There’s not enough chocolate in the world to stem the tide of whining when your kids find out you haven’t booked a holiday. Mercifully, you’re not too late: last-minute breaks can still be found, scattered here and there like unclaimed Creme Eggs on a newsagent’s shelf.

From sailing to cycling, Cornwall to Kas, we’ve bundled together the best Easter treats left, delivering an emergency basket of short-haul family breaks that couldn’t be bettered if the Easter Bunny brought it to your door itself.

Prices are based on two people sharing. Flights, where included, are from London. Contact the operator for regional flight options

BOLT HOLES, Cornwall

Classic Cottages (01326 555555, www.classic.co.uk ) could be your ticket out of Easter hell. It has more than 600 properties in Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Dorset, late-availability discounts of up to 20%, and a website that lets you search by proximity to beach, number of rooms and, crucially, availability. Nearly 200 properties are still available, including Squirrels Drift, a beautiful two-bedroom cottage on a working farm near Bude; £393 for the week starting March 31.

Alternatively, English Country Cottages (0870 078 1100 www.english-country-cottages.co.uk ) has more than 15,000 UK and Ireland rental properties, and you can search by availability.

CYCLING, New Forest

With its offices located in a restored railway carriage at Brockenhurst station, Country Lanes (01590 622627, www.countrylanes.co.uk ) has a range of guided and self-guided cycling trips around the New Forest and Dorset this Easter.

Family-friendliest are the three-day Blazing Saddles tour of the New Forest by bike and horse (ages 7+; from £199pp for two nights, B&B) and a seven-day cycle through the New Forest and along the Dorset coast, averaging about 20 miles per day and taking in Corfe Castle, the Isle of Wight and Studland beach, finishing at Lulworth Cove (from £475pp, including ferry crossings). Both prices include luggage transfers, bikes, maps and route notes.

BOATING, Norfolk

The Norfolk Broads are a boating promised land, with 125 miles of lock-free waterways, and riverside pubs for long, lazy lunches in the springtime sun. Based at Wroxham and Potter Heigham, Norfolk Broads Direct (01603 782207, www.broads.co.uk ) offers weekly boat hire from £650 (2to 4-berth) to £1,304 (11berth) and three nights (Friday to Monday) or four nights (Monday to Friday) from £400/£948. Instruction is available on arrival.

KIDS’ CAMP, Isle of Wight

If you’re slack enough to have got this far without booking the Easter break, chances are you won’t mind packing the kids off for the week as well. Camp Beaumont (0870 499 8787, www.campbeaumont.co.uk ) has two centres open over Easter — on the Isle of Wight and in Staffordshire — with a raft of adventure activities for 7-to 16-year-olds, including abseiling, caving, high ropes and quad-biking. A week at either costs £305pp, all-inclusive.

SKIING, France

Here’s where last-minute bookers really get the last laugh, as ski operators go bargain bonkers, making it almost cheaper to go skiing than stay at home. IGLU Ski (020 8544 6413, www.igluski.com ) has last-minute deals on its home page, with huge discounts and detailed snow reports listed by resort. Aim high — resorts such as La Rosiãre, Val d’Isere and Tignes are all having solid seasons — and a week, full-board, in a selection of shared chalets in all three resorts above can cost as little as £340pp (down 33%), including flights and transfers.

SPRING SUN, Mallorca

Another company that will reward you for leaving everything until the last minute is Mallorca Farmhouses (0845 800 8080, www.mfh.co.uk ), with savings of up to 43% on late availability. The bigger the property, the bigger the saving, but even Cifre Jaume, a three-bedroom villa with private pool near Pollensa, is down 24% to £375 for the week starting March 31, including car hire. The nearest airport is Palma, served by several carriers, including Ryanair (www.ryanair.com ) and Flythomascook.com (www.flythomascook.com ).

Alternatively, www.holiday-rentals.co.uk (020 8743 5577) has almost 20,000 villas in Europe, and you can search by availability.

SAILING, Croatia

Learn the ropes with a local skipper, island-hopping in the Adriatic as you sail from crystal cove to harbour cafe. Easter temperatures average about 20C, marinas are buzzing but uncrowded and winds are wonderfully consistent. Sail Croatia (0871 733 8686, www.sailcroatia.net ) has a four-cabin Jeanneau 45 (sleeps up to 8) from £2,495 for seven nights, including skipper and airport transfers from Split, served by Croatia Airlines (0870 410 0310, www.croatiaairlines.hr ) and British Airways (0870 850 9850, www.ba.com ).

OVERLANDING, Morocco

Camel trekking and dune camping, Atlas hikes and nights in Berber village houses — throw in a couple of days at the coast in an old Arab fishing port, one night scouring the souks for souvenirs in Marrakesh, and daytime temperatures pushing into the high 20s . . . If this Kasbah and Camels itinerary doesn’t whet their travel appetite, then nothing will. Explore! (0870 333 4001, www.explore.co.uk ) has 10 nights, B&B, for £890pp (departing March 30; ages 11+), which includes some meals, flights via Marrakesh to Ouarzazate and all transfers.

WINTER ADVENTURE, Andorra

Nearly 6,000ft up in the snowy heart of Grandvalira — the biggest and best ski area in the Pyrenees — Soldeu village has access to nearly 120 miles of pistes. But this is no ordinary skiing holiday. With dog-sledding, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, igloo building and cross-country skiing factored into the fun, this is a group family trip (ages 5+), so snowball wars with new friends are an inevitable extra. The Adventure Company (0845 450 5311, www.adventurecompany.co.uk ) has seven nights, half-board, for £999pp (departing April 1), including flights to Barcelona, transfers and all activities.

AEGEAN EXPLORER, Turkey

Kicking off with two days in Istanbul’s markets and mosques, this group trip, a family departure (ages 6+), travels via Gallipoli to Ephesus. After a tour of some of the most impressive Greco-Roman ruins on the planet, it’s on to Oludeniz for two days of beach and watersports, then south via the 2,000ft Saklikent Gorge to Kas, starting point for a three-night gulet cruise around the Lycian coast. Peregrine (01635 872300, www.peregrineadventures.co.uk ) has 10 nights, departing on April 8, for £675pp (children aged 6-11 £595), B&B, including flights into Istanbul and out of Antalya, all transfers and most meals.

HIKING, Spain

For this week based in Mareina — a village so archetypically whitewashed and donkey-strewn, it could come straight off an Alpujarran tourism promotion — there is no set itinerary, just an endless network of farmers’ tracks through olive groves and almond fields, yours to explore by foot, horse or mountain bike. With Families Worldwide (0845 051 4567, www.familiesworldwide.co.uk ), seven nights start at £519pp (under16s £329), half-board, including maps and route notes. The nearest airport is Almeria, served by several airlines, including EasyJet (www.easyjet.co.uk ) and Ryanair (www.ryanair.com ). One week’s car hire at Easter starts at £97 through EasyJet.

CYCLING, France

Forget chocolate eggs. Stuff them with pain au chocolat instead, then pedal off the calories along the Loire, pootling between medieval villages and fairy-tale chateaux. Setting off on a six-day circular loop from Amboise and averaging 15 mostly flat miles each day, this is within range of even the most indolent seven-year-old. Exodus (0870 950 0039, www.exodus.co.uk ) has seven nights for £699pp, B&B, including five dinners, luggage transfers, maps, route notes and Rail Europe returns to Amboise. Bike hire costs £54pp (£40 for kids).

RIDING, Romania

Trotting across Transylvania, this is a centre-based riding holiday exploring the Carpathian mountains — a land where horses outnumber cars, and lynxes, wolves and bears can sometimes be seen from the saddle. With up to five hours of often mountainous riding each day, this is for competent riders only. Equine Adventures (0845 130 6981, www.equineadventures.co.uk ) has seven nights in Lunca Ilvei for £1,095pp, B&B, including most meals, flights to Bucharest, transfers, guiding, tacking and grooming.

WHALES AND WINDSURFING, Canary Isles

Come June, you could fry an egg on your forehead here, but April has the welcome warmth of a clear May day in Brighton. You stay at the five-star Mare Nostrum Resort, on Playa del Camison, which has four pools, three tennis courts, two squash courts, a playground and a kids’ club (ages 4-12), as well as diving by BOB (breathing observation bubble), which means children with no diving experience can scoot along underwater for 25 minutes (£30). Whale-watching by private catamaran (£13.55, children £6.80) is also available. Cadogan Holidays (0800 082 1006, www.cadoganholidays.com ) has seven nights from £471pp, B&B (under12s £203), including flights and transfers.