When you think of celebrating New Year's Eve, you've probably got New York on your mind. Or Los Angeles. Or hey, maybe even Miami – because we've got New Year's Eve parties and dinner events galore. But according to Wallethub (and probably your own wallets from years past), you're not getting the most valuable experiences at these places. Now, there's another small but mighty city that's been ranked the best place to celebrate New Year's Eve, and lucky for South Florida folk, it's now accessible by Brightline.
The best city to celebrate New Year's Eve is Orlando, Florida, which is surprising, but also not that surprising considering the city throws an epic fireworks show 365 nights of the year. Disney is a magical (and extremely crowded) place to ring in 2024, however there are a slate of other neighborhoods that tout amazing bars, Michelin-starred restaurants and fun ways to stay entertained – as we discovered a few months ago on a whirlwind Brighline trip to explore a different side of Orlando.
According to Wallethub, Orlando ranked first when it came to nightlife and affordable 4.5+ star restaurants. And if you'd rather book an airbnb and throw your own soirée with views of the fireworks, Orlando has the most party supply stores and second highest number of gourmet specialty-food stores in the nation (per the square root of the population).
Now, Miami didn't score too low on the list. We're the sixth best city to celebrate New Year's Eve in the country, and we ranked second in entertainment and food. So, what we're getting at, is that there's no better place to ring in 2024 than in the sunshine state.