Where is lovely for a short haul holiday at Easter time?

[MaGueule]

We are hoping to get away for just a week over Easter 2025 and are trying to find a good short haul destination. We do not really enjoy resort based holidays. We like to be out and about seeing nature, culture, and historical sites.

We have two teens who will then be 13 and 16, who are good travellers and foodies. We have a good budget and normally stay in hotels. Happy to stay put and explore the area or have a couple of nights in a few different spots.

Our favourite Easter holidays have been a train Safari (my kids’ phrase) around Andalucia during Semana Santa and a week around Pompeii, Sorrento and the Amalfi coast.

While we are not sun-worshippers but, somewhere with half decent weather where we can enjoy a meal outside and don’t need to worry too much about wrapping up would be perfect. This Easter we travelled around Ireland, and while it was lovely, we didn’t quite get our solar charge for the spring!

Any ideas of places that might work for a springtime holiday would be greatly appreciated.

Avignon to explore the town and as a base for the area.

Malaga and surrounding coastline

Bilbao then San Sebastián and Lagrono for the food!

Athens is incredible at Easter and you could combine it with some island hopping. There’s now an express ferry from Athens to Chania (Crete). Or from Athens head inland to Delphi and/or Meteora.

I second Athens - you can also get a train to see the Roman site at Corinth quite easily. You can get a tram from Syntagma Square to the beaches on the "Athenian Riviera" and/or combine that with a bus trip to the temple at Sounion.

Malta would be nice - I'd stay in Valetta rather than the more resorty side of the island but you could have a more beachy day at the Blue lagoon.

We loved the Netherlands at Easter- we rented our own small speedboat to ride the canals one day, and visited castle De Haar, Efeling theme park and Amsterdam. The tulip gardens at Keukenhof are in full bloom at this time and wonderful to look at for any age (my son loved these). It's also very bike friendly as a country so they'd probably be some great cycling options with teens.

Best part is their Easter holidays are on a different schedule to ours so it wasn't too busy, and we could take our car over on the ferry so could move around with ease. Weather wise we had a few days of rain and a few of lovely sunshine/ t shirts and shorts so it varied.

Consider Mallorca or Cyprus for a delightful Easter getaway. Great weather and rich culture await!

Thank you for the brilliant suggestions. I am very tempted by everywhere that has been mentioned, but particularly Cyprus and Majorca as I have never been to either of those places and I’ve heard they are beautiful. Fingers crossed, there should be some sunshine for us too.

We went to Malta this Easter, I know it's quite a marmite suggestion, but we had a fab time. We had 4 nights staying in Valletta itself, and did the 'city' itself, the Hypogeum (book 2 months in advance) and Tarxien temples, Hagar Qim and the three cities across the harbour (Vittoriosa, Senglea and Cospicua). We walked to the blue grotto but it was too windy for boat trips. Then we had 4 nights (3 days) on Gozo, literally all the museums across Malta shut on Good Friday, so our plan was to move over to Gozo on maundy Thursday to do some walking and to watch the Easter parades (Good Friday and Easter Sunday). The weather though was really warm (25 degrees) and we ended up spending two afternoons on Ramla beach instead. There is a day and half of sightseeing on Gozo, or a rushed very single day if needed, with Victoria citadella and town centre, Ggantija temples, the salt pans at Marsalforn, Dwejra for a short boat trip on inland sea and out to the sea. We also walked Ghammer hill to see the stations of the cross carvings and visited Ta Pinu shrine. On the way back to the airport we had a full day in Mdina, as I was worried about taking the ferry and delays with the ferry causing us to miss the plane, but it probably wasn't warranted. Mdina was lovely but pretty busy.

I haven't been but I reckon Sicily would also be great at Easter, perfect time of year for Valley of the temples and Palermo

Malta or Sicily

Sicily is definitely on the list! That’s a great idea. Kids would love the ancient sites there and I really like Sicilian food.