‘March winds and April showers bring forth May flowers’ – or so the saying goes. While it's somewhat uplifting to learn that dreary drizzly weather at the start of the year sprouts spring beauty, it doesn’t stop us from dreaming of warm weather and sunny skies while battling icy temperatures and winter blues. Fortunately, there are plenty of places where you can soak up the sun in April. Whether it be cavorting with celebrities at Coachella Valley’s Music and Arts Festival, marveling at Mayan cities in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula or off-roading along Namibia’s supernatural Skeleton Coast, April is the perfect time to tick off some bona fide bucket list destinations and get back to basics. Read on to find out where’s hot in April…
Namibia
If Namibia doesn’t immediately spring to mind when you ask yourself ‘where’s hot in April?’ then let us fill you in. Home to the world’s oldest desert and largest population of free-roaming cheetahs, yet the second lowest population density in the world, Namibia is a country of contrasts that just loves to surprise its visitors at every turn. A comfortable 24°C by day, you’ll be able to take the country’s staggering surroundings in your stride as you cross the spine of its Naukluft Mountains, past dizzying dazzles of zebras, to the striking Sossusvlei dunes. While you may be at risk of experiencing overview effect as you step out onto the vast Fish River Canyon, it’s difficult to imagine a more magnificent or characterfully African landscape to spend your April holiday.
California
California is hot and it knows it. While its tamales, climate and sports teams (hello Los Angeles Rams, 2022 NFL champions) are all suitable hot (expect temperatures of around 27°C), its music and style remain candidly cool. Fortunately, Los Angelenos figured out a way to combine these cultured temperatures in a three-day festival in Coachella Valley. Dance under star splattered skies, feel your heart vibrate in your ears and watch the Main Stage’s psychedelic light displays irradiate the desert’s sunburnt Santa Rosa Mountains. If you’re not feeling festival fever then don’t fret. April is still a fantastic time to visit the ‘City of Angels’, particularly as half of its population will be some 132 miles away. Cruise up the Pacific Coast Highway to the quieter coastal towns of Carmel-by-the-Sea and Monterey or indulge the child within you (or literally with you) on a day trip to the first and original Disneyland in Anaheim.
Mexico
Could there be a more stereotypically Easter holiday destination than Mexico ? While we’re not suggesting you join the droves of spring break students-going-wild in Tijuana, it’s not difficult to see why they make the party pilgrimage to the country at this time of year. From the gastronomic and archaeological delights of Merida to Baja California’s Los Cabos, where palm fringed beaches flirt with nearby mountains and attractive colonial streets, Mexico is a botanas of senseless cities, soulful culture and iconic art. And with temperatures of around 27°C, you’ll find that a meander through Mexico City’s museums and seafood palapas (shacks), followed by an afternoon in surrounding colonial towns, will demand a dip in the pool followed by a few margaritas…
Vietnam
When we asked our expert consultants where’s hot in April, Vietnam kept cropping up. And given the country’s recent announcement to open their borders this month, it seemed only fair to give this long narrow nation a moment in this spring spotlight. Edging towards the end of its peak season, April is the perfect time to experience the country without the crowds and unpredictable monsoons. Lose yourself in its labyrinthine cities, where traders teem into streets of lopsided mopeds carrying gravity-defying packages and wafts of street food travel to the tip of your tongue. Sip rice wine with locals along Cay Lay’s colourful market on the Mekong Delta, learn how to shoot a Co Tu crossbow in Bho Hoong and crawl (literally) into the underground world of the incredible Cu Chi tunnel networks. Constructed by the Viet Cong during the war, they are just one of myriad stark reminders of the country’s tumultuous and complex history, and proof that hot holiday destinations don’t have to start and end by the pool side.
Cyprus
If you think history and heat complement each other the same way a Flake does to a Mr Whippy, Cyprus will not disappoint. Boasting an average temperature of 23°C it is – to utter the Goldilocks principle – not too hot, not too cold but just right. Step into the past, through mythical Mediterranean marvels such as the second century B.C Kourion City to Paphos’ Tomb of the Kings in the morning and catch rays along its caster sugar beaches in the afternoon. Did we mention it’s also the birthplace of halloumi? Go mad for meze in mountainous Platres, salivate over souvlakia in Coral Bay and make room for sticky baklava in Paphos Old Town. April holidays never tasted sweeter.
Mauritius
Belinda Carlisle was right. Heaven is a place on earth, and it turns out it’s Mauritius. Think lyrical landscapes of birdsong, swaying palm trees, cerulean seas and luxury resorts, and you’ll have your answer to where’s hot in April. While March signals the end of cyclone season and May ushers winter in, April is a great time to get to know this tropical nirvana. Be charmed by Chamarel village, high in the Black River Gorges National Park, cool off in its Disney-esque waterfall and try your hand at preparing traditional samoussas, dall pouri (fried bread) and gato piment (chili cakes). Mauritius is so much more than its beaches, but lounge on Le Morne in a gently swinging hammock for a few days and you’ll see why the island was awarded third top country to travel to in 2022 by Lonely Planet.