Booking trips can already be stressful enough without the added pressure of persuading your manager to allow you a certain number of annual leave days in a row, or worse, adding more on if you have completely used them all up.
However, there is a way to avoid the dreaded zero showing up in your leave days tab. The secret is in the planning. With eight bank holidays in the UK (and 28 allotted days of paid leave employers must offer their employees), if you organise it all carefully, you could almost double the standard time off.
To become a "vacation maximalist", you need to learn how to effectively bridge the gap between the bank holiday days and your given annual leave days. That way, you will maximise the time off without having to pay for any extra leave.
As someone who loves a holiday, I am super curious to know how I can make the most of my days off as 2026 starts. That's why I asked the experts, so HELLO! readers can understand how to efficiently organise their holiday calendar.
How many annual leave days do we get in the UK?
Before we start learning how to request days off so that they align with bank holidays in the UK, we need to understand how many days of annual leave the average person is likely to be offered by their company.
Bruce Daisley is a best-selling author and world-renowned keynote speaker specialising in workplace culture. He outlined how many days we should be getting off work under UK law.
The expert exclusively told us at HELLO!: "The law in Britain is that full-time workers need 28 days off, but most firms count the 8 statutory bank holidays as part of this, meaning you have 20 days to play with. There are lots of firms that top this up to 25 (or more days) at your disposal."
According to the Gov.uk website, anyone who is classed as a "worker" is "legally entitled to 5.6 weeks’ paid holiday a year (known as statutory leave entitlement or annual leave)".
The definition of "worker" includes agency workers, workers with irregular hours and part-year workers.
How to maximise your holiday days
The best way to make the most of your days off and almost double the amount of time you can have away from work is to plan trips around UK bank holidays.
Bruce advised: "The secret of the vacation maximalist is to bridge the bank holidays. In August, this just means adding weekends to span nine days with four days leave. But with the May and Easter breaks, you can end up with a jackpot. Eight days off at Easter will yield 16 days away from work. In May, eight days off yields a peak of 18 days escape (in two bursts of nine days)."
He also added a note about Christmas annual leave and said: "You want to work out how many days you’ve truly got to take off to maximise your year. This varies by industry, but a lot of organisations will be ok with you working from home in the period between Christmas and New Year."
When are the bank holidays in the UK in 2026?
The bank holidays, which act as days off for all workers in the UK, vary from region to region; however, most will remain the same for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Keep scrolling to find a breakdown of this year's bank holiday days in the various UK regions…
England and Wales:
- Good Friday - April 3
- Easter Monday - April 6
- Early May bank holiday - May 4
- Spring bank holiday - May 25
- Summer bank holiday - August 31
- Christmas Day - December 25
- Boxing Day - December 28 (Boxing Day is a Saturday)
Scotland:
- Good Friday - April 3
- Early May bank holiday - May 4
- Spring bank holiday - May 25
- Summer bank holiday - August 31
- St Andrew's Day - November 30
- Christmas Day - December 25
- Boxing Day - December 28 (Boxing Day is a Saturday)
Northern Ireland:
- St Patrick's Day - March 17
- Good Friday - April 3
- Easter Monday - April 6
- Early May bank holiday - May 4
- Spring bank holiday - May 25
- Battle of the Boyne (Orangemen’s Day) - July 13
- Summer bank holiday - August 31
- Christmas Day - December 25
- Boxing Day - December 28 (Boxing Day is a Saturday)