Why not try something different your next December 31st? Instead of celebrating the New Year at home, or at a friend’s or family member’s party, or heading to your city’s downtown area for a night on the town, why not spend your New Year’s Eve celebrating the start of a new year on the waterfront?

Specifically, the Virginia Beach waterfront.

There’s just something about saying goodbye to the old and ringing in the new by clinking your champagne glasses with your sweetheart with the sound of the surf nearby.

Of course, your New Year’s Eve celebrations needn’t start nor end with your kiss at midnight. Virginia Beach allows you to enjoy the holiday from morning to night.

Here are some ideas:

Spend the day of New Year’s Eve itself by exploring the areas in and near Virginia Beach. Visit the historic Jamestown Settlement, about 65 miles away. Take a tour of the buildings and grounds of Colonial Willamsburg (also about 65 miles to the northwest).

Or, you could tour the Norfolk Naval Station (16 miles) and visit Nauticus and the battleship USS Wisconsin Or take in the memorial to General of the Army General Douglas MacArthur.

As it gets dark, take a drive along the Holiday Lights at the Beach.

Celebrate the coming year with a delicious dinner at one of Virginia Beach’s many great restaurants or hotels. Enjoy a live band and dancing at many of those same restaurants and hotels.

For a lovely and even more memorable New Year’s Eve celebration, why not take a celebratory cruise, such as that on the The Spirit of Norfolk? This dinner cruise offers buffet dining, live solo performers, dancing to music spun by DJs, and incredible views of the U.S. Navy’s Atlantic Fleet

The next morning, take a walk along the Virginia Beach Boardwalk as well as the seashore. If you’re not suffering too much from all the fun you had the night before, consider getting up before dawn, bundling up for the cold and getting to the boardwalk/beach before sunrise to watch the sun rise over the Atlantic Ocean at the dawn of not just a new day, but a new year.

May your new year be full of joy and great opportunity for you and those you love. And may you start that new year in Virginia Beach. Book your New Year’s Eve stay today!