There’s more to Easter than chocolate

Easter, sadly often only associated with chocolate eggs and bunny rabbits in the UK, is celebrated the world over in some far more interesting and spiritual ways. From the Mediterranean to Mexico, Easyvoyage.co.uk, the UK’s latest and most comprehensive travel website, takes you on a mini world tour of Easter festivities to help you decide where to head this April.

Easter Island - It was on Easter Day in 1722 that the Dutchman, Jacob Roggeveen, chanced upon this remote island in the Pacific Ocean. This mysterious land, where almost 1,000 statues weighing up to 160 tonnes are scattered across the landscape, is home to only 3000 people, most of whom live in Hanga Roa, Easter Island’s only town. Today residents celebrate Easter with a simple ceremony which takes place in the church at the very top of the town. To visit you will need to transfer flights at either Tahiti or Santiago, Chile - a stop over in either is highly recommended. Prices start from £2,256 return per person from London Heathrow.

Mexico – Easter is a combination of Semana Santa (Holy Week - Palm Sunday to Easter Saturday) and Pascua (Resurrection Sunday until the following Saturday). Good Friday is the most important day of the festivities with impressive street parades on huge carpets of coloured sawdust. Rows of men and women dressed in violet re-enact scenes from the end of Christ's life and a stretcher carrying a statue of Mary also makes an appearance. The cortege is followed by a dozen little girls dressed as angels. The night before Easter also plays an important role with thousands of people spilling out onto the streets to beat and burn piñatas of Judas. Flights to Guadalajara over the Easter period start from £699 return per person from London Heathrow.

Guadeloupe – Easter on this Caribbean island consists of the traditional mass on Easter Sunday followed by parties along the river banks and beaches. Matoutou of crab, a kind of crab risotto, is eaten across the island washed down with glasses of fruit punch. The music and dancing is intoxicating and those that wish can party all the way through till Monday night. This time of year is always an exciting time to be on the island and is one of the major events for Guadeloupians. Flights start from £829 return per person from London Heathrow.

Iceland - Chocolate is an Easter tradition in Iceland too but here the eggs are enormous, made from a special sweet Icelandic chocolate and each one carries a proverb inside. The holiday starts on Holy Thursday when all businesses are closed and many Icelanders take advantage of the longer days and rising temperatures to take to the ski slopes. For visitors to the island it is an ideal time to bathe in the sulphur-rich geothermal pools. Return flights to Reykjavík over the Easter period start from £225 per person from London Heathrow.

Cyprus – Easter is the most important week in the Cypriot calendar, with a week full of processions, rituals and ceremonies all building up to Easter Day. During this time many Cypriots fast, avoiding meat, fish and dairy products on Wednesdays (as remembrance of Judas’s betrayal) and on Fridays, in memory of Christ’s death. The holiday gives an ideal opportunity to visit the country’s many orthodox monasteries high up in the mountains at the heart of the island. Return flights to Paphos start at £339 per person from London Gatwick.

Hungary - Traditional Easter celebrations are a cross between Pantheist and Christian traditions linked to the Spring Equinox. The most unusual custom is the 'watering' of women and young ladies to keep them from withering. In the past, water from nearby wells was thrown over the women but today a few drops of cologne are dabbed on as a symbol instead. The women give painted eggs, decorated in regional colours, in thanks. If you are interested in learning the technique used to decorate the eggs, as well as the other Hungarian Easter traditions, make the most of Skanzen's open-air village museum in Szentendre. Return flights to Budapest start from £130 return per person from London Gatwick.

For further details of Easter festivities and holiday inspiration visit easyvoyage.co.uk.