12 incredible places to travel in April around the world

Updated February 12, 2025

Think of April as a time to thaw out and wake up after the big chill of winter. In many places, it’s quite literally a time of rebirth and renewal, as baby animals are born, trees fill up with bright green leaves, and wildflowers begin to poke through the ground. With that warmer weather and sunshine (at least in the Northern Hemisphere), travelers are eager to get out there, kicking off a hectic spring break season that can often feel more rowdy than relaxing if you don’t know where to book. These 12 spots offer a perfect mix of shoulder-season finds and springtime deals for all kinds of travelers, from art lovers to national parks enthusiasts.

Average temp: 62ºF high, 47ºF low

Long before they became associated with the Netherlands, tulips grew wild in Central Asia and Türkiye (the name derives from the Persian word for turban, due to their bulbous shape), and the blooms became a symbol of the Ottoman Empire. Sultan Mehmed II required a staff of nearly 1,000 gardeners to tend his 12 gardens, while the 18th-century reign of Ahmed III saw the peaceful “Tulip Period,” during which the flowers showed up on everything from textiles and carpets to tombstones and buildings.

In recent years, Türkiye’s biggest city has planted an astonishing 30 million tulips, including the world’s largest tulip carpet at Sultanahmet Square in front of the Blue Mosque. Other major gardens can be found in Gülhane Park, Yildiz Park, and Emirgan Park, where millions of flowers are planted in patterns like the Turkish flag or a flowing river. For a great view of the tulip groves in Emirgan Park, check out the park’s 19th-century Ottoman pavilions, which house cafés and restaurants. And if you want to get a feel for the grandeur of the Tulip Period, The Galata Istanbul Hotel MGallery offers guests access to the neighboring hammam, which dates back to the late 1720s.

Average temp: 62ºF high, 46ºF low

While Paris can be rainy in April, that’s a lovely excuse to hang out inside its world-class museums—not to mention the recently reopened Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris, which re-emerged after a devastating fire looking better and brighter than before.

Joining classics like the Louvre and the Musée d’Orsay are a slew of cultural newcomers: Maison Gainsbourg, the treasure-filled former home of singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg; Quai de la Photo, a contemporary photography museum that floats on the Seine; and Musée du Fromage, the city’s first cheese museum.

Make time to also visit the 100% L’Expo, a show of 50 recent graduates of French art schools. Free and open to the public, the expo is being held at the Grande Halle de la Villette from April 10 to May 11.

Average temp: 63ºF high, 50ºF low

Celebrate National Poetry Month in a city defined by the 1950s Beat movement. Your hub for exploration will be the border between the North Beach and Chinatown neighborhoods, where poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti opened City Lights Booksellers in 1953. The literary emporium gained notoriety after Ferlinghetti published Alan Ginsberg’s Howl and Other Poems and defended the groundbreaking work in an obscenity trial. Out back, you’ll find Jack Kerouac Alley, lined with street art and commemorative plaques.

Across the street, The Beat Museum is home to such ephemera as Jack Kerouac’s jacket and a 1949 Hudson used in the filming of the 2012 On the Road movie. Save time to stop by Caffe Trieste, the first espresso house on the West Coast, which opened in 1956, and Vesuvio Cafe, a saloon frequented by the Beats.

Average temp: 52ºF high, 39ºF low

You may have heard of the ill-fated Fyre Festival, but every year on April 30, the Scottish capital hosts a very different kind of fire festival, called Beltane. The Celtic celebration traces its roots to pre-Roman Britain, when farmers would drive their livestock around a massive bonfire in a purification ritual to mark the start of summer. The festival went widely uncelebrated for centuries, until four University of Edinburgh students revived it in 1988.

Now, revelers gather on Calton Hill, where a procession kicks off at the National Monument, an unfinished war memorial that looks like Greek ruins. Spurred on by drumming, there’s a parade with a May Queen and a Green Man, who symbolize the transition of the seasons, and it all culminates in the lighting of an enormous bonfire.

To learn more about Scotland’s ancient history, step into the National Museum of Scotland, which features such archaeological finds as a wild boar–shaped Celtic carnyx (trumpet), or plan a day trip to the Neolithic-era Cairnpapple Hill or other nearby burial mounds and defensive forts that date back thousands of years.

Average temp: 73ºF high, 42ºF low

National Park Week (April 19–27, 2025) kicks off with a day of free park admission and includes programming for junior rangers and opportunities for volunteering. To get the most bang for your buck, it’s hard to beat the natural splendors of southern Utah, which is home to a popular quintet of national parks: Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, and Zion.

Because of dramatic elevation shifts in the region, April is a transitional month, weather-wise. In Zion, for instance, you’ll see snow in the peaks, just as wildflowers begin to bloom in lower elevations (along trails like the Riverside Walk), and mule deer fawns and baby bighorn sheep make their entrance. You’re likeliest to see the sheep and their lambs between the Zion–Mt. Carmel Tunnel and the East Entrance ranger station.

Average temp: 56ºF high, 44ºF low

Japan and Washington, D.C. attract plenty of attention for their spring cherry blossoms, but British Columbia’s biggest city gives them a run for their money with more than 43,000 trees. Come late March through April, you can witness the soft pink display in the Queen Elizabeth Park, VanDusen Botanical Garden, and Nitobe Memorial Garden. But you’ll be just as successful strolling residential neighborhoods like Kitsilano or West 22nd Avenue between Arbutus and Carnarvon Streets.

In 2025, the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival runs from March 28 to April 23, where you can enjoy events like a haiku contest, guided walks, illuminated nighttime blossom viewing, painting workshops at the Museum of Vancouver, and a Bike the Blossoms cycling trail.

Average temp: 96ºF high, 71ºF low

One of the most important annual festivals in Laos is the new year celebration, called Pi Mai or Songkran, which is held from April 13 to 15. Set at the start of monsoon season, it’s about purification and cleansing, and the festivities involve removing images of Buddha from temples and washing them in flower-perfumed water. People then collect the runoff to pour over monks, elders, and friends, which often erupts into a water party.

While the holiday is celebrated for three days nationwide, the fun stretches for up to 10 days in Luang Prabang, a UNESCO World Heritage Site known for its mix of French colonial architecture and golden-roofed temples. As part of the festival, you may see people picking flowers to decorate temples (like Wat Xieng Thong) or building sand stupas (or mounds).

Year round, the city offers a full roster of delights, including shopping at the night market or learning about the process of planting and harvesting a rice paddy at the popular Living Land Farm. Bonus: You may even get to help plow the field with the help of their water buffalo Susan.

Average temp: 79ºF high, 55ºF low

Stretching westward from Austin and San Antonio, the Texas Hill Country sprawls for 31,000 square miles of historic small towns, killer barbecue joints, burgeoning wineries, and rolling landscapes. April here is wildflower season, when many of the Lone Star State’s 5,000 or so flowering plants burst into colorful bloom.

A great base for exploration is the German-accented town of Fredericksburg, home to Wildseed Farms, a vineyard and the nation’s largest working wildflower farm at more than 200 acres. Stroll through walking trails, sample homemade peach ice cream, and pick up seeds from the shop. Elsewhere around town, Fredericksburg Tours offers an air-conditioned trolley ride through blooming fields, with a special focus on Texas bluebonnets, the official state flower since 1901.

Other excellent spots for wildflower viewing include Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park, where some 450 species pop out of the soil seasonally, and Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, which is home to fire-red castilleja, yellow coreopsis, and blue basin bellflower in the spring.

Average temp: 87ºF high, 58ºF low

Come spring break, the Mexican coast fills up with partiers making it a great time to head inland to spots like Oaxaca. Of course, that doesn’t mean you’ll find a city devoid of action: Semana Santa (Holy Week) runs from April 13 to 20, and Oaxaca celebrates the founding of the city—April 25, 1532—with music and colorful decorations in the Zócalo.

For insight into Mexican culture, book a tour with Zapotec Travel. Owner Liliana “Lily” Palma puts together itineraries of Indigenous-owned cooking classes, craft markets, palenques (distilleries), and restaurants, including her family’s own place, Criollito, in the nearby town of Tlacolula.

And when it comes to dinner, you’ll want to make a res at one of Oaxaca’s two Michelin-starred joints: Los Danzantes Oaxaca, located in a picturesque courtyard and known for its friendly service and killer cocktails, and Levadura de Olla Restaurante, helmed by the talented young chef Thalía Barrios Garcia.

Average temp: 83ºF high, 68ºF low

The waterfront in this South Florida city recently received a major upgrade, and spring is the ideal time to experience it. Take Marina Village, an open-air dining and entertainment venue that debuted in September on the shores of the Intracoastal Waterway. The space includes The Shorely, a cocktail bar on a repurposed floating ferry; The Mainland Bar serving colorful tropical drinks; and The Promenade outdoor food hall, where you can try liqueur-infused gelato, Detroit-style pizza, birria and mahi mahi tacos, and more from a variety of vendors.

Nearby, you can ogle the superyachts in the new marina of the revitalized mid-century gem Pier Sixty-Six hotel, which returns after a $1-billion redevelopment, or head a bit north to admire the $20-million refresh of the legendary Mai-Kai Restaurant, a Polynesian restaurant and revue that opened in 1956 and was later added to the National Register of Historic Places. It reopened in November, complete with a South Seas–inspired bar, a high-energy stage show, themed rooms, and, of course, pupu platters.

Average temp: 95ºF high, 71ºF low

You don’t have to go all the way out to Australia’s remote red center to experience the Outback: Just a two-hour flight from Brisbane sits a collection of small cattle and mining towns—and in April, the weather is finally cool enough to enjoy them.

Fly Qantas to Longreach to kick off a mini road trip through the region. Start with visits to the Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame and Heritage Center and the Qantas Founders Museum—don't miss the light and sound show that's projected on the side of a huge 747. An hour away in Barcaldine, you can learn about the town’s major role in the Aussie labor movement at the fascinating Tree of Knowledge monument.

Slightly farther afield is Winton, home to Rangelands Outback Camp, a glamping spot built on a mesa with stunning views, and the Waltzing Matilda Centre, the world’s first museum dedicated to a song. The collection features Outback-themed art, as well as artifacts related to 19th-century sheep stations that birthed Australia’s unofficial anthem. But the can’t-miss destination in these parts is the Australian Age of Dinosaurs, which features the largest collection of Aussie dinosaur fossils and the most productive fossil-prep lab in the Southern Hemisphere. If you want to stay longer, they’re always looking for volunteers—you can even sign up to join a dig team or help prepare fossils in the lab.

Average temp: 55ºF high, 35ºF low

New England’s forests take the spotlight each fall with their blazing foliage, but those same trees prove irresistible again in the spring during sugaring season. From late February to early April, Vermont’s maple trees are tapped for their sugary sap, which is then boiled down into prized syrup; the Green Mountain State is responsible for more than half the maple syrup produced in America, coming in at a record-breaking 3.1 million gallons in 2024.

Come in April, when the weather starts to become more pleasant, and make a road trip with stops at some of the state’s 3,000 sugarhouses like the century-old Baird Farm in North Chittenden and the Morse Farm Maple Sugarworks in Montpelier. Take tours to learn about the process and then pick up maple-flavored, well, everything: candy, sugar, fudge, cookies, cheese, and more. And don’t miss a maple creemee, the local word for soft serve, which is often sold out of roadside stands that open in the middle of sugaring season.