Ringing in the New Year with USA Guided Tours

I’ll be honest with you: I’ve never watched the New Year’s Eve ball drop from Times Square. Why, you ask? Well, mostly because I don’t like the idea of not being able to use a bathroom, sit down, or generally move for hours in the cold for 60 seconds of excitement. I’m clearly a minority, though, as approximately 1 million people journey from across the country and the globe to ring in the New Year together in NYC’s most famous square. If you are a glutton for punishment — or excitement, depending on your point of view — be sure to arrive early; revelers start filling past the NYPD barricades at about 3PM. A few more tips: no backpacks, food, or drinks are allowed, and there are no public toilets in the square. In short, eat hearty and dress warm — and go — before you go!

The famous ball itself features 2,688 Waterford crystal triangles, and its 32,256 LEDs light up a spectrum of 16 million colors, creating a gorgeous kaleidoscope effect as the ball makes its minute-long drop down to the bottom of the pole atop One Times Square. Throughout the evening, performers entertain the crowd as it huddles to stay warm; this year’s lineup features Britney Spears, Shawn Mendes, Nick Jonas, Kelly Clarkson, and Mariah Carey — who’s looking for a bit of redemption after last year’s mishap.

Whether you see the ball drop in person or on TV, NYC is always a fun place to ring in the new year. Make it a truly banner start to the year with USA Guided Tours! After a late night singing “Auld Lang Syne,” toasting with champagne or sparkling cider, and exchanging a New Year’s kiss at midnight, let our award-winning NYC bus tours take over the sight-seeing duties. Just show up at 7th Avenue between 50th and 51st Streets at 10AM (we give you plenty of time to sleep in), and we’ll do the rest!

On our daytime “Discover NY” guided bus tour, we’ll chauffeur you around the best sights of Manhattan and Brooklyn in our cozy, heated vans, with complimentary bottled water to help you drink away any . . . headaches you might have from the night before. In just 6 hours, you’ll have visited the most celebrated sights in the City — from Wall Street and the New York Stock Exchange in the tip of Manhattan to St. Patrick’s Cathedral on 5th Avenue and the Dakota Building on Central Park West. Our expert tour guides will give you all the details of each stop, including bits of history and humor you can’t get anywhere else.

We at USA Guided Tours can also help you start the year off on the right foot — literally! — with some healthy habits, whether you make New Year’s resolutions or not. With us, you can check exercise off your list early — on both our daytime and evening “Big Apple in Lights” bus tours, you’ll walk as well as ride through the City. On our evening tour, for instance, we follow our dinner trip to Chelsea Market with a walk on the nearby High Line: the gorgeous park built using a former freight rail line. (P.S. You’ll have better luck adhering to any new year diet by going to Chelsea stalls like Indie Fresh and Morimoto, rather than the Doughnuttery or the Fat Witch Bakery.)

There’s no better way to celebrate the start of 2018 than by visiting New York City: the home of the world’s best and biggest New Year’s Eve celebrations, and the home of the best guided bus tours company in the business: USA Guided Tours. Happy New Year!

Sara Murphy | USA Guided Tours NY Blog Contributor