Culture. Updated November 2026. 4 min read.
After Christmas, Easter is Kenya's second big travel weekend of the year. Good Friday and Easter Monday are public holidays, so most working Kenyans get four days off in a row, and on the Thursday evening the roads out of Nairobi to the coast and the Rift Valley fill with cars, buses and matatus. The churches are full from Palm Sunday on, and by the Saturday the beaches at Diani and the shores of Lake Naivasha are packed with families.
For a visitor, Easter is a mixed blessing. The country is green, the parks are quiet outside the long weekend, and many lodges have dropped to green-season rates. But the four holiday days themselves are busy and often charged at holiday prices, and the long rains are usually starting. In 2027 Easter is early, on Sunday, March 28, with Good Friday on March 26 and Easter Monday on March 29. Here is how Kenyans celebrate, and how to plan around it.
The long weekend
The four-day weekend runs from Good Friday to Easter Monday. Many families leave on Thursday afternoon, so that is the worst time to be on the Mombasa Road or the Nakuru highway; the return on Monday afternoon and evening is as bad. The Madaraka Express to Mombasa sells out, and flights to the coast are full. The first school term usually ends around the start of April, so in some years Easter falls in or next to the school holiday, and the coast stays busy for longer. If you are traveling in Kenya that week, move on Tuesday or Wednesday, and stay put over the weekend itself.
Church at Easter
More than eight in ten Kenyans are Christian, and Holy Week is the most important week of the church year. On Palm Sunday, congregations process through the streets waving palm fronds and singing. On Good Friday, many Catholic parishes walk the Way of the Cross, stopping at each station to pray, and church youth groups in towns and villages stage passion plays, some in the open air for big crowds. Easter Sunday services are long, joyful and full, often with baptisms and choirs that have rehearsed for weeks.
Visitors are welcome at any of these. If you are traveling with a church group, Holy Week is a good time to join a Kenyan congregation: a Palm Sunday procession or an Easter service shows you more about Kenyan Christianity in one morning than any tour could. Dress smartly, arrive early, and bring a small offering.
Easter in the long rains
The long rains usually begin in March or April and are heaviest in April and May, but they vary from year to year. Rain tends to come as afternoon and evening storms, with clear mornings; in some years it settles in for days. An early Easter, as in 2027, is more likely to catch the dry end of the season; a late one, as in 2028, is more likely to be wet. Some dirt roads in the parks turn to mud, and some coast hotels close or scale back from around April until July or August. Our dry versus green season guide sets out what you gain and what you give up.
Green-season prices, and the Easter exception
Many safari lodges and camps move to their low or green-season rates around April, and the Maasai Mara reserve fee is in its lower band from January to June, $100 per adult per day at the time of writing, against $200 from July to December. That can make a late-March or April safari very good value. The exception is the Easter weekend itself: popular places, especially on the coast and at Naivasha, often charge holiday rates or set minimum stays for those four nights. Fees and rates change, so check before you pay.
| Year | Good Friday | Easter Sunday | Easter Monday |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2027 | March 26 | March 28 | March 29 |
| 2028 | April 14 | April 16 | April 17 |
| 2029 | March 30 | April 1 | April 2 |
| 2030 | April 19 | April 21 | April 22 |
Where Kenyans go at Easter
| Place | Easter crowds | Our note |
|---|---|---|
| Diani and the south coast | Very busy over the four days | Book by January; go midweek either side for quieter beaches |
| Mombasa and the north coast beaches | Very busy, many day visitors | Humid and hot; the rains reach the coast later |
| Lake Naivasha and Hell's Gate | Busy, especially on Saturday and Sunday | Boat rides and cycling fill; reserve both |
| Lake Nakuru | Busy at weekends | Good all-weather roads; rhinos and birdlife |
| Nairobi National Park | Busy with day trips | Go early in the morning |
| Maasai Mara | Busier than usual for April, still quiet by July standards | Green, low-fee season; some roads muddy |
Planning an Easter trip
- Book rooms for Easter weekend by January, and earlier at the coast
- Travel between places on Tuesday or Wednesday of Holy Week, not on Thursday or Monday
- Build a buffer day into any trip on dirt roads, in case of rain
- Choose lodges with good access: Nakuru, the Laikipia conservancies and Nairobi National Park cope well with rain
- Consider flying to the Mara instead of driving if the rains have started
- Pack a light rain jacket, quick-dry clothes and insect repellent; malaria risk rises in the rains in low-lying areas
- In 2027, note that the WRC Safari Rally is at Naivasha the week before, March 18 to 21, on the calendar at the time of writing
Easter for church and school groups
Many U.S. church groups travel in Holy Week, and spring break for some schools and colleges overlaps with Easter. If your group wants to worship with a Kenyan congregation, we arrange it with partner churches and give you a sense of the service before you go. If your group is coming for a safari, consider traveling the week after Easter, when roads and lodges are quieter and green-season rates have started. Kenya Experience trips can be paid in full or monthly, with no deposit.
