Tips & Advice · 4 min read · September 8, 2026

Turn 25 days’ annual leave into 62 days off in 2027

Here’s how the best bank-holiday combinations turn the UK’s average 25 days of leave into more than two months off in 2027 – just don’t tell your boss!

Short on time? Let us summarise this guide for you.

With smart planning around the 2027 UK bank holidays, the average 25 days of annual leave can become 62 days off. The trick is splitting your leave so every day you book lands next to a bank holiday and a weekend, rather than booking whole weeks. Two festive breaks give 10 days off for just 3 days’ leave each, Easter and the two May bank holidays stack into long escapes, and September delivers a quiet nine-day break. This guide gives a break-by-break plan – with exact dates – to help you get the most time off from the fewest leave days.

Every year, we crunch the calendar so you don’t have to – working out exactly which days to book to squeeze the most holiday out of the fewest annual leave days. Here’s the good news: even on the UK average of 25 days’ leave, a bit of strategy around 2027’s bank holidays turns it into a frankly ridiculous 62 days off.

The secret isn’t booking whole weeks – it’s splitting your leave so every single day you take sits next to a bank holiday and a weekend. Do that and 25 days stretches further than most people’s 30. Just get yours in the diary before your colleagues cotton on. Go go go! (In a hurry, or don’t have exactly 25 days? Leave Unlocked builds a plan around your own allowance in seconds.)

Why 25 days? UK workers are legally entitled to a minimum of 28 days’ paid leave a year (5.6 weeks), and employers can count the eight bank holidays within that (GOV.UK). In practice the average full-time worker gets around 25 days of annual leave plus the bank holidays – roughly 33 days off in total (PeopleHR Annual Leave Report). This guide treats those bank holidays separately – as the free days you stack your 25 around.

January: New Year, new best-value break

Bank holidays: Friday 25 December (Christmas Day), Monday 28 December (Boxing Day substitute), Friday 1 January 2027 (New Year’s Day)

Book off: 29 to 31 Dec 2026 (3 days)

Total time off: 10 days (Fri 25 Dec to Sun 3 Jan)

Start the year in style – and barely spend a thing to do it. The festive bank holidays fall perfectly, so three little days (29–31 December) carry you from Christmas Day all the way to Sunday 3 January. Ten days off for three days’ leave is the best-value break of the entire year. Spend it somewhere with snow underfoot, a sauna to thaw out in, or simply a very large cheeseboard.

April: Easter, without booking the whole fortnight

Bank holidays: Friday 26 March (Good Friday), Monday 29 March (Easter Monday)

Book off: 30 Mar to 2 Apr (4 days)

Total time off: 10 days (Fri 26 Mar to Sun 4 Apr)

Easter is where clever splitting really earns its keep. You don’t need the whole fortnight – book just the four days after Easter Monday (30 March–2 April) and Good Friday, Easter Monday and two weekends do the heavy lifting, handing you a 10-day break for four days’ leave. Ideal for chocolate-fuelled hikes in the Dolomites or a slow week somewhere warm. Got leave to burn? Book the full eight (23–25 March plus 30 March–2 April) and stretch it to a glorious 16 days off.

May: Double bank holidays, double the fun

Bank holidays: Monday 3 May (Early May), Monday 31 May (Spring)

Book off: 4 to 7 May (4 days) and 1 to 4 June (4 days)

Total time off: 18 days (two 9-day breaks)

May is the maximiser’s dream: two bank holidays, three weeks apart. Book 4–7 May around the early May bank holiday, then 1–4 June around the late one, and you bag two nine-day breaks – 18 days off for eight days’ leave. It’s shoulder season too, so fewer crowds and better prices. One week you could be hiking the Amalfi cliffs, the next kayaking in Montenegro. Short on leave? Take just one of the two weeks and save the rest for later in the year.

September: Sun-soaked and shoulder-seasoned

Bank holiday: Monday 30 August (Summer Bank Holiday)

Book off: 31 Aug to 3 Sept (4 days)

Total time off: 9 days (Sat 28 Aug to Sun 5 Sept)

August is peak everything – prices, crowds, airport queues. September is our sweet spot. Book four days (31 August–3 September) around the summer bank holiday and turn one Monday off into a nine-day escape just as the crowds thin. Think glimmering alpine lakes, a late-summer city break, or a Mediterranean beach that’s finally quiet again.

December: A festive fortnight for three days’ leave

Bank holidays: Monday 27 December (Christmas Day substitute), Tuesday 28 December (Boxing Day substitute), Monday 3 January 2028 (New Year’s Day substitute)

Book off: 29 to 31 Dec 2027 (3 days)

Total time off: 10 days (Sat 25 Dec to Mon 3 Jan)

The festive season signs the year off beautifully. With Christmas Day landing on a Saturday, the bank holidays roll into Monday 27 and Tuesday 28 December, and New Year’s Day hands you another Monday off (3 January 2028). Book just three days (29–31 December) for a 10-day wind-down from Christmas Day to Monday 3 January – picture a snowy Finnish cabin, or sand instead of snow in Sri Lanka. Fancy the full festive stretch? Book eight (20–24 and 29–31 December) for a whopping 17 days off.

Your last three days: a flexible autumn escape

That leaves three days in the bank. Autumn has no bank holidays to lean on, so spend them flexibly: book three days around a late-October weekend and you’ve got a five-day breather – perfect for a half-term getaway or a cosy long weekend before the festive dash. And there’s your 25 days, spent to the very last one.

The grand total

So there it is: 25 days of annual leave, transformed into 62 days off across 2027. That’s a full two months of holiday from the UK’s average allowance – all because you booked next to bank holidays instead of at random.

Find four more days for the full Easter fortnight and you’re looking at 68 days off. Stretch Christmas to the full run too and you’ll sail past 70. Not bad for a bit of calendar wizardry. So – snowy New Year, Easter in the sun, or a quiet September lake? Pack your bags, 2027 is waiting!