The Royal Armouries, in Leeds, is hosting a medieval Easter jousting tournament. Hever Castle, in Kent, has organised a Tudor treasure trail around its gardens. Blenheim Palace, near Oxford, is secreting chocolate around its grounds for an egg hunt (with alternative prizes for non-chocolate eaters).
Museums, galleries and stately homes across Britain are preparing for a bumper weekend, as the first bank holiday of the year with a chance of decent weather combines with the credit crunch and a strong Euro to bring record numbers of visitors to the nation's historic attractions.
Figures released yesterday by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport show that attendance at museums and galleries in the past six months has continued to rise, with 45.3% of the English population attending at least one over the past year. Many historic destinations, too, have seen a surge in visitor numbers - according to figures from the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions, numbers at Leeds Castle, in Kent, are 8% up on last year, while the Imperial War Museum in London, the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh, and the Discovery Museum, in Tyne and Wear, saw increases of 11%, 19% and 5% respectively.
To those witnessing a boom in visitor numbers, one factor - the economic crisis - is particularly significant. "Right across the range of museums ... and other places where you can come and just be - places of the spirit - we are seeing a growth in popularity because we all want to get away from places that involve bankers," says Roy Clare, chief executive of the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council. "We are lucky to have a lot of museums that really engage people, people are finding space in their lives."
He is not blind, though, to the attraction of free museums to cash-strapped families - all national museums have been free since 2002, and many local authorities have followed suit.
Exchange rates that make holidaying abroad forbidding for Britons - and a UK holiday attractive to Europeans - have played a large part, notes Sandy Nairne, director of the National Portrait Gallery, London, which has recorded a record financial year. "Anecdotally, we certainly think there are many more visitors from the UK ... and we are certainly seeing more European visitors."
A spokeswoman from the British Museum said: "Certainly we are noticing an increase in Spanish and French tour groups, for instance, who are very much enjoying that the museum is free, and having lunch with us."
But it is not only free attractions which are welcoming more visitors. Visitors to the Historic Dockyards, in Portsmouth, pay £18 for adults and £13.50 for children, but the attraction hosted more than half a million people last year, 10.9% up on the previous year.
Spokeswoman Chloe Cole said imaginative and good value pricing was another critical factor. "For that ticket, visitors get six attractions, including HMS Victory, the Mary Rose and the Royal Naval Museum, and it lasts for a year. People pay once, and can attend events throughout the year."
This weekend the dockyard, like many other destinations, will be hosting an Easter egg trail, along with Tudor dressing up at the Mary Rose and Victorian storytelling on HMS Warrior. Shane Guy of Leeds Castle also said a new family ticket allowing repeated visits had been crucial in its success over three years.
But a tightening of the national purse is far from the only explanation, says Nairne. He cites ever-improving responsiveness to visitors as key to the his gallery's success. "It's partly about changing displays and collections and activities that seem to offer people what they want, and we are clearly starting to get that right." Blockbusters such as the Annie Leibovitz and Vanity Fair shows boosted visitor numbers, just as the Terracotta Army and Hadrian exhibitions did at the British Museum, but both institutions insist a continual attention to and refreshing of permanent collections is key to continued visitor growth.
Clare sounds a warning note for museums and attractions blessed with rich artefacts that may be tempted to risk lowering their ambitions. "If people are going to make a habit of coming to Britain, we must become really good in our quality. We've got better at that in this country.
"There was a time when curators, for example, would not have considered that tourism was what they were doing. A modern curator is aware that the point of scholarship and collections is to excite the visitor."
Easter weekend, ironically, might risk fostering more complacency than other times of year, he says. "In one sense only, all you need to do at Easter is open your doors. But that is not enough. You have to open your doors in such a way and offering such an experience that people will want to come back in May, and in July, and in September."
What to do on the cheap this Easter
Anglesey Abbey, Cambridgeshire The Great Lode egg-raft race. Decorate an egg, create a raft for it and sail it down the Lode. Also face painting, storytelling and crafts. Sunday, 11am-4pm. Tickets £8.85 adults, £4.45 children, families £22.15.
Port Sunlight Museum, Wirral, Merseyside The Easter rabbit Bertie Porter helps children on an egg hunt joined by historical characters from the village's past. Sunday, 11am-3pm. £1 per child.
Tate Liverpool Great Green Sculpture Challenge. Participants asked to bring along things they would usually throw away and create sculptures with them. 11-17 April, 10am-5pm. Free.
Cliffe Castle Museum in Keighley, West Yorkshire Alice in Wonderland inspired activities. Watch outdoor theatre and take tea with the Mad Hatter. Sunday and Monday, 12pm-4pm. Free.
Knebworth House Jousting event with Knights of Royal England. Tickets £9.50 adults, £9 children and pensioners, £33 families.
Lauren Goodchild
• This article was amended on Saturday 11 April 2009. Blenheim Palace was said to be "sequestering chocolate around its grounds", in the above news feature about places for visitors to enjoy a credit-crunch British Easter. Not really. But it was secreting them. This has been corrected.
