BARCELONA

Throughout Spain, Easter is marked with large-scale processions and fiestas, and while the Catalan capital may not indulge in some of the bizarre excesses of Spain’s southern cities, there’s still plenty to see and do. Ancient religious brotherhoods parade through the streets in their trademark (and slightly sinister) pointed hoods and colourful robes, often bearing religious icons and images on their shoulders.

There’s no better time to visit one of the city’s more unusual attractions – the Frederic Mares Museum close to the cathedral. It contains hundreds of crucifixes and religious sculptures from all corners of Europe, some dating back to the middle ages, as well as various other oddities. If the museum puts you in the mood for a pilgrimage, the monastery of Montserrat is within easy reach of Barcelona. Take the cable car to its stunning mountain location and you’ll be treated to a spectacular view over the city and far out to sea.

airBaltic operates flights between Riga and Barcelona on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

MOSCOW

This year Russian Orthodox Easter actually coincides with Easter in the Western Christian tradition on April 8th. Usually the dates vary because of the Orthodox Church’s use of the Julian rather than Gregorian calendar. Whereas Western churches have their main services on Easter Sunday, Orthodox rituals begin earlier on Saturday night, with many of Moscow’s major churches brightly illuminated and full of the intensely beautiful sound of the priests’ chants and songs.

Cafes and bakeries will be bursting with Easter specialities such as ‘kulich’, a tasty fruit and nut cake eaten with the sweet cheese ‘paskha’. The ‘XB’ you might see on the cake are the Cyrillic initials for ‘Christos Voskres’ or ‘Christ is Risen’. If you’re in the mood for food for the brain as well as the body, this is when the prestigious Moscow Easter Festival begins. This year’s extravaganza is the seventh and sees many of the world’s leading orchestras, virtuosi, opera singers and conductors take centre stage at venues across the city including the famous Mariinsky Theatre.

airBaltic operates flights between Riga and Moscow every day.

TEL AVIV

The major Jewish festival of Pesach (the first day of Passover) is marked just a few days before Easter, on April 3rd, so a week spent in the Holy Land could include any number of different celebrations from the various religions and denominations who are present here. For a taste of Passover, drop into the Kiton restaurant on Diezengof Street. A true Tel Aviv institution, it has been serving classic European Jewish festive dishes for years.

Jerusalem is easy to reach from Tel Aviv Ben Gurion airport by train (arriving at the new station near Malkha Mall) and is where Christian pilgrims from all  over the world gather to follow in the footsteps – literally – of Jesus. Many choose to follow the route known as the Twelve Stations of the Cross to Golgotha on Good Friday. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is said to stand on the site of Christ’s burial place, and is the scene of an annual ceremony in which a priest enters the tomb and emerges with a flaming torch symbolising the resurrection.

airBaltic operates flights between Riga and Tel Aviv on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.

MUNICH

Autumn may be the most obvious time to visit Munich, during the famous Oktoberfest, but lovers of Bavarian beer don’t have to wait that long for some special brews. Easter is sandwiched between March’s Strong Beer Season when the year’s freshest froth is introduced, and the Spring Festival from 20th April which takes place at the Theresienwiese, the same location as the Oktoberfest, where visitors can enjoy a funfair, beer tents and live music.

Easter itself sees Munich joining numerous other German towns in hosting an Easter Market where vendors sell handicrafts, spring flowers and decorated eggs. But no Easter visit to Munich would be complete without stopping at the world’s only Easter Bunny Museum. Located on Westenriederstrasse alongside a clutch of other curious museums (dedicated to locks, chamber pots and carts), the museum contains over 2,000 Easter bunnies and information about other German Easter customs which include burning old Christmas trees, egg rolling contests and baking lamb-shaped cakes.

airBaltic flies to Munich from Vilnius every day and from Riga on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

VILNIUS

With strong Christian and Pagan traditions still very much alive and co-existing, Lithuania manages to combine traditional Catholic rituals with even more ancient rites concerned with fertility and the reawakening of nature. As a result Vilnius takes on a definite carnival feel with masked players and musicians performing in the streets of the Old Town.

The effect should be particularly strong this year with the annual ‘Sugrįžimai’ (Return) Music Festival beginning just before Easter on April 4th. Lithuanian musicians who work or study abroad return to their roots to take part in a series of concerts. Then immediately after Easter on April 10th, the Jauna Muzika (Young Music) festival takes up the baton and gives the audience the opportunity to become acquainted with the latest developments in electronic music.

airBaltic flies to Vilnius from 16 destinations in Europe.