Get ready to wear green, drink beer and travel the world for St Patrick’s Day in 2024. The Irish holiday is the perfect excuse for planning an exciting getaway. Where will you be on Sunday, March 17? Read on to learn about our top travel destination picks. You can also search for events in your favorite city to see how the holiday celebrations stack up.
Dublin, Ireland
How can you say no to Dublin on St. Patrick’s Day? Ireland’s capital city comes alive with five days of fun. Street performers fill the air with music and pubs are packed to capacity while serving beer, whiskey, and Celtic-style bar food. Those attending the St. Patrick’s Festival won’t want to miss the famous Festival Parade featuring Ireland’s best performers, musicians, dancers, and marching bands. The march begins at Parnell Square and winds through the streets of Dublin before wrapping up at St. Patrick’s Cathedral for one of the biggest parties of the year.
Chicago, Illinois
The luck of the Irish is strong in the Midwest’s largest city. Chicago throws a rowdy citywide party for St. Patrick’s Day, turning the river green with vegetable dye in a process that lasts about five hours – so don’t waste any time to see it. An annual parade draws more than a million people with floats, bagpipe players, and other performers traveling north on Columbus (between Balbo and Monroe). Smaller parades take place in Norwood Park and Beverly, where the Irish community is especially strong and residents decorate their homes in green. Shamrock’n The Block is an outdoor block party with drinks and food in front of Old St. Pat’s near the West Loop.
Savannah, Georgia
This pick may surprise you, but Savannah actually throws one of the largest St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in the United States, with a three-day festival and parade throughout the city. If that’s not enough, the water in Savannah’s famous park fountains turns green for the occasion. The small port city is loaded with southern charm with weeping willow trees, town squares, and beautifully preserved architecture in the historic district near the river. Much like Las Vegas and New Orleans, Savannah is one of the few American cities to allow public drinking outdoors.
Buenos Aires, Argentina
The capital of Argentina is home to the largest Irish community in South America. Each year, a St. Patrick’s Day festival and parade draw revelers for ten blocks along Reconquista Street. Dress your best and earn a prize in the annual leprechaun costume contest. Visiting for St. Patrick’s Day is a great excuse to plan a trip to Buenos Aires, but you’ll also appreciate the city’s unique mix of cosmopolitan style and Latin American culture. Historic buildings sit along the mouth of the Rio de la Plata as it opens up to the Atlantic Ocean.
New York City, New York
No other city throws a parade quite like New York. The Big Apple’s St. Patrick’s Day parade is a massive gathering, lasting nearly six hours (between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m.) with 100,000 participants (including dancers and bagpipe performers) but no floats or cars. More than two million New Yorkers gather for a St Patrick’s Day celebration that’s larger (and older!) than the one in Dublin. The Irish Catholic community begins the day with High Holy Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, one of the most in-demand tickets in town.
Boston, Massachusetts
The large Irish population in Boston goes all-in for St. Patrick’s Day, with various celebrations including the famous South Boston St. Patrick’s Day Parade on March 17, 2024. The annual parade takes place in the afternoon, making its spectacular route through Boston’s south end. The fun continues with bar crawls and specials all night long. In a unique twist, St. Patrick’s Day officially gets underway early in the morning with a traditional breakfast and roast among politicians from around Massachusetts.
San Francisco, California
San Francisco has a strong Irish-American community, so it’s no surprise that St. Patrick’s Day will be a big hit this year. One of the biggest draws is the Saint Patrick’s Day Parade, where officials, local Irish dance companies, and bands march down Market Street toward the Civic Center Plaza. There will also be a slew of bars and restaurants serving traditional Irish cuisine, along with beers and whiskies. If that’s not enough, there will also be several pub crawl parties to keep the party going all night long.
Rome, Italy
Who wouldn’t want to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Villa Spada, and Trajan’s Column transform into vibrantly green colors? That’s what you’ll get in Rome, Italy, where St. Patrick’s Day is marked by traditional Irish fare, Irish pubs and bars, and trad sessions that will play Irish tunes. But first, the Pontifical Irish College will hold a Mass session at St Isidore’s Church, signaling the start of the St. Patrick’s Day festivities. Various bars and cafés may also offer green beer, like Delirium Cafè within the Trastevere neighborhood.
Montserrat, Caribbean
Fun fact: there are only two countries where St. Patrick’s Day is a public holiday: Ireland and Montserrat. The 17th century marked the beginning of Montserrat’s Irish heritage, as Irish Catholics sought refuge there. To this day, Irish culture holds steadfast in this part of the Caribbean, where the St. Patrick’s Day Festival (which lasts more than a week) features Caribbean entertainment, a junior calypso competition, a freedom run, and masquerade dancers. It’s the perfect place for those who long for a tropical getaway while staying true to the Irish roots.
