After a long winter our attention quickly turns to the Easter holidays. Here are nine of the best places for a dose of springtime sunshine recommended by our luxury travel experts.
Thailand
Thailand’s east coast is perfect for an Easter break, with the Gulf of Thailand offering jungle-clad islands anchored in azure waters, white-sand beaches and warm, dry weather through March and April. As we emerge from winter, why not consider a wellbeing break at one of the region’s top spa resorts?
Kamalaya, on Koh Samui, is one of the finest in all Asia, offering a stupefying range of treatments that expertly combine Thai, Western, Ayurvedic, Chinese and Japanese therapies. Personal mentors will help you devise a programme that most benefits you, making sure you still have time to idle on the beach, stare at the ocean from your hilltop villa and gorge on the panoply of superfood dishes served up the restaurant.
Alternatively, if you’d rather cut down your transfer time, opt instead for Chiva Som, just a couple of hours south of Bangkok. Set near the coastal town of Hua Hin, the traditional retreat of Thai royalty, this iconic health resort sprawls over the hills between the town and the coast and offers an equally encyclopaedic range of treatments. Have your chakras balanced if that’s your cup of tea, but it doesn’t take a genius to know that sleeping well, eating well and a well-earned bit of pampering are bound to lift your spirits.
Vietnam
Weather wise, Vietnam can be a bit of a mixed bag, with different parts of the country experiencing different conditions at different times of year. The good news is that if you’re hoping to see it all, late March and early April is a great time to visit. The north, which includes the capital Hanoi and the fabulous limestone towers that erupt from the still waters of Halong Bay, is nearing the end of its dry season, with the rains yet to come. The central coast, which boasts many of the country’s best beaches, sees sunshine prevail from February to August. While far in the south, the hubbub of Ho Chi Minh City and the floating markets of the Mekong Delta are undoubtedly best enjoyed before the heat and humidity of summer descend. Speak to our specialists about tailoring a trip to fit in with your Easter holiday.
Even if your idea of an Easter escape is more aligned to staying still than traversing a country, we still think Vietnam should be high on your wish list. Especially as one of the most eagerly anticipated hotels in Asia opened its doors in 2020. From the team behind Phum Baitang in Cambodia and both Omaanda and Sonop in Namibia comes Bai San Ho. Set on a secluded peninsula in central Vietnam, on a half-mile stretch of pristine beach, this latest offering from Zannier Hotels boasts 71 villas with either hilltop, beach or paddy field views, plus a mouth-watering selection of cultural and culinary adventures.
The Maldives
What better way to banish any lingering winter blues than with a trip to the Maldives? Cliched it may be, but it’s hard to resist the appeal of a pristine tropical island complete with swaying palm trees, white-sand beaches, turquoise lagoons and abundant marine life.
For value for money, you can’t go far wrong with Constance Moofushi, whose all-inclusive rates include wonderfully varied meals and fantastic wines brought straight from the cellar. A quarter of the thatched villas are on the beach while the rest are over water, with stairways down to the Indian Ocean and bathtubs on decks that seem to defy gravity. Even the Asian-inspired spa is perched above the water with glass panels in the floor.
For families looking for a little more entertainment, LUX* South Ari Atoll is a really good bet. Besides the kids’ club and teens’ club that operate daily, you’ll find bicycles available to ride around the island, inflatable swans to drift around the lagoon on, an ice-cream parlour with 32 flavours of homemade ice-cream, a cinema on the beach, a newly expanded spa, live DJs in the evening, a choice of six restaurants, and a marine biologist ready to take you swimming with the whale sharks that come to visit.
Costa Rica
From coast to coast, Costa Rica is a nature lover’s paradise, offering everything from spectacular volcanoes and beautiful beaches to humid cloud forests, coffee plantations and tropical jungle. April marks the end of the dry season and is a wonderful time to explore, with fewer visitors than January and February, but without the rains that herald the summer months.
Whether riding zip-lines through the rainforest canopy or riding waves at classic surf spots like Tamarindo and Witch’s Rock, there’s no shortage of adventures to keep families entertained over Easter. Imagine checking in for a few nights at Pacuare Lodge, one of National Geographic’s Unique Lodges of the World, where it’s customary to arrive by white-water rafting down the Pacuare River. Or staying at Lapa Rios in a 1,000-acre rainforest reserve on the Osa Peninsula, one of the most biologically dense places in the world, and one of the best for spotting wildlife in the whole of Latin America.
Jamaica
A favourite winter home of writer, Ian Fleming, Jamaica has starred in four Bond films, including the latest, much-anticipated No Time To Die. Fleming first fell in love with Jamaica back in 1942 when he visited the island as a British naval intelligence officer during World War II. Four years later he bought 15 acres of undeveloped land and built himself the house in which he would write his spy novels. He named the house after the naval operation that first brought him to the island, GoldenEye.
The house was later bought by the founder of Island Records, Chris Blackwell, who turned it into the dreamy collection of beach and lagoon villas that are available to rent today. If you’re happy to splurge – as the likes of Jay-Z and Beyonce have splurged before – then opt for the flagship Fleming Villa, a three-bedroom hideaway with its own private beach, where you can sit at the actual desk where 007 was born.
Botswana
Asked to imagine a safari in Botswana and you’ll probably think of the Okavango Delta. And why not? The world’s largest inland delta breathes life into the surrounding Kalahari – a network of floodplains, channels, islands and dappled woodland supporting creatures great and small, from wallowing hippopotamus to the tiniest reed frog. And Easter is an ideal time to see it, with the rains giving way to clearer, cooler days from the end of March onwards. For the ultimate in luxury, we recommend Xigera, a 12-suite lodge with top eco-credentials in a wild and remote corner of the Moremi Game Reserve.
But the Okavango Delta is not your only choice at Easter. For a crowd-free safari in March or April, try the Makgadikgadi Pans, the endless salt pans south of the delta on the eastern fringe of the Kalahari Desert. For much of the year this is an arid land, baked and cracked by the sun, where meerkats keep watch by day and brown hyena perform nightly patrols. But the rains arrive later to the Kalahari, and just as the delta is drying out, the pans fill up, fed by a slow underground seepage from the Okavango. Flamingos come to breed, painting the landscape a technicolour pink, and wildebeest and zebra appear in their thousands on the surrounding grasslands to feed on the lush new growth. Hippo and elephant gather at water holes, and carmine bee-eaters add flashes of colour to a myriad budding plants. Stay somewhere like San Camp and you may just feel you’ve got the whole lot to yourself.
Morocco
Not too long ago, Morocco meant Marrakech and little else. Today, however, there’s a veritable feast of options for travellers to explore. Follow your nose through Fez’s ancient medina to the city’s famous tanneries. Marvel at the size and intricate detail of the Hassan Il Mosque in Casablanca. Watch fishermen bring in their daily catch beneath the 18th century ramparts of delightful Essaouira. Soak up the solitude of the Moroccan Sahara. Surf world-class waves at Agadir and Taghazout. Or explore the roof of Africa on a guided trek through the mighty High Atlas, where Berber villages cling like limpets to the steep and terraced hillsides. Easter temperatures hover around the very pleasant mid-twenties.
You are truly spoilt for choice when it comes to where to stay in Marrakech. In the city itself, perhaps opt for a traditional riad within easy reach of the Jemaa El Fnaa and the bustling souks. Riad Farnatchi is one of the most charming, located in the heart of the Medina and run by one of the best teams in Marrakech. Riad Kniza is equally chic - this 18th century house was completely restored by a renowned antique dealer to create a sanctuary in the city. Just outside town, The Oberoi Marrakech is one of Morocco's newest additions. There's oodles of space, both inside and out, with 28 acres of stunning landscaped gardens with views extending to the snowy peaks of the Atlas Mountains. For the ultimate privacy, opt for a private villa with your own gardens and pool. Cobalt Blue is just a stone's throw from Marrakech and offers seven bedrooms and a team of staff to call on, including a chef to prepare delicious Moroccan feasts.
Namibia
Wedged between the Kalahari and the chilly South Atlantic, Namibia offers some of the most breathtaking scenery in all of Africa, from the windblown wilderness of the Skeleton Coast and the jaw-dropping depths of the Fish River Canyon (only the Grand Canyon is larger) to the rivers and wetlands of the Caprivi Strip and the towering dunes of Sossusvlei – apricot at sunrise, crimson at sunset and a thousand different shades in between. Throw in the big game on offer at Etosha National Park, the rhinos that range across desert-like Damaraland, and some of the largest collections of ancient rock art in the world, and it’s hard to find a box that Namibia doesn’t tick.
Many consider the country to be at its most beautiful in April. Easter coincides roughly with the end of the rainy season and the start of the shoulder season, when the air is fresh, vegetation is at its greenest and temperatures are more moderate (an average 26 degrees in daytime). With plenty of water around, game viewing is good but not always as reliable as later in the year (when animals gather around the few remaining water holes), but lower rates, fewer crowds and stunning vistas are more than enough to compensate. It’s a particularly good time to explore the Skeleton Coast, famed for its ghostly shipwrecks and desert-adapted wildlife.
Antigua
The Caribbean island with 365 beaches to its name – one for each day of the year. Antigua’s tourist board has been promoting this fact for as long as we remember, but it doesn’t make it any less remarkable. On the beaches you’ll find everything from kite-surfing lessons to sunrise yoga sessions, while in the waters that lap them you can snorkel with stingrays and swim alongside turtles. When you tire of the sand there’s history to explore in the form of Nelson’s Dockyard – still much as it was in the 18th century – and Betty’s Hope, a charming restored sugar mill. Away from the coast is a verdant interior scattered with churches and colourful villages, where activities range from ziplining through the rainforest to hiking the gentle foothills.
Easter is gorgeous in Antigua, with plenty of sunshine, minimal rainfall and temperatures hovering in the upper twenties. With plenty of wind, kite flying is understandably popular on the island, and Easter Monday sees hundreds of flyers converge on Devil’s Bridge National Park with their colourful homemade kites as part of the Antigua & Barbuda International Kite Festival.
Blending romance and history, The Inn At English Harbour is a great boutique option five minutes by water taxi from Nelson’s Dockyard. Further from the action, on a sweeping crescent beach, long-standing favourite Carlisle Bay is a good choice for couples and families seeking downtime. While if you’re looking for a villa in Antigua, both The Hill Club and Harbour Heights are excellently located for exploring the beaches, shops and wonderful restaurants of nearby English Harbour.
