Bridge days in the UK 2026
25 vacation days → 57 days off.
🇬🇧 Every public holiday in the UK 2026, every bridge day worth taking, and exactly what each one buys you — computed, not guessed.
The UK plays by different rules: most bank holidays are already Mondays, so the classic mid-week bridge barely exists — but the substitute-day rule means a weekend Christmas actually pays out extra Mondays and Tuesdays. In 2026, 25 vacation days return 57 days off, best play ×4.
The two seasons that matter are Easter (Good Friday plus Easter Monday form a built-in four-day weekend that extends cheaply in both directions) and the Christmas–New Year corridor, where substitute days can turn a handful of booked days into a break that runs into January.
Assumption: England & Wales bank holidays. Scotland and Northern Ireland differ slightly. December 24 and 31 are counted as normal workdays.
If you take every bridge below
7 bridge plays, best exchange rate first
| Book these days | Days | You are off | Total | Rate | Anchor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fri 2 Jan | 1 | Thu 1 Jan – Sun 4 Jan | 4 | ×4.0 | New Year's Day |
| Mon 30 Mar – Thu 2 Apr | 4 | Sat 28 Mar – Mon 6 Apr | 10 | ×2.5 | Good Friday |
| Tue 7 Apr – Fri 10 Apr | 4 | Fri 3 Apr – Sun 12 Apr | 10 | ×2.5 | Good Friday |
| Mon 21 Dec – Thu 24 Dec | 4 | Sat 19 Dec – Mon 28 Dec | 10 | ×2.5 | Christmas Day |
| Tue 5 May – Fri 8 May | 4 | Sat 2 May – Sun 10 May | 9 | ×2.3 | Early May Bank Holiday |
| Tue 26 May – Fri 29 May | 4 | Sat 23 May – Sun 31 May | 9 | ×2.3 | Spring Bank Holiday |
| Tue 1 Sep – Fri 4 Sep | 4 | Sat 29 Aug – Sun 6 Sep | 9 | ×2.3 | Summer Bank Holiday |
the UK-specific fine print
Substitute days are the cheat code
When Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Year’s Day fall on a weekend, the bank holiday moves to the next working day. A weekend Christmas is not lost — it is deferred, and the table above already accounts for it.
Monday holidays need no bridge
Early May, Spring and Summer bank holidays are always Mondays — free three-day weekends, but nothing to optimize. The four-day plays around them require bridging the full week.
Every public holiday in the UK 2026
| Date | Holiday | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Thu 1 Jan | New Year's Day | day off |
| Fri 3 Apr | Good Friday | day off |
| Mon 6 Apr | Easter Monday | day off |
| Mon 4 May | Early May Bank Holiday | day off |
| Mon 25 May | Spring Bank Holiday | day off |
| Mon 31 Aug | Summer Bank Holiday | day off |
| Fri 25 Dec | Christmas Day | day off |
| Sat 26 Dec | Boxing Day | on a weekend |
| Mon 28 Dec | Boxing Day (substitute) | day off |
The app does this for any year
These numbers come straight from Vacationmaxxing's optimizer — the app computes public holidays for any year (no hardcoded tables), finds every bridge, and lets you tap them into a plan. the UK and six more countries. No ads, no accounts, no data collection.