Does anyone know of a place (or a web-site or book that lists these) that has interesting traditional observances for the week before Easter. We are thinking of a European trip this spring and would be interested in planning around a location with such events. It would be a plus if the weather in the area wouldn't be too terrible in the first week of April.

Seville has one of the biggest Holy Week festivals, plus the weather in Andalucia is great that time of year.<BR><BR>Try http://whatsonwhen.com for the grandpa of all events listings.

Last spring we spent almost all of Holy Week in Sorrento and it was a great experience. Unfortunately we were returning home on Holy Thursday but wished we had been able to stay for Easter. Also we have been in St.Raphael-Frejus on the Riviera for that week and that was also interesting. The areas are both warm in April.

Julie - Easter falls on the 20th in 2003. Should be pretty nice weather just about anywhere.<BR><BR>Mills - can you elaborate on the festivities in Sorrento during Holy Week?

Oh you HAVE to go to Seville. The Spanish do religious festivals bigger and better than anyone, and Seville during Easter is the biggest. Book early and brace yourselves for the crowds.<BR><BR>The weather should also be quite good (it was when I went last Easter), compared with anywhere else in Europe.

Try Orthodox Easter in Greece - it's usually a few weeks earlier or later than Catholic Easter.<BR><BR>It's very ceremonious and a much bigger religious event than Christmas. The week before there are events every night, in or around all local churches. These include beautiful services, the procession of the epitaph and culminate on midnight of Saturday, going straight through to Sunday - traditional food (tsoureki, kokkoretsi, magiritsa) also plays a great role.<BR><BR>The best thing would be to go to a village either on one of the islands or on the mainland and really live the event.

Absolutely consider Seville--it is an unforgettable experience. As we usually travel at Easter, I've done a lot of searching for holy week festivities and have not been very successful with websites/books. The weather in Seville was beautiful, 75-85, and there is SO much to do. Book reservations early, and expect to pay 3x the normal rates.

Not just Seville, any town in Spain is good. One of the most impressive Semana Santas I have had was on a tiny Canarian island La Palma. Not big like in Sevilla, but atmosphere was unbelievable.<BR><BR>In Orthodox countries like Greece the atmosphere is different, devout, but not so impressively gloomy as in Spain.

Seville.

Thanks for all the suggestions. Can you elaborate on Seville since so many of you seem to be recommending it? I am especially curious in light of Cindy's comment about huge crowds and to prepare to pay 3 x the usual going rate. Would we still enjoy Seville? Plus, our last few trips we have found that we really prefer smaller towns to the large major cities which is why I am still looking for ideas.