We’ve visited a number of locations around the world to celebrate New Year’s Eve, and I would have to rate Rio my top experience. We joined the millions of other celebrants and crowded in to Copacabana.
We had reserved a table at one of the many restaurants Av. Atlantica. The cost was about US$40 per person, quite steep for Brazil, but I thought it was well worth it. This included a huge multi-course dinner that was quite good, beer and wine, and use of the table for the entire evening. I would highly recommend doing the same. We were able to easily go in and out of the masses of people along the beach and relax for while, and even at the table, we had a great view of everything going on.
As we ate dinner, we watched the crowd of people build up on the beach. As the hour of midnight approached, we made our way on the beach to get as close to the water as possible. To ring in the New Year, we were treated to a fantastic fireworks display over the water that lasted almost an hour. The fireworks were fired off from barges that were docked just off-shore. Needless to say, it was quite a show. After the fireworks finished, concerts began on several of the many stages that were set up along the beach.
I’m sure the celebration carried on until dawn, but we were only able to hold out until about 2am, when we made our way back to our hotel.