How lovely has the weather been recently? I sat out the front of a Brazilian restaurant after a shopping trip with friends yesterday, soaking up the sun, drinking alcohol free cocktails (it’s still Lent regardless of the sunny weather), and generally wishing I could stay there all night, wake up to the sun in the morning, and generally hang out on holiday with my friends in the sun.
And you know what’s coming up shortly, at the end of Lent (when the alcohol will resume its flow!) – Easter! A long weekend where those of us in the 9 to 5, or ruled by children’s term time, can take at least four long days off without having to use our holiday allowance. So what to do, that is the question! Here are my top 3 favourite Easter Weekend activities!
Ski Holiday!
Easter is a great time of year for families watching their budgets, or those who are keen to try skiing but don’t want to fork out the expense of a week or more’s skiing during peak season before they even know if they enjoy skiing, to try their hand at skiing. As the season is coming to an end, you’ll often find flights, accommodation, ski passes, and even equipment hire have gone down in price significantly in comparison to January or February prices.
So whether you look for a long weekend in the alps, or whether you use the extra days’ freedom from work to give you that ‘drive time’ (leaving on good Friday, arriving in the alps on the Saturday, and leaving the following Saturday returning home on the Sunday, 10 day holiday for the price of 4 annual leave days effectively!), Easter is the greatest time of year for a no frills introductory Ski trip. And with the sun guaranteed, and the snow guaranteed at least higher up, it’s the perfect setting for outdoor pursuits of all kinds, with vin chaud (mulled wine to us) and crepes atop a mountain with incomparable views, or relaxing your muscles after a hard day skiing in your villa’s outdoor hot tub, whether snowing or shining – what more could a person hope for from an Easter weekend with friends and family?
Camping without the negatives!
Now many of us have an almost unpreventable negative reaction to the thought of camping! I know my biggest issue with camping is this: the heat when you wake up in the morning from the sun pounding on the tent, and feeling grimy and clammy until you get to the shower, and THEN feeling frizzy and clammy as you can’t get properly dry. It’s a tragic circle of unhappiness!
However, I went camping in March a couple of years ago, for the first time in my adult life after being scarred from camping as a child, and I had a GREAT time! For me, being wrapped up around a fire in the evening, and waking up cosy but not sweating and gasping for air, meant that I enjoyed myself so much more! It was warm and sunny in the daytimes, but fresh in the morning. We avoided rain too, and generally had a great time. What’s more, with only being there for 2 nights over a weekend, you can just about get away without washing your hair, especially with the recent invention of dry shampoo! So you don’t feel like such a yeti!
If you’re like me and the thought of camping for a whole week still fills you with dread, I really would recommend taking a weekend, going to a relaxed campsite with decent facilities, and getting the family together around a fire for marshmallows and hot chocolate, or get your friends together for steak and beers! Again, as its Easter you won’t have to use up any annual leave, and camping can be such an inexpensive way to entertain family or friends for a weekend. Especially if you camp near to the seaside or other places of interest or natural beauty!
City Break
If you carefully select your accommodation (i.e. finding places where business travellers often stay, who will all have vacated for the Easter break), you can find short-term accommodation for 3 nights in Cambridge for a few hundred pounds for the whole family, or for 2 people for under £200 for the duration. That’s quite a bargain really in terms of a whole weekend’s entertainment and to see a new city for a short holiday, without using your annual leave. So whether you fancy seeing Cambridge, York, Bournemouth or Manchester, or even hopping on a cheap flight and sight-seeing in Prague, Paris, Krakow or Budapest, Easter really is the perfect time to go and visit a new city which you’ve never seen before!
Cambridge is local to me, and I can heartily recommend the city over Easter – with the Cadbury’s Easter Egg Hunts going on around the city at different National Trust properties, and ‘Easter at King’s’ with the choir and other reflections during the Easter Weekend. It’s a great city with beautiful historical architecture, and the opportunity for going on a punt down the river with a guided tour, or sitting on one of the many great parks in the sunshine with a picnic. What are you waiting for?
Whatever you do this Easter, I hope you have a great time, and really get the chance to relax and spend great time with the people closest to you, whilst eating as much or as little chocolate as you like! Happy Easter!
Bio: Hannah writes for www.citystayuk.com/
