How to maximize your vacation days in 2025 to get the most time off work
You might just be getting back to work after the holidays, but if you’re smart, you’re already planning how to take your annual leave in 2025 to completely maximize the number of consecutive days off.
Thankfully, we’ve done the hard work for you. We broke down the 2025 public holidays across the U.S., England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland so that you can get the most out of your PTO — often turning just four days of leave into nine days of time off.
What days are public holidays in 2025?
US
- New Year’s Day: Wednesday, Jan. 1
- Martin Luther King Jr. Day: Monday, Jan. 20
- Presidents Day: Monday, Feb. 17
- Memorial Day: Monday, May 26
- Juneteenth: Thursday, June 19
- Independence Day: Friday, July 4
- Labor Day: Monday, Sept. 1
- Indigenous Peoples Day (also observed as Columbus Day): Monday, Oct. 13
- Veterans Day: Tuesday, Nov. 11
- Thanksgiving: Thursday, Nov. 27
- Christmas: Thursday, Dec. 25
England and Wales
- New Year’s Day: Wednesday, Jan. 1
- Good Friday: Friday, April 18
- Easter Monday: Monday, April 21
- Early May bank holiday: Monday, May 5
- Spring bank holiday: Monday, May 26
- Summer bank holiday: Monday, Aug. 25
- Christmas: Thursday, Dec. 25
- Boxing Day: Friday, Dec. 26
Scotland
- New Year’s Day: Wednesday, Jan. 1
- 2nd January bank holiday: Thursday, Jan. 2
- Good Friday: Friday, April 18
- Early May bank holiday: Monday, May 5
- Spring bank holiday: Monday, May 26
- Summer bank holiday: Monday, Aug. 4
- St. Andrew’s Day: Monday, Dec. 1 (substitute day)
- Christmas: Thursday, Dec. 25
- Boxing Day: Friday, Dec. 26
Northern Ireland
- New Year’s Day: Wednesday, Jan. 1
- St. Patrick’s Day: Monday, March 17
- Good Friday: Friday, April 18
- Easter Monday: Monday, April 21
- Early May bank holiday: Monday, May 5
- Spring bank holiday: Monday, May 26
- Orangemen’s Day: Monday, July 14 (substitute day)
- Summer bank holiday: Monday, Aug. 25
- Christmas: Thursday, Dec. 25
- Boxing Day: Friday, Dec. 26
Ireland
- New Year’s Day: Wednesday, Jan. 1
- St. Brigid’s Day: Monday, Feb. 3
- St. Patrick’s Day: Monday, March 17
- Easter Monday: Monday, April 21
- May Day: Monday, May 5
- June bank holiday: Monday, June 2
- August bank holiday: Monday, Aug. 4
- October bank holiday: Monday, Oct. 27
- Christmas: Thursday, Dec. 25
- St. Stephen’s Day: Friday, Dec. 26
Here’s how to strategically maximize your days off in 2025.
January
US
This year, Martin Luther King Jr. Day falls on Monday, Jan. 20. By taking off Jan. 17, you can maximize your time off and gain a four-day weekend.
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February
US
Take off Feb. 14, the Friday before Presidents Day on Feb. 17, to get a four-day weekend. You could turn this into nine consecutive days off by taking annual leave between Feb. 18 and 21.
Ireland
The first Monday of February is a public holiday in Ireland, so if you take off the Friday before (Jan. 31), you can gain a four-day weekend. Or, you can get nine consecutive days off by taking annual leave between Feb. 4 and 7.
March
Ireland and Northern Ireland
Irish residents should take off March 18 to 21 to make the most of St. Patrick’s Day on March 17. You’ll gain nine consecutive days off work by using only four annual leave days.
April
England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
This year, Good Friday falls on April 18, and Easter Monday will be April 21. Therefore, you could use four annual leave days from April 22 to April 25 and get 10 consecutive days off.
May
US
To turn Memorial Day into a four-day weekend, take off May 23. (It’s the Friday before Memorial Day on Monday, May 26.) If you’d prefer to get even more days off, you can turn four days of annual leave into nine consecutive days off by taking your annual leave from May 27 to 30.
England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
This year, the early May bank holiday falls on Monday, May 5. By taking off May 6 to 9, you can get nine days off with four days of annual leave.
If you’re looking to work as little as possible in May, you can repeat the same trick for the spring bank holiday on Monday, May 26, by booking off May 27 to 30. Doing both would grant you a whopping 18 days off for just eight days of annual leave.
Ireland
Ireland has fewer public holidays, but residents are still off May 5. You can get nine days off with four days of annual leave by taking off May 6 to 9.
June
US
By taking off June 16 to 18 and 20, you can sandwich your annual leave around the Juneteenth holiday on June 19; this way, you’ll get nine consecutive days off.
Ireland
Residents of Ireland can get nine days off for only four days of annual leave, thanks to the bank holiday June 2. To do so, take off June 3 to 6.
July
US
You can extend the Fourth of July celebrations into nine consecutive days off with just four days of annual leave. This year, July 4 falls on a Friday, so maximize the time off by taking off June 30 to July 3.
Northern Ireland
Residents receive a public holiday July 14 for the Battle of the Boyne, also known as Orangemen’s Day. This can be turned into a nine-day break by taking off July 15 to 18.
August
England, Wales and Northern Ireland
With the Aug. 25 bank holiday, you could get nine consecutive days off by taking off the four days between Aug. 26 and 29.
Scotland and Ireland
The Scottish and Irish bank holidays fall slightly earlier on Monday, Aug. 4. To turn this into nine consecutive days off, you should take off Aug. 5 to 8.
September
US
Labor Day lands on Sept. 1. By taking off the remainder of the week (Sept. 2 to 5), you can get nine consecutive days off from four days of annual leave.
October
US
Oct. 13 is a public holiday for Indigenous Peoples Day. By taking off Oct. 14 to 17, you would get nine consecutive days off with just four days of annual leave.
Ireland
The last Monday in October is a public holiday in Ireland; you can extend this break by taking off Oct. 28 to 31. This will give you nine consecutive days off for only four days of annual leave.
November
US
U.S. residents could manage to get 18 days off spread throughout November by taking only eight days of annual leave. Book time off strategically around Veterans Day on Nov. 11 and Thanksgiving on Nov. 27.
First, take Nov. 10 and 12 to 14 off, which gives you nine consecutive days off around Veterans Day. Then book Nov. 24 to 26 and 28 off to get a nine-day break for Thanksgiving.
December
US
To get the most out of your Christmas break, schedule time off Dec. 26 and 29 to 31; this will give you eight consecutive days off for just four days of leave when you account for the New Year’s Day public holiday.
England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland
You can extend your Christmas break in December with just seven days of annual leave: Take off Dec. 22 to 24, 29 to 31 and Jan. 2. This will give you 16 days off between Saturday, Dec. 20, and Sunday, Jan 4.
Scotland
The St. Andrew’s Day public holiday will fall on Monday, Dec. 1, this year. To stretch this out into nine consecutive days off using only four days of annual leave, you should take off Dec. 2 to 5.
Bottom line
Even though you may have a finite amount of annual leave each year, you can significantly increase the number of consecutive days off by strategically booking your time off around public holidays.
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