Holiday Index 2027: public holidays and days off compared across Europe
How many public holidays fall on a weekday in 2027, and how many days off in total can 10 days of annual leave buy? We analysed the official 2027 holiday calendars of 40 regions and countries: Germany, Austria, United Kingdom, Spain, France and Italy.
Checked: 2026-10-30
holidays on weekdays, highest (Comunidad Foral de Navarra)
11
days off with 10 days of leave, highest (Comunidad Foral de Navarra)
37
best single break: leave days → days off
1 → 6
Key findings
Most holidays on weekdays: Comunidad Foral de Navarra with 11. Most days off with 10 days of leave: Comunidad Foral de Navarra with 37 days.
Germany: 8 weekday holidays in Baden-Württemberg and Bayern, only 5 in Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Niedersachsen and Schleswig-Holstein. With 10 days of leave that is 32 versus 27 days off.
Maximum number of holidays falling on a weekend in 2027: Germany 5, France 5, Italy 5, Austria 4, United Kingdom 3, Spain 3. In the UK, substitute days make up for them.
Best single break: 1 day of leave for 6 days off, for example in Comunidad Foral de Navarra (Wed 24 Mar – Mon 29 Mar).
Countries at a glance
Country
Regions
Holidays on weekdays
Days off with 10 days of leave
Germany
16
5–8
27–32
Austria
1
9
35
United Kingdom
3
8–10
32–36
Spain
17
9–11
34–37
France
2
7
33
Italy
1
7
31
Ranking of all 40 regions
Sorted by holidays on weekdays, then by days off with 10 days of leave. Equal values share a rank.
Based on the official 2027 holiday calendars (laws and official gazettes, sources below) for 40 regions: 16 German states, Austria, England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, 17 Spanish autonomous communities, France, Alsace-Moselle and Italy. Checked: 2026-10-30.
We count statutory public holidays that apply across the whole region. Not included: holidays in individual municipalities, such as Corpus Christi in parts of Saxony and Thuringia, municipal holidays in Spain and patron saints' days in Italy. Exceptions: in Navarre, 3 December (Día de Navarra) is one of the two local holidays but applies across all of Navarre, so it is counted. Catalonia is shown without the Val d'Aran, which has the Fiesta de Arán instead of Easter Monday.
Weekdays are Monday to Friday. Holidays on a Saturday or Sunday count as "on weekends", except Easter Sunday and Whit Sunday, which fall on a Sunday every year. UK substitute days count as holidays on weekdays.
"Days off with X days of leave": an exact optimisation spreads the leave over consecutive free periods that contain at least one weekday holiday. The figure is the total of all free calendar days in these periods across the year (including the weekends within them), not one single break. Only days in 2027 count. Plain leave weeks without a holiday and ordinary weekends outside these periods are not counted.
Best single break: the period with the most days off per day of leave.
Not included: collective agreements and employment contracts, half days on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, and school holidays. UK bank holidays are not a statutory right to a day off; in France, Whit Monday can be a working "solidarity day".
Work out your own plan
The planners list every 2027 holiday for each country and region and spread your annual leave to give you the longest breaks.