With so many public holidays around this time it can also be the best opportunity to get time off work and head away… but with only one chance to see in the New Year right it pays to make sure you pick destination to suit your personality.

To make things a little easier this year, Flight Centre’s travel consultants have compiled a top 10 list of some of the most famous and most interesting places to celebrate New Year’s around the world.

New York, New York

The yearly countdown in New York’s Times Square is the most iconic of New Year’s celebrations and should be experienced by everyone at least once in their life.

Bright lights, celebrity MCs, a ton of confetti and a crowd of over a million people contribute to this huge event, counting down the last minute of the year and watching the famous Waterford Crystal ball drop from atop the Times Square building.

A cool time in Antarctica

For something completely different, an increasingly popular place to spend New Year’s Eve is the Antarctic. There are several Antarctic cruises over the Southern Hemisphere summer, and a couple that arrive especially for New Year’s celebrations.

Spend it on board a luxury cruise ship, or for the extreme, stay in a tent on shore if the weather is fair.

At this time the Antarctic receives almost 24 hour sunlight and the penguins are at their most active, so this New Year’s experience is sure to be a memorable one.

Start the year with a bang

If you’re a fan of fireworks, there’s no better place to see in the New Year than Funchal, the capital of the Madeira Islands off Portugal that has made its mark as having the best fireworks display in the world.

The 2006/2007 pyrotechnic exhibition in involved 17 tons of fireworks with over 650 000 detonations, making it the world’s largest fireworks exhibition according to the Guinness Book of World records — and is set to be repeated again this year.

The volcanic islands create a perfect natural amphitheatre so the thousands of spectators can view it from several vantage points or even from a boat on the harbour.

What happens in Vegas…

Every night is a party in Las Vegas, but on New Year’s things are stepped up a notch.

At 5pm the traffic is closed on the main strip and the road transformed into an enormous street party with street performers, celebrities and shows by top international acts.

If you tire of the entertainment you can slip back into any one of the casinos alongside the strip, but make sure you’re outside at midnight for the fireworks display, which are best viewed in front of Caesars Palace's Forum Shops or on the observation deck of the Stratosphere.

See the light in Gisborne

Gisborne, New Zealand is the farthest city to the east from the international dateline and the first in the world to see the sun each day.

New Year’s is therefore a huge celebration, with plenty to celebrate in the laid-back coastal city in the middle of summer.

Relax and enjoy the sunshine in one of New Zealand’s top holiday destinations or get yourself to the annual Rhythm & Vines music festival, with indie music, punk, rock, and electronic music groups performing in front of thousands of music fans in amongst the vineyards.

Celebrate twice in Cape Town

The weather is perfect in Cape Town for a waterfront carnival over the New Year period, which is exactly what takes place for the 80 000 visitors who descend on the city here each year.

There are numerous outdoor concerts with traditional African music and dance in the V&A Waterfront Amphitheatre, all next to a range of upmarket restaurants trading into the ‘wee hours’.

But the fun doesn’t stop there — on 2 January Capetonians celebrate Tweede Nuwejaar (or "second New Year"), with a bright and colourful parade through the Cape Town city centre.

When the festivities are finally over, thousands of travellers from around the world spend the next few relaxed days indulging at the top vineyards around the city and soaking up the legendary sites of the Mother City.

Crazy in Vancouver

On the morning of the first of January, thousands of Canadians take part in the “Polar Bear Swim” — jumping in frozen lakes and seas to celebrate the New Year.

In Vancouver, the temperature on the first day of the year is likely to be less than 10°, but no matter the weather once the starting gun goes off more than 1500 keen punters make a mad dash into the freezing waters.

Afterwards, the invigorated participants don their official t-shirt and later on take to the nightclubs to warm up and celebrate with the rest of the city.

With so many spectacular places and unusual ways to ring in the New Year, the keen traveller may need to plan the next few in advance — but get it right and the celebrations will be worth waiting a whole year for.

For holiday packages to any of the above destinations visit www.flightcentre.co.za.