Five top villas in Italy for Easter 2024

A holiday in Italy at Easter can be the perfect step into spring. Easter Sunday falls on 31 March this year, however, don’t expect celebrations in Italy to be limited to just one day. Instead, celebrations tend to be spread over five days, starting on the Thursday before Easter Sunday and continuing until Easter Monday. With nearly 80% of Italians identifying as Roman Catholic, it’s no surprise that there are a number of important and extremely historical events that take place throughout Italy around Easter time. Pasqua is, in short, very much a huge celebration.

Here is our guide to the best villas in Italy to stay in this Easter, along with some recommendations on what special events it’s worth participating in during your stay.

Villa Cortona, Tuscany

This villa in Cortona is the perfect base for your Easter holiday in Italy. Tuscany is a phenomenally popular holiday destination throughout the year but we particularly love Tuscany in the Spring. Tuscany is filled to the brim with the most incredible towns and cities however sightseeing in the Springtime can be far more enjoyable, without having to battle the stifling temperates of the Summer months.

And there are so many great events to enjoy using this villa in Cortona as a base. For a start, there are opportunities to witness some of the dramatic Good Friday processions that take place across the Easter period. Torchlit processions take place in Orvieto and Assisi, both of which are an easy hours drive away from the villa. During the Good Friday events in Assisi, the Processione del Cristo Morto sees a rather dramatic but sombre procession of barefooted and hooded penitents making their way through the torch-lit Medieval streets.

You’re also less than 90 minutes from Cortona to the region’s capital – Florence – which is where holidaymakers can witness what is arguably the most dramatic Easter celebrations anywhere in Italy. Here, the Explosion of the Cart (Scoppio del Carro) takes place on Easter Sunday each year. A 400 year old wagon is pulled through the streets by a pair of oxen accompanied by flag throwers and drummers until it reaches the Piazza del Duomo. Once there, from the safety of the cathedral altar, the Archbishop lights the fuse of a dove-shaped rocket which flies down a wire to the cart outside setting off a spectacular firework display.

There are also plenty of other non religious events to enjoy whilst staying at this Cortona villa in April. On Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th April the Fiera Antiquaria will be held in Arezzo, less than 40 minutes from the villa. This is a a huge monthly antiques market that sees the central Piazza Grande filled with stallholders as hundreds of exhibitors converge on the square to sell their wares.

A similar distance away but in the opposite direction in Montepulciano, ArteArti takes place each April. This is a craft exhibition, displaying some of the finest craftsmanship in the Tuscan area. However, as you’d expect in Italy, there is also plenty of space for visitors to sample delicious local foodstuffs too at this annual event.

Tempted to holiday in Tuscany? Then check out the other villas in Tuscany also available to rent from Bookings For You this Easter.

Casa Terre di Bea, Sicily

This villa in Sicily is another perfect villa rental for your Easter holiday in Italy. If you’re yearning for some early Summer sunshine, then there is no better place in Italy to escape to than Sicily. Average daily temperatures are already in the high teens in March and April, and it’s not unknown for guests to be swimming in the sea as early as Easter.

What’s more, Sicily can boast some of the Italy’s most dramatic and eye catching Easter processions anywhere in Italy. Whilst the most dramatic are arguably in Trapani, Enna and Marsala, all of which are a couple of hours drive from this villa in Sicily, nearby Cefalu also holds an extremely moving Processione del Venerdi Santo (Good Friday procession).

Not only that, but on 23 April, there are traditional processions throughout Sicily to mark St George’s Day (Festa di San Giorgio).

Tempted to holiday in Sicily? Then check out the other villas in Sicily also available to rent from Bookings For You this Easter.

Fonte Cicerum, Umbria

This villa in Umbria is another perfect villa from which to enjoy an Easter holiday in Italy. With a similar climate to Tuscany, Spring offers much more pleasant temperatures in which to explore the green heart of Italy. Plus, Umbria is home to one of the most important pilgrimage sites for Christians in Italy – Assisi – which is just an hour away from this villa in Umbria, so arguably there is no better place to be at Easter.

One of the most colourful festivals in Assisi over this period is the Good Friday Procession. This is attended by the town’s religious guilds dressed in their colourful costumes who make their way from the San Rufino Cathedral to the Basilica of San Francesco. However, also not to be missed is the equally impressive evening Processione del Cristo Morto, a procession of barefooted and hooded penitents through the torch-lit Medieval streets. Good Friday will see many other Umbrian towns re-enacting the passion of Jesus during the Via Crucis. These include Todi, Montefalco, Terni, Perugia, Norcia and elsewhere.

Religious celebrations continue into Easter Monday (La Pasquetta). Many towns and cities will celebrate with concerts. And in Assisi, the day starts at dawn with a depiction of the angel who comforted a women at Jesus’s tomb and ends with evening vespers.

However, one of the most unusual at this time in Umbria is in Panicale which is less than a 10 minute drive from this villa in Umbria. Here, the annual Ruzzolone takes place. This cheese rolling competition is supposedly over 3000 years old, originating in Etruscan times. Competitors (giocattori) attach a leather strap with a wooden handle to a 4kg round of pecorino cheese which they have to wheel through the streets of Panicale. Every time the cheese falls to the ground, the place is marked with chalk. The winner is basically the person that finishes the course with the least number of ‘strokes’. The prize? Quite simply, the winner gets to take the winning piece of cheese home with them! It’s one of Italy’s most unusual festivals but great fun to watch and be a part of!

Villa Lesa, Italian Lakes

This Italian Lakes villa is perfect for anyone looking to spend Easter in Italy. This region of Italy does not see the intensity of religious celebration or historic processions at Easter time. But Springtime in the Italian Lakes is, quite simply, a glorious time of year when you’ll find flowers in full bloom bringing a multitude of colour to the lake shores. It’s certainly the best time for nature lovers to explore this beautiful region of Italy.

The Borromeo Islands and, in particular, Isola Madre and Isola Bella, are both home to an incredible variety of rare and tropical plants and flowers. These come to life in the Spring and early Summer months. These islands are just a short boat trip away from this Italian Lakes villa. Or why not take a slightly longer boat trip from Lesa to Intra to visit Villa Taranto. Here, the ‘Feast of the Tulip’ takes place in April when you’ll discover as many as 20,000 tulips in glorious full bloom, filling the gardens with a multitude of colours. Or, at the other end of the lake in Locarno, you’ll discover the Parco delle Camellie, home to over 900 different varieties of camellia which also bloom magnificently in the Spring. In short, Easter really is a time of year when the Italian Lakes explode with vibrant colours and it looks at its very best.

Alternatively, use this Italian Lakes villa as a base to explore Lake Como. In Como itself, there is an annual Easter market which runs from Holy Thursday all the way through to Easter Monday.

Tempted to holiday in the Italian Lakes? Then check out the Italian Lakes villas available to rent from Bookings For You.

Villa Oriana, Puglia

This Puglia villa is another great option if you want to enjoy an Easter holiday in Italy. Like Sicily, Puglia offers holidaymakers lots of warmth and early sunshine even in the Spring. Right down in the heel of Italy’s boot, like the rest of Italy, Puglia also marks Easter with some incredible ancient rites and rituals.

The most impressive of these are in Taranto, just a 40 minute drive from this Puglia villa. Here, there are two 14 hour long processions. The first is on Holy Thursday and the second is on the following day – Good Friday. Both feature participants dressed in traditional costumes walking barefoot in twos side by side as if they are joined at the hip and gently rocking as they walk. Most are members of two religious brotherhoods and these brothers (perdoni) are dressed in long white robes with a black rosary and with their heads covered by a white cap which has two small eye holes in it. The pace of the walk is that of a slow and solemn funeral march and it is accompanied by the rather eerie rattling noise of the troccola. The latter is a board instrument which mimics the sounds of the stones that were thrown at Jesus Christ as he made his way to the cross. The atmosphere is incredible and well worth seeing.

Or just 30 minutes from this Puglia villa is Salento. This has another interesting tradition which is worth seeing. Here residents take part in La Quaremma. The latter is a puppet of a witch holding an orange and with seven feathers attached. During Lent, households hang it from their balconies and for each passing week, they remove a feather until Easter Sunday arrives when the puppets are burnt on a pole to symbolise the Resurrection.

And, Puglia also has plenty of food traditions unique to the Easter period which you can’t necessarily enjoy at other times of the year too. In Salento these include dove-shaped doughnuts called scarcella (although in Puglia these can also be found in plenty of other shapes and sizes)! Other sweet treats available at Easter in Puglia are pastatelle and mostaccioli.

Tempted to holiday in Puglia? Then check out the villas in Puglia available to rent from Bookings For You.

Wherever you fancy heading to at Easter, get in touch with the team at Bookings For You and we’ll help you find the perfect villa in Italy for your next Easter holiday in Italy.