Spring has sprung! To celebrate, we’ll all be scoffing chocolates on Easter weekend in honor of the Easter Bunny….
But don’t let the greedy lot at HB put you off – Easter in London is jam-packed with events around the capital celebrating all things springlike, from fluffy lambs and flowers in bloom to hot cross buns!
The humble easter egg is a symbol of new life in the celebrations of Easter across Europe, but no-one takes the chocolate side quite to heart like us Brits.
If you’re stuck for easter ideas, here’s our guide to the best Easter events across London, and tips for an ‘eggs-citing’ easter break. (Ed. – Blame the awful puns on the truckloads of creme eggs in the office!)
Food has become a big part of Easter traditions in the UK (as with most things), so on Easter Morning, start your day the British way with a leisurely breakfast or brunch in a cafe. Traditionally families sit around the table, tuck into a boiled egg and buttered toast ’soldiers’, and exchange the chocolate ones. Or just skip straight to the Easter eggs – what’s wrong with chocolate for breakfast?
Easter Egg Hunts
Who cares if you’re not a kid anymore – an Easter Egg Hunt is a hilarious day out, and a great way to see some of London’s top attractions out in the fresh air. The Imperial War Museum goes for retro cool with an old-fashioned trail through the museum’s historic exhibits, decorating easter eggs and a chocolate treat at the end.
Discover the Easter bunny amongst some beautiful blooms at Kew Gardens – the easter egg hunt is free with entry to the botanical gardens, and a petting zoo and crazy costumed animals (including a giant rabbit, of course) adding a dash of old English eccentricity. Kew’s grand grounds are only a short Tube Ride away from central London.
Hyde Park hosts a bumper crop of easter events, with the weekend-long Easter ‘Skate’ – great for burning off all those chocolates! The easter events range from beginner classes for those first wobbly rides around the park, to the ‘Long Good Friday Night’ Skate for experienced roller-skaters, which circles 18 miles past some of London’s top sites. For a really happy easter, join hundreds of other revelers who don fancy dress for the Easter Bunny Stroll.
The dress code is simple: EVERYONE is an Easter Rabbit, and the thousands of bunnies skating for 5 miles through the park is one of London’s most bizarre sights, but all abilities are welcome – so why not test your balancing skills?
A Great Good Friday
The East End wasn’t always Shoreditch-rave hip – head to The Widow’s Son pub in Bromley-by-Bow for a taste of Good Friday tradition. Hot Cross Buns are a traditional snack eaten on Good Friday, a tea cake sweetened with currents and delicious with butter and jam – stop for a pint at this pub for a bit of hot-cross bun history!
Back in the 19th century, a Widow that lived at the site of the pub put a hot-cross bun in her window to welcome her sailor son home. Her son never returned but every day she put another bun in the window, hoping for his return. The present day pub opened in 1848, but they have kept this tradition alive, with a tasty window display. St Bartholomew the Great Church in Smithfield has a much older history of handing out the buns to the first 21 widows after the Good Friday service – but only children get treated today!
Excuse the slightly seedy name, but one of our London hostels is throwing an Easter bash that will banish any thoughts of innocent lambs and fluffy bunnies. The Generator hostel in London hosts its infamous easter ‘warm up’ on the 9th April – the Rampant Rabbit party sponsored by Midori.
The fun starts early at 8pm, with competitions and free drinks – everyone dressed in green gets a free Midori cocktail, and there are prizes for the best moves on the dancefloor (including an i-pod…). There’s Karaoke and cheap drinks prices throughout the night, so release your inner Easter (playboy)bunny and you’re in for a great Easter night out.
For a little more innocent Easter fun, Clink Hostel are hosting ‘Love’, an Alice in Wonderland and Queen of Hearts themed rave. The ‘Cookie Crew’ and DJ Lovelockdown will be bringing a mix of Electro House, Club Hits, Commercial Hip-hop to the decks.
Chocoholic Heaven
It may have nothing to do with ‘traditional’ Easter celebrations, but we think Easter chocolate should be a staple of any Easter weekend. If you didn’t stock up on Easter Eggs and the shops have run out of Cadburys (sometimes this crisis does occur), then why not take a chocolate tour of London and scoff yourself silly?
The Chocolate Ecstasy Tour will take you on a walking and tasting tour of the finest chocolate shops in the city, where you can watch master chocolatiers hone their craft and stock up on free samples. A ‘Golden Ticket’ for the Mayfair Tour costs £35 per person (complete with goodie bag) and is a must for wannabe Willy Wonkas everywhere…
If that sounds too pricey, Journey’s London Eye Hostel are offering their guests a chocolatey treat. Book a room with them and you’ll get a free chocolate egg, with more Easter treats hidden around the hostel building.
An Ordinary Sunday?
But if you’ve can’t stomach any more Eggs and Easter Bunnies, the whole city isn’t Easter mad. Shops are still open on Easter Sunday for a quick browse, and for a springlike stroll, simply head to Columbia Road Flower Market in Hackney for stalls of fragrant blooms!
LS- Got an Easter event in London to share? Let us know!
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