🐣 No Chocolate Eggs Here: 7 Surprising Easter Traditions from Around the World

There’s something about Easter that feels deeply personal, wherever you are in the world.

As someone who’s spent Easter in the Atlas Mountains, the Andes, and the Brecon Beacons, I can tell you: this time of year feels different when you’re on the move.

Easter in the UK usually means chocolate eggs, daffodils, roast dinners and—if we’re lucky—a sunny long weekend.

But around the world, Easter looks wildly different.

Think giant omelettes, blazing carts, holy water fights, and processions that go on for hours.

Here are seven of the most unusual, surprising or just downright brilliant Easter traditions from around the globe—and a few ways you can bring that adventurous energy home with a mini UK escape of your own.

🇫🇷 1. France – 5,000 Eggs, One Giant Omelette

In the town of Haux, locals celebrate Easter Monday by cracking thousands of eggs into a single giant frying pan and cooking a monster omelette in the town square. It’s a tradition said to have been started by Napoleon—and it feeds over 1,000 people in one go.

Try this:

Gather your mates, head to a cabin, campsite, or even your garden—and make the best campfire omelette of your life. Bonus points for sourcing local ingredients.

🇵🇭 2. Philippines – Easter with a Dash of the Dramatic

In some parts of the Philippines, Easter includes full-scale reenactments of the crucifixion—complete with volunteers being (lightly) tied to crosses. It’s intense, symbolic, and not for the faint-hearted.

Try this:

Maybe skip the reenactment… but you can try immersing yourself in a story. A good travel memoir, a documentary, or a reflective podcast.

(And if you’re in the Peaks or the Lakes, read it by a stream with a brew.)

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🇭🇺 3. Hungary – Buckets of Water

Easter Monday in Hungary is known as “Dousing Day.” Traditionally, boys would chase girls with buckets of cold water, believed to bring fertility and good health. These days, it’s more light-hearted, but still involves a lot of splashing.

Try this:

Grab your cold water—turn it into a wild swim. Head to a lake or hidden cove (Wales has some of the best) and plunge into spring with a sunrise dip.

No crowds, no phone signal, just full-body reset.

🇵🇪 4. Peru – Processions in the Andes

In Cusco, Easter is a mix of Catholic celebration and mountain culture. Families hike into the surrounding valleys to cook together, reflect, and pay homage to the natural world.

Try this:

Plan a mini pilgrimage of your own. Pick a hill or ridgeline you’ve never hiked before and walk it slowly, with intention.

Maybe bring a little offering—something to leave behind in gratitude for the year so far.

🔗 Interested in the Andes? Explore our Inca Trail culture and tips

🇮🇪 5. Ireland – Egg-Rolling and Hilltop Feasts

In parts of rural Ireland, children once rolled hard-boiled eggs down hillsides as a symbol of the stone being rolled away from Christ’s tomb. Others climbed hills to eat Easter breakfast overlooking their village.

Try this:

Find a hill near you (Chilterns? Yorkshire Moors?) and pack a sunrise breakfast. Eat it with numb fingers and a big view. It’ll taste better than any pub roast.

🇲🇽 6. Mexico – Street Theatre on a Grand Scale

In Mexico, Easter blends passion, pageantry and giant community theatre. Towns across the country put on elaborate plays of the Passion of Christ, with costumes, music, and crowds of thousands.

Try this:

Bring a bit of theatre into your weekend. Attend something live, or if you’re on the road, bring a deck of cards, a song, a poem—anything to turn your trip into something shared, not just consumed.

🇲🇦 7. Morocco – Quiet Reflection in the High Atlas

While Easter isn’t celebrated widely in Morocco, travellers trekking through the High Atlas often find it to be a time of reflection. The trails are clear, the skies bright, and something about walking through remote Berber villages at this time of year feels deeply grounding.

Try this:

Walk. Just walk. Leave your phone on flight mode.

Find rhythm in your steps, notice what’s around you, let your thoughts settle.

Whether you’re in Scotland, Snowdonia or your local woods—it works.

🧭 Want to Try Something Different This Easter?

Here’s a UK adventure idea that captures the same curiosity and energy as the traditions above:

🌄 The Easter Ridge Walk – Brecon Beacons Style

• Start early from the Storey Arms car park

• Climb up to Corn Du and Pen y Fan

• Bring hot cross buns and coffee to share at the top

• Hike down via the waterfall trails

• Celebrate with a pub lunch and a well-earned pint

It’s simple, stunning, and completely doable in a weekend.

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Final Thoughts

Whether your Easter includes fireworks, feathers, or just a really good sandwich on a hilltop, the beauty of this season is in the small rituals that pull us outside of routine.

So this year, skip the scroll and do something worth remembering.

Even if it’s just an early morning walk and a thermos of tea in your local woods.