Photo: Contiki
Table of Contents
We all know very well the point of life isn’t sitting behind a desk doing your 9-5, no matter how fun and cool and hip your workplace may be! No, the point of life is to learn and meet people and travel and SEE THE WORLD! Sure, we’re a little biased, but are we lying?
Well, thankfully we’ve got annual leave and bank holidays, and extra thankfully, you can merge them together to maximise your leave and get the best holidays ever! You’ve got to work hard with that strategic thinking so you can totally switch your brain off once you’re on the plane, bound for whatever gorgeous destination you’ve chosen.
Need some inspiration? We’ve got you. Let’s take 23 days of annual leave as an example: this is the time off we’d recommend you take, and the destinations you should definitely travel to.
January – New Year’s Day
Happy New Year! If your resolution was to take more holiday and properly relax then there’s no better way to kick that off with a long four-day weekend!
January 1st comes free in the form of a bank holiday, so you just have to book your annual leave ahead of time to take the 2nd off and voilà. A perfect way to start the year and get some much-needed rest after the busy and boozy festive season.
April – Good Friday and Easter Monday
April’s bank holidays are the blessing of every year and it’s all because of Easter. Good Friday and Easter Monday fall on the 3rd and 6th of April respectively, and if you really want to capitalise on this divine annual leave opportunity, you’ll need to book the 4 days on either side:
30th March to 2nd April
7th to 10th of April
With the three sets of weekends, this bank holiday morphs from a 4-day break into a 16-day one! Magic.
Now, where to take it? If you’re craving some late spring sunshine and island vibes, Thailand is your go to. White beaches, drinks out of coconut husks, and all the mango sticky rice you could ever want! The Thai Island Hopper East trip will take care of you. Want to get a little more adventurous? Hop on Thailand, Laos and Cambodia Adventure for three South East Asian legends and jaw-dropping temples and mouth-watering meals throughout.
If you’d like to stay closer than home and treat yourself to a break that’ll make your friends totally jealous, discovering the natural beauty of Iceland on our Iceland Fire and Ice trip is definitely the one. Waterfalls, black sand beaches, and warmer weather than you might think! Magic is real and it lives in Iceland.
Or, fly down south and chase the heat and some wildness on the Cape, Safari and Falls trip. Safaris, fluffy lions, adorable zebras, and elegant gazelles bounding through the brush – ugh! Sounds like a must…
Image source:Contiki
May – Spring bank holiday
Peak spring/early summer comes with a gorgeous gift of two bank holidays! One on the 4th of May and one on the 25th. Take the following days off for some total mid-year relaxation:
5th to 7th of May
26th to 29th of May
For the first bank holiday, gift yourself a lovely five day break. Why not indulge in a staycation and discover all the local beauty England has to offer? If you’re a film buff, take yourself around the country to discover Downton Abbey filming locations, Bridgerton filming locations, and Harry Potter.
For the second half of the month go big with 9 days off that you can enjoy basking under the sun on a boat Croatia Island Sailing, or by spending a few glorious days with a Spotlight on Greece. If you’d like to stay closer to home, consider going up north to Scotland in a Week where you can sample warming whiskey and meet the most adorable highland cows! Or, if you want to pack as much as possible into your annual leave, have a whirl around Europe on the London to Vienna Trail!
This is your opportunity to get travelling before the big summer rush that has crowds flooding every tourist attraction – so take it.
August – Summer bank holiday
Spring bank holidays are long gone, now it’s time for the summer bank holiday! It arrives on the 31st of August in 2026, and if you take the following days off you’ll bag 9 days off for the price of 4. A spectacular deal, if we do say so ourselves.
Book off the following:
1st to 4th of September, and then you’ll get the weekends on either side as well.
It’s peak summer now so you may as well embrace the heat and get yourself to Costa Rica! Rainforests, exotic foliage and a backdrop of near constant and soothing birdcall – sounds like paradise, no?
If you really want to wow your friends and fill your Insta feed with jaw-dropping pics, we recommend holidaying on the Nomadic Namibia trip. Not only is Namibia such a unique and gorgeous destination, you’ll be going somewhere totally new! Desert by day and fields of stars in the sky by night: dreamy.
Or, keep it simple and classic with an Italian Escape – you really can’t go wrong with a week filled with pasta, pizza, ancient sights, and la dolce vita.
Image source:Contiki
December – Christmas
Rounding off the year it’s Christmas time! The brightest and twinkliest and most festive bank holiday. Christmas Markets are a must, of course, but if you want to get away, maybe try something new for the holidays, follow our plan.
You get the 25th and 28th of December off free (28th as a Boxing Day substitute), and all you have to do is book the following off with annual leave:
29th to 31st of December
2026 comes with a lovely coincidence, as the New Year’s Day bank holiday of 2027 falls on a Friday, so you’ll be able to bridge that and get a whole 9 days off! So, time to celebrate.
Get your party on by booking onto the Rhythm & Alps Festival trip: a crazy ride in New Zealand with mountains and fresh air, lots of outdoors and adventure activities, and live music! Perfect way to end the year, no?
You could also go the classic snowy route with Ski Austria and lodgings in Contiki’s very own chalet, OR you could embrace the festive season the Irish way: in a pub with dancing and drinking and bundles of joy on Ireland in a Week.
Extras for Scotland and Northern Ireland
Lucky for Scotland and Northern Island, you get a few extra bank holidays that England doesn’t! So, let’s run through them now and see what you can do.
Image source:Contiki
Scotland
2nd of January
You get a second day following New Year’s Day, so you won’t have to take this day off with your annual leave and you can enjoy a long-weekend totally for free!
3rd of August
Instead of being on the 31st, Scotland’s summer bank holiday is on the 3rd earlier in the month. You can still take 4 days of annual leave to bag a 9 day break, and why not take it on a Croatia Island Sail or you could enjoy a luxurious few days at Contiki’s very own Château for Food and Wine!
30th of November
Happy St. Andrew’s Day! It falls on a Monday in 2026, so you can get a gorgeous 3-day weekend all to yourself. Staycation in the Highlands or Isle of Skye, perhaps?
Northern Ireland
17th of March
It’s everyone’s favourite colour-coded holiday: St. Patrick’s Day! It falls on a Tuesday in 2026, so you can take the Monday 16th off if you’d like to extend your weekend, and maybe even the three other days on the side to go all out!
13th of July
For the Battle of the Boyne bank holiday, which falls on a Monday, you can take 4 days off and extend your observances for a tour of Northern Ireland. Nothing like a rugged road-trip along the coasts in the middle of heated summers.
