If you plan to travel on Easter Sunday, you should make your plans soon. Air travel is cheaper if you book it early, and lodging can be difficult to secure if you wait until the last minute. One solution to the difficulty of securing a hotel room is to stay at a vacation rental home instead. Vacation rentals are a surprisingly affordable alternative to hotels, and they can be found in or around all of the places profiled on this list of the world’s top 10 Easter destinations.
The Spanish take the celebration of Easter very seriously. During
the Semana Santa , the holy week stretching from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday, mournful but impressive street processions can be seen in most Spanish towns. On Easter Sunday, the mournful tone is dropped, and the city explodes with light, color, and celebration.
Mazatlán begins its Easter celebrations with the third-largest carnival in the world, after notable celebrations in Rio de Janeiro and New Orleans.
The traditional
White House Easter Egg Roll is an annual event in which children are invited to the White House to hunt for Easter eggs on the White House lawn and enjoy a visit from the Easter Bunny.
On the afternoon of Good Friday, a service is held in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican; and, in the evening, the Pope leads a
“Stations of the Cross” procession. Easter Sunday begins with a morning mass in
St. Peter’s Square , after which the Pope delivers his “Urbi et Orbi” address (“to the City and to the World”).
Observant Christians celebrating Easter may wish to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, where they can see for themselves the sites of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. The Easter significance of these sites makes Jerusalem one of the top 10 Easter destinations for Christians of all denominations.
Every year in late March,
the Ostara Festival is held in Victoria, about two hours from Melbourne. The festival celebrates the pagan holiday of Ostara, a celebration of spring and fertility upon which the Christian Easter holiday is based. The Australian Ostara festival is only partly religious in nature, being more of a music festival.
Easter is considered the most important holiday of the year in Romania, and the country’s mood turns festive as the holiday approaches. Travelers looking for exciting public festivities will want to put Romania on their “top 10 Easter destinations” list.
Easter is known as
Páscoa in Brazil; and, unlike in many other countries, it is celebrated in September due to the reversal of the seasons in the southern hemisphere. If the Easter holiday is important to you, and you want to see how it is celebrated elsewhere, a trip to Brazil is a must.
If you’re planning to be in New York at Easter time, you won’t want to miss the city’s
Easter Parade . The parade runs up Fifth Avenue from 49th to 57th Streets, and the best place from which to see it is the area near St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
The
battleship USS North Carolina is moored just across the river from downtown Wilmington; and, every year, an Easter egg hunt is held there, complete with a petting zoo and pony rides. It’s a great event for the kids to enjoy!
Madrid Vacation Rentals
The highlight of the property is its large open-plan living area, which moves seamlessly from sitting room to dining room and finally onto a modern, fully-equipped kitchen. The two sitting areas are filled with light throughout the day thanks to t...
The exterior-facing living room is spacious and bright, with two classic Spanish balconettes looking out onto the street below. The space has been decorated in a contemporary style with plenty of seating, parquet flooring, artwork on the walls and...
Situated in the quiet yet central neighbourhood of Retiro, this elegant and spacious apartment offers both comfort and style within a superb location in Spain's lively capital city. This apartment in Madrid is located on the very edge of the city'...
Carretas 302 is a bright two bedroom apartment that has been professionally decorated and beautifully furnished. It incorporates original artwork and the lamps are original design pieces. The entrance hall leads into a living / dining area with a ...
This is a very cozy apartment, classically decorated with a good use of colour throughout. The entrance leads into a hall with fitted wardrobes, to the right of which is the dining room, with wooden dining table seats up to six people, and then a...
Madrid, Spain
Romania