easter - Travel Deals

For much of the world, the entire week leading up to Easter Sunday is full of celebrations and festivals – including Palm Sunday and Good Friday – and it’s known as Holy Week. Of course, these holidays are particularly meaningful to the religious faithful, but in some places the festivals associated with the holidays are major events on the calendar and are therefore interesting whether you’re religious or not.

Latin America ranks highly mong the places where Holy Week festivities – called Semana Santa in both Spanish and Portuguese – make the grade as a must-see tourist attractions.

Much of Latin America is predominantly Catholic, and the Semana Santa celebrations are among the most important on the Catholic calendar throughout the region. Regardless of where you’re planning to go in Latin American during the week before Easter, you would be smart to check out what that city or town has planned for Semana Santa – but if you’d like to plan a specific trip to see what are widely regarded as the best Semana Santa celebrations, here is some information about countries with particularly well-known festivals (and specific cities or towns to visit for the best-known celebrations).

>> In 2011, Easter falls on April 25th

>> Learn more about Easter travel deals

This year, Easter falls on April 24. In case you are still hunting for deals, we can tell you that the hunt is definitely over! Thanks to Southwest Airlines you can fly within the United States for excellent fares if you book the tickets by March 14, 2011. The travel period is between April 20 and 26, 2011.

Some of the routes on sale are:

• Detroit to Portland $179
• Las Vegas to Portland $139
• Los Angeles to Portland $140
• Nashville to Portland $179
• New Orleans to Portland $179
• Phoenix to Portland $162
• Sacramento to Portland $94
• Salt Lake City to Portland $114
• San Francisco to Portland $177
• Spokane to Portland $80
• Louisville to New York $179
• Omaha to Chicago $94
• Providence to Chicago $155
• San Antonio to Chicago $159
• St. Louis to Chicago $80

All fares are one way and don’t include all fees and charges.

Read more details about the deal here.

Don’t forget to read the Southwest Airlines Vacations Current Deals

Read more Southwest Flight Deals.

Although Easter may conjure up images of giant rabbits and colored eggs for many people, the idea of taking a vacation around the Easter holiday (one that doesn’t have anything to do with eggs or bunnies) isn’t a bad idea. Sure, if you’ve got kids you’ll probably want to take that into consideration and pick a place that will at least have some fun local tradition the whole family can get into, but if you’re just looking for an excuse to pack up and fly somewhere for a short break – then let Easter be that excuse.

In this article, we’ll go over some of the things you’ll want to think about when you’re planning a trip at Easter, and how you can find Easter travel deals – whether you’re going somewhere to actually celebrate the holiday or actively trying to avoid it.

>> In 2012, Easter is on Sunday, April 8.
>> Want to explore the festivities of Holy Week before Easter Sunday? Try out the Semana Santa processions in Latin America.