Easter time in the U.K.
 

We've thinking of visiting London during Easter/Passover school vacation. Are most restaurants, stores and attractions closed on Easter? What about Good Friday and Easter Monday - are most things closed on those days also? I don't want to waste vacation time sitting around a hotel room.
Thanks!

Shops over 3,000 sq feet must close on Easter Sunday. Some museums close on Good Friday.

Some restaurants that depend on these places' traffic may close at the same time. Otherwise, that's about it, though all sorts of places have all sorts of individual quirks.

Unlike Christmas, when everything closes because the tradition is to be at home with the family, most things open normally over Easter because the tradition is to get out and about. The Continental tradition of elaborate religious and/or family gatherings is unusual here.

Very little will be closed. These days, Easter is a mainly secular festival seemingly dedicated to the household god known as DIY, so there's plenty of commercial activity, but it also tends to be a time for getting out and about if you possibly can; though the weather isn't always as springlike as it should be, Easter 2006 is quite late (14-16 April) so the chances are the weather will be quite pleasant. Public transport will be on Sunday timetables on both the Friday and the Monday, though, and the airports will be crowded.

You'll find a lot of places of interest and tourist attractions will be running special events over Easter...mostly for kids, but not all. You'll find a lot of Easter Egg hunts...
It doesn't really get treated as a religious festival by many here in the UK, it is a big weekend to shop, go out as a family, and consume lots of chocolate eggs! Easter weekend is also the traditional first opening date for attractions, such as theme parks, that close over the winter.

The Londoners above have spelled things out well. You definitely won't have to stay around the hotel. None of the main tourist attractions will be closed - But many will be VERY crowded. Besides the normal foreign visitors, places like the Tower, major museums etc will also be full of local families.

PatrickLondon - Isn't that unofficially designated as 'The Great Patio Furniture Buying Weekend'?

No but it marks the opening of the season for hunting the greater smoky bbq!

The hunters can come to the estate where I live. The garage seems to have turned into a sanctuary for retired and abandoned bbqs, sadly rusting out their days now they're no longer wanted....

"The weekend dedicated to the god of DIY" - followed by a day trip to Accident and Emergency...

It's the even older tradition of human sacrifice..

Thanks to everyone for your responses!
Are schools closed in Britain around Easter time?
I remember taking my daughter to the Metropolitan Museum of Art during the Xmas holiday last year and I swore never again as everyone had the same idea!

No, we make our children go to school at Easter so we can all have a relaxing time. Not.

Kate, I find your reply rather rude! School is closed 8 days where I live but not every school in the country or even in the tri-state area where I live is the same. Some schools are closed for Spring break which is usually March and then only for a day or two around Easter.
I'm not sure I want to visit London at this time if the same attractions I want to visit will be very crowded. I usually try to schedule vacations for off peak times.

I can't even begin to see what's rude about Kate's reply.

For what it's worth, schools are on holiday over Easter. But where does that get you? Museums don't fill up when kids aren't going to school: they're at their worst when crocodiles of reluctant brats - especially from the near Continent - are being dragged round them in term time.

Indeed, while going into the BM last Sunday morning (The Persians: 6/10 for content and 1/10 for comfort),two things struck me forcibly:

- How astonishingly crowded exhibitions in London can get, and how spectacularly inconveniently most adults position themselves
- How wonderful and uncrowded, by comparison, the open areas of the museum were, precisely because of the hundreds of excited kids - in parties of 1 or 2 - scurrying around following trails, doing projects and sketching exhibits. And all avoiding standing in other people's way.

But, however you feel about museums' different audiences, London's cultural attractions are precisely that: places that attract people. If you don't like crowds, London is the wrong city to visit at any time.

"I can't even begin to see what's rude about Kate's reply."

My sight is better.

Keith

hs24,

schools in the Uk generally close for 2 weeks - the week before and the week after Easter.

Hope this helps.

As an aside, this was something I only thought of while trying to organise something for Thanksgiving.

The major holidays in the US are based around July 4th and Thanksgiving. Non religious - 'We're proud to be American!' celebrations

In Europe - since we don't celebrate either of the above - Christmas and Easter are the main holdays.

Christmas in the US is one day and the schools (at least in my area) only have a weeks vacation, called 'Winter Recess'- in the UK schools get 2 weeks. Easter is generally also a one day celebration, this year my son is getting a week vacation but it's called 'Spring Recess'.

That's where the confusion comes from - Boxing day isn't celebrated in the US neither is Easter Monday.

It's all cultural :-)

Thanksgiving is a religious holiday.

Keith

Keith,

What religion would that be?

Other than that the day after Thanksgiving is the biggest shopping day here in the US? Apparently it's when most people start their Christmas shopping :-)

I suppose some people could call shopping a 'religious experience'

Good grief, it was a joke! Ease up people!

Always amazes me how seriously some people on this board go through life.

Kate - I thought your post was just an amusing bit of wishful thinking and not at all rude.

I suppose, like Boxing Day, it's a culture thing.

Do Americans give Easter Eggs? I used to love getting Smarties Easter Eggs.

Also remember that places of entertainment (specifically pubs, bars and theatres) have special restrictions on them on Good Friday.

Me too David! I always thought Rowntrees' eggs were better than Cadbury's and Aeros just don't taste the same now since Nestle took them over about 10 years ago.

:-(

One advantage of visiting another country during a holiday time is that you would be able to <i>attend</i> church or synagogue services there. There are some incredible places of worship in London that people often visit simply as tourists. It's lovely to be able to go as a participant, and have a spiritual experience as well as a sightseeing one. :)

Personally David, I STILL love getting smarties eggs.

Kate, sorry - I guess I'm over-sensitive.
Alya, thanks for the info. Much appreciated.

David,

Easter Eggs!!!! Oh don't get me started!

Here in MA my friends give their children Easter Baskets! Generally they include chocolate and candy but also - and get this! CD's, Video' Computer games!!! It's like Christmas in April.

I was given a hard time by friends for refusing to put an Easter basket together for my son (the 'when in Rome do as'.. reasoning) we bought him a basketball hoop instead - well we had to buy one now that we live in the US - it's mandatory :-)

Alya; That sounds nice but do you have actual Easter Eggs? These are large chocolate eggs with sweets inside them.

Not to mention Cadbury's cream eggs.

Hi David,

yes as a Brit living in the US, I can confirm that Easter Eggs are available in the US. Some of the chocolate however is revolting ' Hersheys, yuk! has an aftertaste of vomit :-(. I find I don't eat as much chocolate as I used to in the UK - not a bad thing perhaps :-)

Easter chocolate will also go on sale here halfway through February. When Christmas is over the Valentine choc makes an appearance, after Feb 14th the Easter chocs appear.

I swear that cream eggs (also available) are getting smaller :-(

Fellow Fodorites
Could you be careful about generalising and assuming that &quot;the UK&quot; as a whole does whatever they do where you live? In Scotland the concept of a &quot;bank holiday&quot; is almost non existent except, naturally enough, in banks. The main holidays for shops etc are termed &quot;public holidays&quot; and are fixed by the local councils. Easter Monday is a public holiday almost everywhere, Good Friday in most but not all places. Unlike in England there is no legal requirement for shops to close on Easter Sunday or any other Sunday, (or on public holidays), the only restriction being that they can't sell alcohol on Sunday mornings. As for schools, they have between one and two weeks somewhere near Easter but there's no guarantee that it will cover the Easter weekend - partly depends on how early or late Easter falls each year.

Craigellachie: True enough. But we were all answering the OP who is going to London and will be nowhere near Scotland.

Now IF they were going to Scotland it would be a good thing - but since there is no mention we can safely assume the Scottish school/public hoildays won't greatly affect them.