Yes, yes, yes. We know it's about champagne and fireworks, about reflecting on the year past and making plans for the year ahead; we know it's about being merry and getting merry...but after decades of New Year Eves you might find yourself wondering, "Yes, but where?" and "Hmmm, perhaps something a little different this year?" If, like me, you are wondering how to inject a little distinction into this year's New Year proceedings, ruminating on how to differentiate this coming New Year from the rather too many to count past new years, then we could well have a few answers for you here.
Camping or touring during the festive period puts a different spin on things, for sure. Head to pastures new and you can throw yourself into the familiar flamboyance of New Year celebrations but with some welcome cultural variations on the routines that you have perhaps come to know a little too well. Throw in a clear, starry sky and the cameraderie of a campsite and you've concocted a winning fusion of warm familiarity and the excitement of the new. New Years Eve Camping really is becoming a thing!
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Enjoy a St Ives New Year
St Ives, that small but perfectly formed jewel of a town in West Cornwall, really does know how to celebrate New Years Eve in style.
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Stay at Ayr Holiday Park just a ten minute walk from the town's activities and beautiful beaches and you'll be joining a healthy congregation of like-minded New Years campers and tourers welcoming in January 1st.
This Tourist Board rated 4 star site has all the facilities you'll need to get dolled up and head down into town to enjoy the celebrations: there are hot showers, hair driers and shaving points galore in the shower block.
With pitches being so popular at this site, you'll have to book a minimum of a 4 night stay, so why not make a mini break of it? There's certainly plenty to do in the local area from wildlife watching, cliff walking, bracing beach combing and, of course, exploring the idiosyncratic town itself.
Anyone for a New Year sea-dip? The showers at Ayr Holiday Park are HOT!
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Ayr Holiday Park, St Ives
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Looe New Year's Eve
We make no apologies for staying down in Cornwall, because it turns out that the Cornish really do know how to party at New Year! We've headed East, though, to Looe where the friendly street celebrations will see you welcome your New Year in with a smile.
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Get your fancy dress costume prepared in advanced - the more daring the better - because a Looe New Years Eve really is a vibrant affair, where dancing and street-beach shannanigans take place under a firework-lit sky and locals and visitors alike don a range of somewhat unexpected costumes.
Stay at Camping Caradon Touring Park just 2.5 miles outside of Looe and near Polperro and enjoy excellent facilities and a very warm welcome. Each year Caradon organises its own New Years package where a minimum 3 night stay including entertainment, fireworks, buffet and bingo are enjoyed by all - book early, though, as word is getting round!
Or, if you want to head into the town itself, use Caradon Park as your base.
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Camping Caradon Touring Park, Looe
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Join the Comrie Flambeaux
If you want to celebrate New Year Scottish-style, then head to the tiny village of Comrie in Perthshire to experience some fairly unusual celebrations!
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Comrie's Hogmanay will place you at the heart of a beautiful and historic village with some famous traditions: the Flambeaux procession takes place at midnight, when 8 fiery torches begin their procession around the village before being ceremoniously flung into the River Earn.
Head for Melville Square - you won't be alone! There will be music, fancy dress parades and general celebratory shenannigans to enjoy! Join the street ceilidh and dance to the pipe band as it serenades locals and visitors.
Stay at nearby Comrie Croft Eco Camping and choose from a range of camping options, including some of the most romantic and unusual glamping available in the UK: most notably their hand built Nordic Katas. If you're really lucky, you might even get a sprinkle of snow...
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Comrie Croft Perthshire
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Camping near Edinburgh New Year Celebrations
The Hogmanay celebrations in Edinburgh are, of course, legendary: fabulous street parties; visitors from around the world; the backdrop of this beautiful city lit up by fireworks. You don't need to book an expensive hotel to enjoy the fun of an Edinburgh New Year,thoough. Edinburgh campsites are no stranger to managing large numbers of visitors during the yearly Fringe celebrations and there are plenty of New Year camping pitches available within a short bus ride of the city centre.
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Stay at Mortonhall Caravan and Camping Park, a large park offering tent, caravan and motorhome pitches as well as glamping options, just 15 minutes outside of Edinburgh.
You wouldn't believe it, though - the campsite is set within 200 acres of parkland and access to the beautiful Pentland National Park is as access to the city lights.
So, you can pitch up, dress yourself to the nines and head to streets ringing with live performances. With a slightly sore head, perhaps you'll be man or woman enough on January 1st to take part in the Looney Dook, the aptly named annual dip in the River Forth overshadowed by the world-famous Forth Rail Bridge? Or, for something a little more refined, maybe strike out from Mortonhall Caravan and Camping Park into the Midlothian Hills?
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Mortonhall Caravan and Camping Park, Edinburgh
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Happy New Year!
By Bekah Mardall, Campsite Chatter.
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