Bridge days 2026 in Netherlands

The Netherlands offers nine official public holidays in 2026, and the calendar is exceptionally kind to anyone who plans their leave strategically. Several holidays land on Thursdays, Fridays and Mondays, creating natural bridge day opportunities that let you turn a handful of leave days into long stretches of consecutive time off. Whether you are aiming for an extended Easter break, a multi-week May holiday or a relaxing end-of-year wind-down, 2026 delivers strong options in every season. Here is your complete guide to every holiday, every bridge day strategy and every efficiency ratio you need to know.

Dutch employment law guarantees a minimum of 20 vacation days per year for full-time employees working 40 hours per week. In practice, many employers offer 25 days or more depending on the applicable CAO (collective labour agreement). One important note: Good Friday is not an official public holiday in the Netherlands. Whether you have the day off depends on your CAO or employer policy. The same applies to Liberation Day on May 5 -- many employees only receive this as a paid day off in lustrum years (every five years), though the exact arrangement varies by CAO. Check your own employment terms before you start planning so you know exactly which days you can count on. For a complete analysis, read our full guide to bridge days in the Netherlands 2026.

Here is a month-by-month breakdown of bridge day potential in 2026:

January: New Year's Day falls on Thursday January 1. Taking Friday January 2 as a single leave day gives you a four-day weekend to start the year -- a 4:1 ratio of time off to leave spent. It is a simple and effective way to ease into the new year.

February and March: No public holidays. These are ideal months to conserve your leave balance for the powerful spring and May windows ahead.

April: The Easter period is the first major highlight. Good Friday falls on Friday April 3 and Easter Monday on Monday April 6. If your employer recognises Good Friday as a day off, you automatically get a four-day Easter weekend without using any leave. Take Tuesday April 7 off and you extend this to five consecutive days for just one leave day -- a 5:1 efficiency ratio. Want to go bigger? Take the full week of April 7 through 11 off (four working days) and you get nine consecutive days off, running from Friday April 3 through Sunday April 12.

King's Day on Monday April 27 delivers an automatic three-day weekend with no leave required. If you also take Friday April 24 off, you create a four-day weekend stretching from Friday through Monday.

May: This is the standout month of 2026 for bridge day planning. Liberation Day on Tuesday May 5 is your starting point. Take Monday May 4 off and you create a four-day weekend from Saturday May 2 through Tuesday May 5, spending just one leave day. Ascension Day on Thursday May 14 is the classic Dutch bridge day opportunity -- take Friday May 15 off for a four-day weekend running Thursday through Sunday, at a 4:1 ratio. Whit Monday on Monday May 25 automatically extends the weekend with no leave needed.

The real power of May 2026 lies in the combination play. Take the working days from Monday May 18 through Friday May 22 off (five leave days) and you connect Ascension Day to Whit Monday. The result: twelve consecutive days off from Thursday May 14 through Monday May 25, using five leave days plus the bridge day on May 15 -- six leave days total for twelve days off. That is a 2:1 efficiency ratio and the longest unbroken holiday you can build in 2026 without spending an excessive amount of leave.

June through September: No Dutch public holidays. These months are best suited for your regular summer vacation. Tip: book your summer leave early because many colleagues will be targeting the same school holiday weeks.

October and November: No public holidays. These are quiet months in the Dutch leave landscape. Consider saving any remaining days for the December period.

December: Christmas Day on Friday December 25 and Second Christmas Day on Saturday December 26 form a favourable combination. You automatically get a long weekend from Friday through Sunday. Take the working days from Monday December 28 through Thursday December 31 off (four leave days) and you bridge the gap to New Year's Day on Thursday January 1, 2027. The result is nine consecutive days off, from Friday December 25 through Sunday January 3, for just four leave days. That is a ratio of better than 2:1 and the perfect way to close out the year.

Your three key strategies for 2026 are as follows. First, seize the Easter weekend in April and extend it with one or more bridge days for five or nine days off. Second, exploit the May triple combination of Liberation Day, Ascension Day and Whit Monday for a long spring holiday of up to twelve days. Third, build an extended Christmas break with four strategic leave days in the final week of December. Anyone who targets all three windows can realistically turn ten to twelve leave days into more than thirty actual days off -- nearly doubling the value of your leave budget.

You can also use our working days calculator to count exactly how many business days fall between any two dates. One final piece of advice: submit your leave requests as early as possible. The most popular bridge day periods -- especially the May holiday and the Christmas break -- get claimed quickly by colleagues. If you lock in your leave plan in January, you give yourself the best chance of securing exactly the dates you want. The earlier you plan, the more control you have over your own annual calendar.

Use the planner below to build your ideal 2026 leave schedule and see every bridge day opportunity at a glance.