations with bonfires and folk singing, those looking to enjoy the city's famously hip nightlife can head to clubs and parties until the early hours.

Gudmundur Gudmundsson from airline Icelandair explained: "New Year's Eve is a huge occasion in Iceland; a giant celebration.

"People congregate around bonfires and sing traditional Icelandic songs and there are spectacular firework displays. It is quite possible that you may spot some trolls or elves among the revellers too!".

Plus you could be rubbing shoulders with Hollywood wild child Kiefer Sutherland who has spent his last two Christmases in Iceland, and was recently quoted expressing his love of the way the country celebrates New Year.

"Icelanders go crazy on New Year's Eve; I have never seen anything like it, every family has their own fireworks," he said.

"When I'm in Iceland I feel like I'm at home, the people are so friendly . . . I can't imagine New Year's Eve anywhere else."

However, the extravagant celebrations do not just end at New Year - on January 6th the Icelanders have more bonfires and fireworks to celebrate Twelfth Night (Þrettándinn or Epiphany).

And if you are in Reykjavik at the end of January there is another celebration - this time in the form of a grand Viking feast. Typically the Thorrablot feast involves meaty and fishy dishes finished off with the Icelandic spirit brennivin.

Holidaymakers should note that as well as easily palatable foods such as smoked lamb and special yoghurts, Icelanders also savour traditional Viking dishes such as sheep heads.

For more information see the Iceland tourist board website.

Celebrate on bridges, towers and gates in Germany

Germany's capital Berlin will be throwing a huge party for New Year's Eve this year, focused around the city's iconic Brandenburg Gate.

As well as a big fireworks display at midnight, revellers have over a mile of stages, shows, giant screens, food stalls and light shows to explore in what is fast becoming one of Europe's top New Year's Eve parties - despite the cold.

To welcome in 2007 as many as a million people came to the free event, and this year's combinations of live bands, DJs and more should see even more join the Berlin street party.

For more information on the events see www.silverster-berlin.de.

Alternatively, if you are looking for more refinement, you can also enjoy a New Year's Eve ball (Silvester Ball) at the Palais am Funkturm, which has been a traditional place to celebrate the coming year for over five decades.

At this year's event there will be three bands, two DJs and a special live show. Tickets cost €85 including a buffet meal.

However, it is not just Berlin that will have excellent events to see in 2008. Many cities across the country have fantastic fireworks displays by the water, with revellers taking to bridges to get the best vantage points.

For instance, in the historic city of Cologne, Deutzer Brücke will be closed to traffic, offering visitors a great place from which to enjoy the fireworks over the Rhine.

As well as beautiful bridges to watch the fireworks from, holidaymakers can take in Cologne's spectacular cathedrals, the dozen Romanesque churches and historic streets.

You could also visit the city with a river cruise along the Rhine, where you can enjoy a meal on the water and catch the fireworks without the crowds.

You can also take to the water on a boat tour in the Bavarian city of Hamburg, which will be having a fireworks display at its expansive and historic harbour.

Another city with great views of fireworks is medieval Nuremburg (Nürnberg), where the Kaiserburg Castle will be offering viewing platforms to see the fireworks display.

And if you are there before the New Year's events take place, the city has one of Germany's best Christmas markets, made up of 180 wooden booths that attract some two million visitors each year. The market runs until Christmas Eve.

Culture, partying and winter sun in Sydney

There is also an easy, and more luxurious, solution to those holidaymakers that are adverse to cold, mid-winter partying in the UK and Europe - head south.

One of the southern hemisphere's top destinations is Sydney, and its New Year's celebrations live up to the Australian city's reputation as one of the most vibrant, exciting and fun places to go in the country.

The main focus of the city's celebrations will be at Darling Harbour, where a series of free events and two intense firework displays by the Sydney Harbour bridge and Sydney Opera House will take place.

From six in the evening until one am there will be live outdoor shows on two stages (one of which will be floating in the harbour).

The celebrations are very much family orientated, more so early on.

From six pm there will be a series of children's shows at Palm Court ranging from interactive theatre to bands in costume, which will build up to the family fireworks display at nine pm.

A little after nine the adults' party gets going on with the Harbourside stage hosting performances of from a 40s and 50s-style swing band, followed by a 90-minute set from the ABBA tribute act Bjorn Again.

From 22:45 to midnight there will be more music in the form of Gervais Koffi and the African Diaspora, which will take revellers all the up to the grand fireworks display at midnight - continuing afterwards, right through to one am.

The harbour is also home to a host of bars and restaurants, so even if you are not so keen on the music there are lots of other experiences that can be had in the build up to the big displays to welcome 2008.

Sydney also has the added attraction of its major summer arts festival hot on the heels of the New Year's celebrations.

For three weeks from January 5th, the Sydney Festival will see big name artists such as Brian Wilson and Bjork performing live, with almost 200 other events taking place including dance, theatre, visual arts, film, as well as music concerts ranging from jazz and classical music to rock and folk.

There will also be a special children's programme and an outdoor dance event taking place in the city's Hyde Park.

For more information see the Sydney official visitor website.