New Year's Eve as a couple: 5 ideas

Welcoming in the New Year with a romantic weekend on Lake Garda is a great idea. With dinners in elegant villas, events in the piazza, Christmas markets and fireworks displays, you can enjoy special experiences on the shores of Italy's largest lake.

New Year's Eve events on Lake Garda offer a variety of experiences: you can toast the New Year in a 19^th century villa in Peschiera del Garda, rock out in a disco in Desenzano del Garda, or be pampered at the thermal baths in Sirmione while you wait for midnight. And if you don't want to miss the wonderful spectacle of fireworks over the lake, we suggest Riva del Garda, Bardolino and Malcesine.

Snow, the sounds of nature, the finest ski resorts in Italy and some good vin brûlé: these are all the ingredients for a romantic New Year's Eve in the snow.

From dinner in a hotel after a day of skiing and snowshoeing, to the tranquillity of a mountain chalet, you’ll be sure to enjoy a fun New Year's Eve in Italy surrounded by breathtaking views. And if you want a dash of adventure, you can spend the night in an igloo in the Dolomites, at the Rifugio Bella Vista, located at an altitude of 2845 metres.

Italy is rich in state-of-the-art spas that organise special events for the last day of the year.

In Chianciano Terme, New Year's Eve is celebrated in the Piscine Termali Theia with live music, DJ sets and lighting effects, or at the Terme Sensoriali with a food and wine experience that promises to stimulate the five senses.

Another unforgettable experience is New Year's Eve at the Terme di Sirmione with dinner, free scrub and aufguss events throughout the evening, live music, a midnight toast in the pool and extended opening until 3am.

The thrill of celebrating the start of a new year in a castle can be felt in so many magical locations in Italy.

Just outside Verona, the Bevilacqua Castle rediscovers its mediaeval spirit on New Year's Eve for a dinner in the company of musicians, jesters, fire-breathers and games in the castle's historic rooms.

Meanwhile, near Turin you can spend New Year's Eve at the Montaldo Castle with a New Year's Eve dinner, live music and access to the Wellness Centre, and in Ferrara you can attend an event that will amaze you: the burning of the Castle, a firework concert that has now become part of Ferrara's tradition.

For a romantic New Year's Eve far from chaos, surrounded by nature but without sacrificing comfort, you can sleep under the stars in mountain huts and lodges with transparent roofs or in bubble rooms immersed in the woods of Italy.

A few suggestions? The Starlight Room in Cortina, to enjoy a 360-degree panorama at any time or, if you prefer sleeping under the stars in Piedmont, the Bubble Emotions of the Relais Cascina dei Cesari in Borgo Ticino.

If you prefer glamping, check out Exphera's Bubble Suites, located just a few kilometres from Bergamo. It's the most romantic place to sleep under the stars in Lombardy, also on New Year's Eve.