Top eight places to travel in April 2027

“April, come she will, when streams are ripe and swelled with rain” sang Simon and Garfunkel and, indeed she will. So too does Easter, although it’s early in 2027, falling on 28 March, with many school holidays extending into April. So, whether you are choosing to join the Easter festivities or time your April holiday for the end of month, when places quieten down a little, here are our top places to travel in April, when not only streams are ripe but mountain meadows are blossoming, the sea is warming and forests are flourishing.

An alternative Camino de Santiago for Easter

The Camino de Santiago can get busy around Easter, with many pilgrims planning their arrival at the Basilica in time for the most important Christian festival of the year. If you still want to celebrate the season, but with fewer people along the way, we have several alternatives for this time of year. For example, our Camino de Invierno walking holiday is a good option for April. Also known as the Winter Way, as it was taken by pilgrims en route to Santiago through Galicia to avoid tougher terrain during winter months, it’s also a much quieter way.

Another option is the Route of Padre Sarmiento which, although it also goes through Spain and ends up in Santiago, it takes an alternative route that is one for littoral lovers. Taking nine days, it follows the route created by the priest Padre Sarmiento in the 18th century along the coast of Salnés in Galicia. Last but not least, St Patrick’s Way in Northern Ireland is a 142km long-distance trail that takes in cultural and Christian heritage sites between Armagh and Downpatrick, as well as the natural spectacle of the Mourne Mountains.

The viewpoint Pena Do Castelo in Monforte De Lemos, which you reach on day two of the Camino de Invierno.

Cycling through the tulips in the Netherlands

Nowhere does flowers quite like the Dutch, and our cycling holiday of the country’s most famous tulip fields comes into full splendour in April. Your journey around the Dutch tulip fields starts and ends in Amsterdam, with city stops at Haarlem and Leiden in between. The tulip reveal happens on day three, when your route takes you through Bollenstreek, boasting tulip fields of every colour. They have been grown here for over 400 years, where excavated dunes and sea air create the perfect growing (and cycling) conditions. If you want to time it with King’s Day in the Netherlands, the royal birthday is one big countrywide party on 27 April.

Feel alive and kicking in Karpathos

This is a very mountainous island and so, if you like your walking on Greek Islands to offer you a bit of a push, Karpathos kicks the proverbial. The highest peak is Kali Limni at 1,214m, which dominates the landscape on our Karpathos walking holiday. Spend a week exploring one of the most unspoilt of Greek islands, where villages are perched on craggy mountain sides or sprinkled along the coast. Follow ancient trails to the once Mycenaean city of Vroukounda, the traditional and folklore-filled village of Olympos or along the island’s mountainous spine with panoramic views across this Aegean arcadia. This island is also famous for its prolific mountain flowers, that peek through deep gorges and rocky coast, in places where botanists seek out endemic orchids. So if you come here in April, when the tour opens, it feels like the Greek gods have laid out a green carpet for you.

You’re no April fool to consider the Greek island of Karpathos.

Japan is blossoming

April is the most glorious month to visit Japan, especially when walking along the iconic Nakasendo, Kumano Kodo, or Yamanobe-no-michi and Yagyu Kaido hiking trails, because this is when their famous cherry trees also come into full bloom. Another holiday that’s available from the beginning of April is our Shikoku Island 88 Pilgrimage which is on the smallest of Japan’s islands. For many, it’s also the most spiritual, with an ancient 1,000km trail that connects 88 Buddhist temples and shrines. Hanami is the name given to the tradition of appreciating flowers at this time of year and there won’t be any shortage of those on Shikoku. In April, the weather is mild and you are getting in before the May madness of Golden Week, which is a big holiday for Japanese people when places can pack out.

Japan’s Nakasendo walking trail is always incredible, but travelling there in April is the cherry blossom on the cake.

Cycling in Morocco

April is a wonderful time to explore the Atlas Mountains, especially on our new mountain biking holiday which, although it’s available all year round, you really start to feel the heat in the hills in April. Spend five days cycling along winding, steep slopes, past ochre Berber villages that merge with the rock faces of the same hue, following in the tracks of shepherds or goat herders and their trusty pack mules. More challenging ascents include Tadmamt Pass (1,800m), with views across the vast Haouz Plain or Ourika Valley.

Don’t just think about cross-country cycling – think big, think Atlas.

Bohemian Paradise, Czechia

The season starts to open up in Czechia after Easter, and no better place to witness its awakening than in its aptly named Bohemian Paradise UNESCO Geopark. You can either cycle or hike through it, but either way it feels gloriously unreal. Known as Cesky Raj in Czechia, these are epic landscapes of naturally eroded sandstone rock towers peeking up over forest canopies, waterfalls tumbling into vertical cracks in the rock and trails through rock labyrinths or ancient rock ‘towns’ (of which there are twelve). This land of natural adventures is also just 100km from Prague, and so you can enjoy some seasonal city chic before going a bit Bohemian.

An Italian pilgrimage

Cultural pilgrims flock to the Tuscan towns of Florence and Siena all year round, but nature lovers have the gift of the Via Francigena, an ancient pilgrimage route that opens up the sacred heart of Tuscany’s much worshipped interior. Walk in ancient footsteps between the medieval towns of Lucca and Siena, or cycle the Via’s southern section all the way to Rome. Off the main Via, there is a vast array of vineyards and valley trails to explore, and still pretty empty compared with the summer months.

We hope this has given you a few ideas to get a spring in your step this April. To learn about other places to travel in April, from Albania to Snowdonia, the Camino to Crete click here, and do not hesitate to contact us for more information. You may also enjoy reading our blog, How to prepare for a hiking trip. And for some springtime solace, tune into Simon and Garfunkel.