CV Travel’s top luxury villas for Easter
For many Brits, the true essence and importance of Easter is too often lost amongst the boxes of commercially branded chocolate Easter eggs. To find the perfect balance between modern day commercialism and age-old traditions, CV Travel has come up with its list of top luxury villas around the world for the authentic Easter experience.
Forget chocolate eggs and lazy Sunday afternoon Television; celebrate Easter with the gourmet banquet feasts, lively festivals and ancient authentic traditions.
Luxury villas in Portugal for Easter
Easter time is the ideal time to sample the specialities of local Portuguese cuisine. The Portuguese save all of their best delicacies such as roast kid, lamb stew, meatballs, chocolates and almond eggs until after the fasting of Lent. And with the vivacity of the weeklong festivals and religious processions, Portugal turns itself into a wonderful community welcoming all to come and join in the celebrations.
CV Travel has a week’s stay in villa Quinta da Caiada in the Algarve region of Portugal over Easter for £2,640 based on 6 guests sharing. Quinta da Caiada is a beautiful country style house, which enjoys stunning views across the countryside with the coast on the horizon and tranquil privacy in its lovely hilltop location. With its two hectares of almond orchards, olive and citrus groves and stylish terraces, this wonderful country house is the perfect location to enjoy a traditional Portuguese Easter with the family. Flights, transfers and car hire can be arranged on request.
Luxury villas in Spain for Easter
Easter Week, known in Spain as ‘Semana Santa’, is the one of the most important and lively celebrations in the Spanish calendar. The festivities begin with the traditional celebrations of ‘Domingo de Ramos’ (Palm Sunday) and end with ‘Lunes de Pascua’ (Easter Monday). The Easter week to the Spanish is a celebration of life itself, and the whole of Spain comes alive with spectacular regional processions, festivals, live music and dance.
Spanish Easter wouldn’t be complete without their famous Easter feasts with special dishes like "La Mona" or Easter eggs, pork sausage and calçots, hazelnut cream with pheasant ravioli truffles and special Italian Easter breads are prepared in almost every Spanish household.
CV Travel has a week’s stay in La Huerta El Noque in Andalucía, Spain departing 23rd April over Easter for £3,505 based on 12 guests including villa rental, maid service and a welcome hamper. La Huerta El Noque sits in a beautiful pastoral Andalucían valley, surrounded by wonderful gardens adorned with fruit trees, a shady colonnade to one side and a private courtyard featuring trees and fountains to the other. Flights and car hire can be arranged on request.
Luxury villas in Italy for Easter
As the season of Lent draws to a close, Italian food plays a large part in the Easter festivities with traditional Italian rustic cuisine including lamb or goat, asparagus, artichokes, hollowed chocolate eggs with surprises concealed and special themed Easter breads that vary from region to region. But the festivities don’t stop with food as local residents dress up in traditional ancient costumes to celebrate solemn religious processions and festivals that are held all over Italy on Good Friday and the Saturday before Easter Sunday with many churches decorated with olive branches and paraded statues of the Virgin Mary and Jesus. On Easter Monday, many Italian cities hold festive dances, free concerts and often play a variety of unusual games involving eggs.
CV Travel has a week’s stay in the stunning villa Masseria Ferrantino in the Puglia region of Italy over Easter for £2715 based on 10 guests sharing. This luxury villa is a new and exciting addition to CV Travel’s excellent range of luxury villas in Puglia, Italy and with its traditional architectural design and scenic surroundings is simply delightful. Its large garden offers plenty of grass for children’s games and the gorgeous pool area is ideal for relaxing in the sunshine, which makes Masseria Ferrantino the perfect Easter destination for the whole family. Flights are available on request.
Luxury villas in France for Easter
Never one to shy away from a party, the whole of France revels in the Eastertide celebrations, particularly in the marketplaces as shops are beautifully adorned with white and dark chocolate rabbits, chickens, church bells and fish.
Although traditional chocolate Easter bunnies and eggs are not commonly found in France during this holiday season, the French Easter chocolate fish called 'Poisson d'Avril' (meaning 'April Fish') makes its arrival on 1st April, and French children enjoy playing an April Fool's trick by sticking a paper fish onto the back of as many adults as possible. Easter is the perfect time for local master chocolatiers to show off their delicate festive creations, with local village ‘Pâtisseries’ flooding their windows with wonderful decorative chocolate designs. But it’s not all about chocolate; the French celebrate Easter ‘en famille’, and many Christian households host traditional Easter feasts to mark the ceremonious occasion with typical French recipes of 'Gigot D'agneau' (leg of lamb) with spring vegetables.
CV Travel has a week’s stay in majestic Notre Dame du Val in beautiful Aix-en-Provence in France over Easter for £9875, (was £10,195), saving £410 based on 12 guests sharing including villa rental, maid service and welcome provisions. Notre Dame du Val is set amongst 25 acres of lavender gardens, olive groves and fruit orchards, which surround its large private pool creating an idyllic location for a relaxing Easter with friends and family. Flights, train tickets, car hire and transfers can be arranged on request.
Luxury villas in Corfu for Easter
Greek Orthodox Easter is a huge celebration in Greece and particularly in Corfu where there are numerous luxury villas from which to enjoy the festivities. In Corfu Town once the sombre Good Friday processions have concluded all of the lights start to glow purple in the evening. On Easter Saturday large pots are thrown from windows to get rid of evil spirits. On Saturday night there is music and dancing and everyone lights a candle, which must remain alight to bring in the good spirits. The traditional “Magritsa” soup is served at midnight and the island is filled with the aromatic scent of spit roast goat for the celebration lunch on Sunday.
CV Travel has a week’s stay in Papaver House on the beautiful Greek island of Corfu over Easter for £1,770 including maid service, car hire and a welcome food hamper, based on 6 guests sharing. Papaver House is a villa that combines stylish interiors with an unique setting amid the fabulous Rou Estate, a 200 year old stone baked hamlet, set high above Corfu’s north east coast brought back to life by a British architect and his holistic therapist wife. Flights and transfers are available on request.
Luxury villas in Greece for Easter
Greek Orthodox Easter is the ideal occasion to immerse in authentic Greek culture and observe the locals busily partake in Easter customs such as the Greek women cleaning the exterior of their houses, dying eggs red as well as giving their children special tailored candles as symbolic gifts.
Easter festivities in Greece are celebrated with figurative tombs of Jesus Christ being covered in thousands of beautiful flowers and paraded through streets as well as a huge fanfare of flying kites, which really is a fantastic sight to behold. Not forgetting typical Greek hospitality, traditional recipes and feasts are hosted throughout the week with mouthwatering specialties as ‘hiroméri’, ‘Magirítsa’, ‘Tsouréki’, ‘Lambropsomo’, and a spiced lamb without which the Greek Easter dinner table simply remains incomplete.
CV Travel has a week’s stay in the highly contemporary Villa Kalithea surrounded by the stunning scenery of the Geni Peninsula in Lefkada over Easter for £3,550 based on 10 guests sharing including car hire, maid service, a welcome food hamper and a typical Easter celebration meal including roasted lamb and traditional red eggs. Villa Kalithea is the ideal getaway for large families or groups of friends looking to spend Easter in pure luxury. Flights are available on request.
Luxury villas in the Caribbean for Easter
The Caribbean has always been a very popular destination for Easter. Those who are lucky enough to spend the religious holiday in the islands can experience some unique Easter festivities, traditions and celebrations in Caribbean style. Join in the revelry with the infamous pre-Lenten Carnivals before the islands return to their natural peaceful way of life for Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Dance to fantastic live Calypso music; watch the coronation ceremony of the Calypso King and the Panorama (steel band) competition. With its emphasis on family, spending Easter in the Caribbean islands is a warm and welcoming experience for guests, with a fabulous array of local traditions that put a unique tropical spin on the holiday’s religious and secular celebrations.
CV Travel has a week’s stay in the gorgeous Palmhaven Villa on the Caribbean island of Tobago over Easter (departs 20th April) is £949 per person, based on 6 guests sharing and including Gatwick flights, airport transfers and dinner on arrival. Palmhaven is located in a lovely and peaceful residential area with sweeping views of the sea and gorgeous surrounding countryside. This stunning villa offers elegant accommodation in a wonderfully tropical setting.
Luxury villas in Morocco for Easter
To escape the more commercial traditions of fluffy bunnies and chocolate eggs, Morocco is a delightfully exotic destination full of exciting sights, sounds and smells, intriguing tastes and striking scenery for the whole family to enjoy together. As an Islamic country, Easter is not celebrated in Morocco. Banquets and great feasts are common in this part of the world and with focus largely on family. A week in Morocco is a perfect way to sample the cuisine, customs and traditions. Local lamb and beef are regularly served with light authentic couscous; dry spices that tickle the senses combined with fresh vegetables and typical Moroccan furnishings style the ideal alternative Easter Sunday celebration.
CV Travel has a week’s stay in Villa Agama in Marrakech, Morocco departing 23rd April for £3450 including villa rental and daily breakfast, based on 6 guests sharing. Flights are available on request.
This contemporary villa is just a 15-minute drive from the beautiful Marrakech city center and is set amidst luscious green lawns, beds of rose bushes and palm trees to create the ultimate sense of exotic luxury tranquility; a complete contrast to the excitement of the nearby vibrant city.
Luxury houses in Great Britain for Easter
Easter in Great Britain is one of the year’s great festivals and public holidays. To most, Easter in Britain is chocolate eggs, Sunday television with a dash of Church; however Easter traditions have their origins in centuries old ways of life. The Easter weekend will buzz with life with markets and village fetes. Egg rolling competitions, traditional Morris dancing as well as Easter egg treasure hunts set-up by the Easter bunny all take place during the Easter holiday in Britain. Churches are also a wonderful place to be during the celebrations as they are decorated with the Madonna lily, symbolizing the purity of the occasion. Easter festivities in Britain remain incomplete without a good hearty Sunday roast and, of course, plenty of Easter eggs.
CV Travel has a week’s stay in The Manor House, The Cotswolds over Easter for £6,000 based on 8 guests sharing. This traditional Cotswold stone manor house is set in its own formal gardens with dark oak beamed interiors and modern comforts inside and just a short walk into Temple Guiting village. Its classical features remain such as the remnants of a spiral staircase and a suit of amour, which give the property its unparalleled character and the wood paneled staircase leads to wonderfully romantic bedrooms in the loft space.
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