How to turn 27 days of annual leave into 59 days off in 2025

April

Turn 8 days into 16 over Easter

Easter falls late in 2025, giving you two great options to take an extended break. You could book the days before Good Friday and after Easter Monday to turn eight days into a cool sixteen-day holiday.

Alternatively, start your trip on the Friday (18 April) and use the early May bank holiday to carry right on through to Tuesday, 6 May. You’ll use nine days’ leave and three bank holidays to get a whopping eighteen days off.

As for where to go? In 2025, an all-inclusive holiday to Cancun could be a great bet for some April sun. You could also try Las Vegas or New York for a US getaway, but don’t expect it to be bargain basement – the good weather brings local tourists as much as those from overseas.

Closer to home, look to the southern Mediterranean for warm weather without the usual summer crowds. With highs in the low-mid 20s in places such as Cyprus, Malta and Crete, the weather is ideal for city exploring and a beach trip or two.

How to use the Easter bank holidays: Good Friday falls on 18 April and Easter Monday on 21 April. Take four days on 14, 15, 16 and 17 April, then another four on 22, 23, 24 and 25 April to get 16 days off from Saturday, 12 April to Sunday, 27 April.

May

Turn 8 days into 18 over the May bank holidays

You’ve got two chances to maximise your 2025 holidays in May, with bank holidays falling on both Monday 5 and Monday 26.

For these, you can use your annual leave to extend a long weekend and travel at a less popular time, turning four days of leave into a marvellous nine days off over each bank holiday.

Enjoy an early summer getaway over the spring bank holiday, taking advantage of cheaper off-peak prices and warmer temperatures. May is a lovely time of year to visit the Balearics before the summer crowds descend, or if you’re after a little exploration, try a sun-drenched city break in Sicily or Corsica.

How to use the early May bank holiday: Take four days on 6, 7, 8 and 9 May for nine days off from Saturday, 3 May to Sunday, 11 May.

How to use the spring bank holiday: Book off 27, 28, 39 and 30 May to take a nine-day break between Saturday, 24 May and Sunday, 1 June.

August

Turn 4 days into 9 over the August bank holiday

At the end of summer, the August bank holiday brings another chance to take a nine-day jaunt, perfect for a late summer escape.

Soak up the sunshine in a fun-filled family holiday in the Algarve or the Canary Islands, or discover a tropical paradise on an all-inclusive beach break in Bali or the Maldives.

For something left-of-field – without the sweltering temperatures – Scandinavia is beautiful this time of year. You can check out Norway’s summer festivals, enjoy Danish al fresco living in Copenhagen or make a beeline for Sweden’s Baltic coast to find out why late August is known as ‘magic season’ (hint: it involves great weather, warm-for-Sweden waters and very few crowds).

How to use the summer bank holiday: The August bank holiday is on Monday 25. Take four days on 26, 27, 28 and 29 to get nine from Saturday, 23 August to Sunday, 31 August.

December

Turn 7 days into 16 over Christmas

Many workplaces move to autopilot over Christmas, so it’s the perfect time to make the most of your holiday leave. Wouldn’t your time be better spent driving Route 1 around Iceland, sunbathing in Tenerife or celebrating the festive period Down Under in Australia, anyway?

Next year, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day fall at the end of the week, so you’ll have to book days either side to turn seven days into sixteen consecutive days off.

How to use the Christmas bank holidays: Take off 22, 23, 24, 29, 30 and 31 December, plus 2 January, and you’ll get from Saturday, 20 December to Sunday, 4 January (in 2026) off.

Bank holiday dates in 2025

In England and Wales, there are eight bank holiday in 2025:

• New Year’s Day: Wednesday, 1 January
• Good Friday: Friday, 18 April
• Easter Monday: Monday, 21 April
• Early May bank holiday: Monday, 5 May
• Spring bank holiday: Monday, 26 May
• Summer bank holiday: Monday, 25 August
• Christmas Day: Thursday, 25 December
• Boxing Day: Friday, 26 December

Those in Northern Ireland get two more days for St Patrick's Day (17 March) and a substitute day for the Battle of the Boyne (14 July).

If you're in Scotland, Easter Monday is not a bank holiday. However, you still get nine bank holidays overall, with additional days off on 2 January and 30 November (St Andrew's Day).

Top tip: Book early to get the dates you want

It might seem a bit keen to start scheduling your holidays for the year, but if you want to maximise your annual leave, you’ll need to be first out of the booking blocks.

So, when your new annual leave year opens, book what you want as quickly as you can to avoid clashes with other colleagues. It might not be possible to get both Easter and Christmas off, but there’s no harm in trying.

By planning your trips early, you’re less likely to lose your annual leave at the end of the year too. Even if your annual leave year runs from April to March, start planning now – it will come around sooner than you think. Plus, it will give you something to look forward to post-summer.