Top Five Places to Ring in the New Year

3, 2, 1. . . Happy New Year! Whether counting down to 2007 at tried-and-true celebrations like New York's annual Times Square extravaganza, or by eating a grape for every stroke of midnight in Barcelona, your adrenaline is sure to be racing as 2006 winds down in 5 favorite places chosen by the editors at ShermansTravel.com to ring in the New Year.

1. Aspen
Snow bunnies will use any excuse to hit the slopes, and a New Year's celebration is better than most. But, there's way more than soft, wide mountain terrain to lure reveling holiday travelers to Aspen's legendary runs. This fabled, fabulous resort has long played host to the free-spirited and the Forbes/Fortune crowd who can't get enough of the sophisticated action on and off the slopes. Whether schussing down the slopes of Snowmass, dining on gourmet cuisine, or savoring martinis with the well-heeled.

2. Bangkok
New Year's Eve is thrice as nice in Thailand, where you'll have three annual chances to ring in the new. First, there's the New Year's celebration with the Western world on December 31; the biggest event unfolds at Bangkok's Central World Plaza where rockin' Thai musicians and mesmerizing fireworks promise a party through the night. Between mid-January and February, Thailand then tips its hat to its Chinese neighbor, with massive celebrations in Bangkok's Chinatown. Finally, the centuries-old tradition of Songkran kicks off on April 13, celebrating the first day of the traditional Thai calendar with three days of parades, feasting, and, most outrageously, a water-throwing festival in which passersby are drenched with water balloons, water guns, buckets, you name it.

3. Barcelona
Don't miss your siesta - Barcelona's all-night New Year's fiesta requires some stamina! The Spanish version of año nuevo kicks off with family and friends sharing a sumptuous meal and mucho vino at a private home or restaurant. The onset of 12 a.m. means a frantic race to stuff your face with 12 good-luck grapes - one for each stroke of midnight. You'd be wise to concentrate on the task at hand - if you succeed at this long-standing Spanish tradition, you're ensured a year of prosperity and good luck.  Once the last one is downed, crowds spill out into the Gothic Quarter and Las Ramblas, drawn by the pulsating music and chatter emanating from numerous bars and nightclubs.

4. Edinburgh
This Scottish capital boasts one of the world's biggest New Year bashes: Hogmanay. At the close of each year, a four-day fête counts down to the big kahuna on December 31, complete with parades, concerts, carnivals, dog races, firework shows and a slew of hedonistic events and parties. Major international artists perform along Princes Street during the Royal Bank Street Party on New Year's Eve, while age-old national customs, like "first-footing," are practiced all over town: Right after midnight, neighbors bring luck - and gifts of coal or shortbread - to their friends and family by being the first to set foot in their household in the new year.

5. Goa
Located on the western coast of the Indian Peninsula, Goa's lush green vegetation and breathtaking beaches not only offer some of India's most beautiful natural scenery, but also serves as the backdrop for some of the globe's hottest New Year's celebrations, complete with all-night seaside bashes packed with partygoers entranced by techno music. If glow sticks and rave parties aren't your thing, you can gamble the night away aboard India's first and only offshore casino - the MS Caravela yacht - or, rent a motorbike and visit an old Portuguese fort or local fishing villages.

You can see more exciting New Year's destinations, travel deals and destination advice at ShermansTravel.com. Their editors screen hundreds of travel deals each week and publish the best ones in a weekly newsletter for travelers who "share a passion for travel bargains and values," according to James Sherman, founder and president of ShermansTravel.com.

Copyright © 2006, ARA Content