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Step 1
Attend a show in the early evening. During the days leading up to New Year's Eve, vendors will advertise cultural shows and events in high-traffic areas. Buy tickets for an event of interest.
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Step 2
Take in the sights. If whirling dervishes aren't your thing, the bazaar offers a dizzying array of sights and sounds, and you can't go wrong heralding in the New Year with fistfuls of Turkish Delight.
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Step 3
Have a nice dinner. While many restaurants try to sell you very expensive New Year's Eve packages (food, drinks, and entertainment), buying one of these packages is highly unnecessary, unless you want to just stay put for the evening. Many restaurants are open earlier in the evening and don't have these packages.
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Step 4
Find a high point...literally. If you can handle skipping out on the party scene, try to find a venue high up in a building (hotels are a good bet for this). Fireworks go off over the mosques at midnight, and the higher up you are, the better your view.
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Step 5
Kick back like the locals. Even if you are sick or absolutely hate New Year's revelry, you can tune into television. Turkey airs a New Year's Eve variety show that may just trump CNN's coverage of the ball dropping.
