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Easter in London 2026 – What to Expect, What to Book, and What to Skip

Mar 3, 2026

6 mins Read

By Hannah Williams

Easter in London is a curious thing. You've got medieval cathedrals hosting centuries-old services while royal parks run chocolate egg hunts. European school holidays push the city to near-summer capacity. The weather flips between cold sunshine and horizontal rain within the same afternoon. Half the city decamps to the countryside; the other half descends on London from everywhere else.

Easter 2026 falls across 3–6 April – Good Friday through Easter Monday – and if you're planning to be in London for any or all of it, there are a few things worth knowing before you arrive. Which attractions close (more than you'd think)? Which ones are busier than July? What are the egg hunts actually like? And why the Alike London Tourist Pass becomes particularly useful when your schedule gets derailed by a child's blister on day two.

Easter coincides with school holidays across the GCC and Europe, making it one of London's busiest inbound travel windows.

This is the guide I'd want to read before going.

Easter 2026 – key dates and what they mean for you

Date	What's Happening	Practical Impact
Friday 3 April – Good Friday	Bank holiday	Many attractions open, some with reduced hours. Transport runs a Sunday service.
Saturday 4 April	Normal day	Busy. Normal hours across most attractions.
Sunday 5 April – Easter Sunday	Easter Sunday	Some attractions closed; others open with limited hours. Church services across the city.
Monday 6 April – Easter Monday	Bank holiday	Busiest tourism day of the weekend. Expect Tube stations to be genuinely packed.

Here's the practical reality: London will be at near-summer visitor capacity across the Easter weekend. Hotels cost 30–50% more than a normal April rate. Major attractions – Tower of London, Windsor Castle, Hampton Court – sell out days or weeks in advance. Easter Monday in particular can feel relentless if you haven't planned ahead.

The upside is real, though. Spring weather, when it cooperates (and occasionally it does), makes London genuinely beautiful. The parks are in bloom. The Changing of the Guard has its full ceremonial complement. And the Easter traditions – from the centuries-old Hot Cross Bun ceremony to the egg hunts across the Royal Parks – are worth experiencing at least once.

Good Reads

What London weather is actually like at Easter

Let me save you the disappointment: "mild and pleasant" is aspirational. April in London averages between 6°C and 13°C, with meaningful rain on roughly one in three days. The sun comes out, you think "brilliant, a picnic" – and thirty minutes later, you need a jacket.

What to pack: Layers are non-negotiable. A compact waterproof jacket (not an umbrella – you'll lose it on the Tube or spend the whole day battling it in crowds). Comfortable waterproof shoes if you're doing outdoor attractions. Anything that lets you pivot from "outdoor activity" to "indoor museum" without a full wardrobe reassessment.

Weather as a planning tool: Build your outdoor attractions – Windsor Castle's grounds, Kew Gardens, the Thames cruise – around days with better forecasts. Keep indoor experiences (Tower of London's Crown Jewels, Hampton Court's State Apartments) as your bad-weather days.

What's actually open (and what isn't) over Easter

This trips up more people than it should. Here's a factual breakdown, though always verify directly with each attraction as arrangements can change year to year.

Good Friday (3 April), largely open, with caveats

Most major London attractions operate on Good Friday, often with slightly reduced hours. The Tower of London and Windsor Castle are typically open. Many smaller galleries and independent shops close. Bank transfers and financial services are suspended. Expect busier-than-normal crowds at open attractions because everyone else has also decided that today's the day.

Easter Sunday (5 April), the quieter day

This is actually the better day to visit certain attractions – crowds thin out as many people attend church services or spend the morning with family. Some attractions run reduced hours or are closed entirely. Many restaurants operate limited sittings and often require advance booking for Easter Sunday lunch specifically. Worth checking individual attractions before committing.

Easter Monday (6 April), the busiest day of the weekend

Don't underestimate Easter Monday. It draws the largest single-day crowds of the Easter weekend, particularly at outdoor spaces like Hyde Park, the South Bank, and Covent Garden. The Tube runs a weekend service, which means reduced frequency on some lines at peak times. If you're doing a major attraction on Easter Monday, book the first available slot of the morning – things fill fast.

Easter traditions worth actually seeking out

London has a few Easter traditions that feel meaningfully different from what you'd find elsewhere. These are worth planning around, not just stumbling upon.

Butterworth Charity – St Bartholomew the Great (3 April): One of London's oldest Easter ceremonies. On Good Friday morning, 21 widows receive coins distributed on the tombstone of a local benefactor who died in 1686. Buns are shared with the congregation. It's quiet, local, and completely unlike anything you'd find in a guidebook. St Bartholomew the Great is in Smithfield – the church itself predates most of London's famous landmarks.

The Easter Parade – Battersea Park: A classic family Easter Monday event with floats, entertainers, and an atmosphere that somehow retains genuine charm despite drawing big crowds. Free to attend.

Hot Cross Buns at Old Bailey: On Good Friday morning, the Widow's Son pub in Bromley-by-Bow continues a tradition dating to 1823, adding a hot cross bun to the collection that hangs from the ceiling each year. Eccentric, local, and entirely authentic.

Easter in London with children – egg hunts and family activities

If you're travelling with children, Easter weekend in London is genuinely excellent. The scale of family programming across the city is significant.

The Royal Parks Easter egg hunts typically run across Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, and Green Park throughout the Easter weekend. Cadbury partners with the National Trust to run trails across sites including Kew Gardens – children follow clues to collect stamps, culminating in a chocolate reward.

Hampton Court Palace Easter trails are particularly well done – the palace runs themed family trails through the Tudor kitchens and Great Hall, with costumed guides making the history genuinely engaging for children aged 5 and up. Easter 2026 dates and themes are typically confirmed by early March.

ZSL London Zoo runs dedicated Easter events with keeper talks, craft activities, and animal encounters structured around the holiday. Book tickets in advance – Easter weekend dates at the zoo sell out weeks ahead.

Build your Easter London itinerary with the Alike London Tourist Pass

Easter food and dining in London

London takes food seriously at Easter, and the range across neighbourhoods is genuinely impressive.

Borough Market runs its full complement on Good Friday and over the weekend (check 2026 hours directly). The Easter period brings seasonal produce – British asparagus if it's come in, spring lamb, fresh cheese. It's worth an hour just to walk through, even if you only buy coffee.

Hot cross buns – if you've only had the supermarket version, you owe yourself the artisan equivalent. E5 Bakehouse in London Fields, Bread Ahead in Borough Market, and Paul Rhodes in Greenwich all produce excellent versions. The difference is noticeable.

Easter Sunday lunch is a significant thing in London. Many gastropubs and restaurants run dedicated set menus – typically roast lamb, Yorkshire pudding, seasonal vegetables. Popular spots book out two to three weeks ahead. If you want a proper sit-down Easter lunch, the time to book is now.

Afternoon tea with an Easter theme runs at most of London's major hotels across the weekend – Fortnum & Mason, Sketch, Claridge's, and The Ritz all run seasonal menus. These require advance booking and represent a meaningful splurge (£60–£90+ per person), but for a special occasion they're genuinely memorable.

Is the Alike London Tourist Pass worth it at Easter specifically?

Here's the honest case.

Easter weekend prices at London's major attractions are higher than average. Tower of London, Windsor Castle, and Hampton Court – all typically on sale individually – see elevated demand across the Easter period. Pre-booking through the pass keeps you ahead of capacity sellouts and locks in your access without having to check day-of availability.

More importantly for Easter specifically: the 14-day flexibility window matters enormously when your plans are at the mercy of British weather and small children.

Unlike passes that lock you into consecutive days of usage, purchasing the Alike London Tourist Pass means you can, for instance:

Use the Tower of London on Good Friday (historically one of the calmer mornings of the Easter weekend, with many people still travelling)
Skip Easter Sunday entirely – rest, a proper lunch, a long walk in the park
Use Windsor Castle on the Tuesday after Easter (crowds have cleared, the commuter hordes have returned to work, and you'll have the State Apartments in something approaching peace)

This kind of flexibility isn't a luxury at Easter – it's genuinely useful. The unpredictability of April weather, the variation in crowd levels day to day, and the reality of Easter Monday being unexpectedly exhausting for families makes the ability to spread your pass across the week far more valuable than a rigid multi-day pass.

Insider tips for Easter London – avoiding the worst of it

A few things that genuinely help:

Book the Tower of London for the 9 AM slot. It's the single most effective thing you can do. The Crown Jewels queue – which can run 45 minutes to an hour later in the day – is practically nonexistent at opening.

Avoid the South Bank on Easter Monday afternoon. The Tate Modern, the Globe, Borough Market, the Golden Hinde – all of these are excellent, but the pavement between them on Easter Monday afternoon is a crowd-management exercise. Go in the morning or skip to another day.

Kew Gardens is worth planning around. The cherry blossom and spring bulb displays are at their peak around the Easter period most years. It can genuinely be one of the most beautiful days out in London – but the gardens themselves are large enough that it never feels dangerously crowded, even on Easter Monday.

Hyde Park Speaker's Corner on Easter Sunday morning draws a range of characters – it's free, historically interesting, and a completely different side of London from the tourist trail. Take a walk through afterwards.

Day trips from London at Easter need lead time. Windsor is 30 minutes by train from London Waterloo and draws significant Easter weekend crowds – both the castle and the town itself. Plan to arrive before 10 AM or after 3 PM if possible.

Easter in London is worth it – with realistic expectations and a bit of advance organisation. The city is beautiful in April, the programming across parks and cultural institutions is genuinely impressive, and the energy of a city with the long weekend spirit running through it is difficult to replicate.

The pitfalls are manageable. Book major attractions ahead. Budget for elevated hotel and restaurant pricing. Treat Easter Monday as the busy day it is, and plan something lower-key. And if you're doing multiple attractions across the week, the Alike London Tourist Pass is worth building into your planning – specifically because the 14-day window means you're working with Easter, not against it.

Plan your Easter week with Eia – Alike's AI Trip Planner