Best Easter Holiday Destinations for Sun: Where the Sun Will Actually Be

🇲🇦Agadir, Morocco — The Underrated Easter Star

Agadir doesn't get nearly the attention it deserves for Easter, and that's genuinely your advantage. While half of Northern Europe crowds into the Canaries, this Moroccan Atlantic coast city sits under blue skies averaging 9 hours of sunshine a day in early April, with temperatures around 22–24°C during the day. Warm enough to sit on the beach without a jumper. Cool enough that you're not sweating through dinner.

The beaches here are long, wide, and far less crowded than anything you'll find in the Spanish islands in Easter week. The sea is still cool for swimming (around 18°C) — bring a wetsuit if that matters to you — but for sunbathing, walking the corniche, and eating the best fresh fish you've had in years, Agadir in early April is quietly excellent.

It's also cheap. A decent hotel that would cost €180/night in Tenerife costs €90 here. Direct flights from Brussels, Paris, Amsterdam, and London run regularly and rarely break €150 return in March booking windows.

One honest caveat: Agadir's spring weather can occasionally bring cloud from the Atlantic, usually in the morning. It typically burns off by midday. Not a problem if you're not trying to sunbathe at 9am.

🇪🇬Hurghada, Egypt — Maximum Sun, Minimum Clouds

If you want a near-mathematical certainty of sunshine this Easter, Hurghada is as close as it gets in the European short-haul world. The Red Sea coast of Egypt averages 11 to 12 hours of sunshine per day in early April — almost double what you'd get in London on its best summer day. Rain in April is essentially nonexistent. In 30 years of records, Hurghada sees rainfall measured in single millimetres across the entire month.

The sea is warm (around 23°C), the visibility for snorkelling and diving is extraordinary, and the resort infrastructure — while not everyone's aesthetic — is genuinely convenient if you're travelling with kids or just want a stress-free week. Easter week will be busy. Book early.

What Hurghada lacks: the cultural richness of, say, Marrakech or even Cyprus. It's a sun-and-sea destination, not a city-break. If you're after guaranteed warmth and a pool, it's the best option on this list. If you want to feel like you've actually been somewhere, combine it with a night or two in Cairo — 4 hours away and worth every minute.

A note on timing: April is right on the edge of when the Khamsin wind — a hot, dusty desert wind — can blow across Egypt. It's not guaranteed, and the Red Sea coast is more sheltered than Cairo, but it's worth knowing about. If it hits, it usually lasts 1-2 days.

🇲🇦Marrakech, Morocco — Easter in the Medina

Marrakech is a different kind of Easter break. You're not going for beach weather — the city is inland, 160km from the coast. You're going for the medina, the souks, the food, the Djemaa el-Fna at sunset with a glass of fresh orange juice while a snake charmer performs 10 metres away. April is genuinely one of the best months to visit: temperatures around 24–26°C, 9 hours of sunshine daily, and the summer heat that makes July and August borderline unpleasant is still months away.

The Jardin Majorelle — the Yves Saint Laurent garden — is at its most beautiful in April. The rose festival in the nearby Dadès Valley typically falls in late April, so if you're extending the trip, the timing can align. Riads in the medina go for surprisingly reasonable prices if you book now, and the exchange rate makes Morocco one of the best-value destinations accessible from Europe.

Easter in Marrakech is popular — it's not a secret. The main square gets busy. But the medina is large enough that five minutes of walking takes you somewhere quieter. This is a destination that rewards the curious traveller who turns left when everyone else turns right.

🇪🇸Southern Spain — Andalusia and the Costa del Sol

Málaga, Seville, and the Costa del Sol are the default Easter sun destination for much of Northern Europe, and the default exists for a reason. Andalusia in early April averages 6-7 hours of sunshine daily with temperatures between 18-22°C — warm enough for sitting outside in a t-shirt, cool enough for walking around Seville's cathedral quarter for three hours without wilting. The food is exceptional. The infrastructure is seamless. Flights are everywhere.

The honest comparison with North Africa: Southern Spain is less sunny and more expensive than Morocco or Egypt at Easter, but it's also easier. No different currency to think about, no adjusting to a different food culture if that's not what you want, no long transfer times from airport to resort. For families or first-timers, Andalusia's reliability is worth the premium.

One specific recommendation that most articles miss: Nerja, a small town east of Málaga on the Costa Tropical. It's sheltered by mountains, which gives it marginally better weather than Málaga itself in spring, and it hasn't been fully swallowed by mass tourism yet. The old town is genuinely lovely.

🇪🇸The Canary Islands — The Safe Pair of Hands

Lanzarote and Tenerife will get more Easter bookings than any destination on this list, and that's not irrational. The Canaries in April average 9 hours of sunshine daily, temperatures around 21–24°C, and almost no rain. They're Spanish territory, so there's nothing to figure out logistically. They've hosted millions of Northern European tourists and the infrastructure reflects it — for better or worse.

The case for Lanzarote specifically at Easter: it's the most architecturally interesting of the eastern Canaries, shaped entirely by volcanic eruptions that happened as recently as 300 years ago. The Timanfaya National Park looks like you've landed on Mars. The beaches at Papagayo, in the south, are among the best in the Atlantic islands. And it's quieter than Tenerife.

The case against the Canaries at Easter: everyone else is going. If you're booking in late March for early April, availability is tight and prices are elevated. The resorts in the south of Tenerife, in particular, can feel overwhelming at Easter peak. If that's not for you, Lanzarote's north or Fuerteventura's interior offer an escape.

🇲🇹🇨🇾Malta and Cyprus — Worth Knowing About

Both islands get around 8-9 hours of sunshine in early April. Both are genuinely beautiful. Both are worth a trip. Neither makes the top tier of the Easter sunshine rankings for one reason: they're slightly more expensive than Morocco, slightly less certain than the Canaries, and significantly farther from most Western European hubs than the other options on this list.

Cyprus has a specific Easter advantage though: it's one of the most devout Orthodox countries in Europe, and Easter celebrations here — midnight processions, the Holy Fire ceremony, lamb on the spit on Easter Sunday — are genuinely extraordinary if that's something you'd want to experience. Malta similarly has elaborate Good Friday processions in Valletta that tourists can attend. If the cultural dimension appeals, both are worth the slightly longer flight.