What have you got planned for Easter? Whether it’s a staycation or Easter getaway, I hope you have a peaceful-splendiforous time. Just a few fun facts about people’s travel habits:

  • London sees 63% increase in residents looking to leave the capital
  • Barcelona twice as popular as Newquay for sun seekers
  • Flight searches up 25% ahead of holiday weekend

More and more Brits are opting for spring in the sun rather than family fun at home this Easter – according to new research.

Sun seekers are increasingly looking to European destinations like Spain, Belgium and France in favour of a staycation in Britain.

Barcelona generated almost three times as many searches (193%) among jet setters wanting to get away over Easter, compared to a typical weekend. Findings from travel search engine gopili also revealed other popular European destinations saw an uplift in interest, including Brussels (138% increase), Amsterdam (134%) and Bordeaux (130%).

Newquay has shown the fastest growth in search traffic for UK destinations, but it only ranks ninth on the list of popular getaways with a 96% increase in people looking for holiday deals in that area.

Fellow seaside town Bournemouth witnessed a 93% uplift, while the city of Bath generated 88% more searches, which suggests many of those wanting to stay in Britain prefer to do so away from their families.

Yorkshire is the least appealing region for Brits scouring the web for trips this Easter, with searches for Hull down by 19%, Doncaster dropping by 18% and Leeds falling by 10%.

Londoners are most desperate to get away over the Easter break, with 63% more of the city’s residents fleeing the capital compared to other weeks of the year. And residents of Doncaster are almost as eager to escape to somewhere new, with search traffic up 60%.

Holidaymakers are currently favouring the train (47%) and coach (46%) with just 7% of total journeys being taken on flights. However, the popularity of flights has risen by a quarter since last Easter, compared to just 7% and 4% respective increases for train and coach travel.

The average train passenger can expect to fork out £109 for a return journey over the Easter weekend, whereas those favouring the coach will pay £51 to complete their trip. The average Easter flight will set passengers back £172 – and that’s before taking luggage fees into account. This represents an average saving of £121 across the different modes of transport.

Rodolphe Morfoise-Gauthier, UK Country Manager of gopili said, “While many of us consider Easter to be a time to head home to visit our families, it is interesting to see that we are now booking more jouneys to Europe, preferring to see the sun than our loved ones.

“Taking a trip this Easter could see Brits heading on lengthy and expensive journeys, so it is important to ensure that the necessary research is undertaken to find the best deals available over the Easter holidays.”

Have you got any vacations booked? What search engine / forums / travel boards do you use? I’d love to know!