Netherlands public holidays 2026 & 2027 (bank holidays and school holidays): dates and who gets the day off

Your first Dutch winter can bring a small surprise. Boxing Day falls on a Saturday, and Monday is just a normal working day. In spring, half your colleagues are off on Good Friday and you are not sure whether you are. On 5 May, the city hall is closed but your office is open.

The Netherlands has a fixed list of public holidays (what a British reader would call bank holidays), but no law that gives employees the day off on them. Whether you get the day off is decided by your collective labour agreement (CAO, pronounced "say-ah-oh") or your employment contract. That single rule explains most of the confusion.

This guide starts from Expatica's "Dutch public holidays in 2026" (updated 5 October 2026). It compares that list with coverage from IamExpat, DutchReview, DutchNews, NL Times, ACCESS, Xpat.nl and The Hague International Centre. Dates and rules were then checked against the Dutch government (Rijksoverheid), the official law database (wetten.overheid.nl), NS (Dutch Railways) and municipal sources. Holiday dates, school holidays, school regions, NS and the Liberation Day debate were re-checked on 30 October 2026; the other sources were checked on 22 October 2026.

Quick table: rest of 2026 and all of 2027 (dates, weekdays, usually a day off?)

These are the dates published by Rijksoverheid, with weekdays added (checked 30 October 2026). "Usually a day off?" is a pattern in practice, not a legal right: your CAO and contract decide. Unlike a bank holiday in some countries, a Dutch public holiday is a workday unless your employer says otherwise.

Only 25 December is left as a weekday holiday in 2026. In 2027 seven holidays fall on weekdays if you count Good Friday and 5 May. Easter, Ascension and Pentecost arrive eight days earlier than in 2026.

Main sources behind this guide

• Expatica, "Dutch public holidays in 2026" (updated 5 October 2026): holiday lists for 2026 and 2027
• Rijksoverheid, "Wanneer zijn de officiële feestdagen in Nederland?": the official list and the statement that there is no legal right to a day off
• Rijksoverheid, "Overzicht schoolvakanties 2026-2027": school holiday dates for the three regions
• NL Times, "More Dutch workers get paid time off on Liberation Day" (5 May 2026): AWVN figures on CAOs and 5 May
• Book 7 of the Civil Code (articles 7:634 and 7:638), the General Time Limits Act and the Shop Opening Hours Act

1. Holiday calendar: rest of 2026 and all of 2027

Start with the dates. The government's Dutch and English lists, Expatica and IamExpat all agree for 2026 and 2027. Of the 11 official holidays, Easter Sunday and Whit Sunday always fall on a Sunday, so at most nine can land on a weekday.

What is left of 2026

As of 30 October 2026, only the two Christmas days remain. A few non-official dates also affect daily life, so they are listed too.

Because 26 December is a Saturday, Christmas Day is the only weekday holiday left this year. There are no substitute days: Expatica notes that a holiday on a weekend is "not typically transferred" to a weekday.

The 2027 list, and the dates that move

The 2027 dates are in the quick table above. Here is how far the movable holidays shift from 2026. Once Easter Sunday is set, Good Friday is two days earlier, Ascension is 39 days later and Whit Sunday is 49 days later.

The 2026 dates come from the same Rijksoverheid list (checked 30 October 2026). Re-check the four movable holidays against the government list every year.

In 2027, seven holidays fall on weekdays if you count Good Friday and 5 May, or five if you do not. In 2026 those figures were eight and six. So 2027 has one weekday holiday fewer than 2026.

2. Why a public holiday is not automatically a day off

This is the point most newcomers get wrong. The state sets the holidays, but the right to stop working on them is not in any law.

What the law says, and does not say

The government's answer is short. There is no law that makes certain public holidays days off for employees; your CAO or employment contract says whether you are free. Ondernemersplein, the government's portal for employers, gives the same answer from the employer's side.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Social Affairs put it plainly to NL Times in April 2026: "We do not have a ban on working during public holidays." That includes Christmas. It is why hospitals, transport, shops and restaurants can run normally.

The order to check: law, CAO, contract, staff rules

In practice you check from the top down. The law is silent, so the first thing that counts is the CAO for your sector or company. If there is no CAO, your contract and staff handbook (personeelshandboek) decide.

If you want to read your contract clause by clause, see Your Dutch employment contract: 10 clauses to check. This guide stays with holidays and the leave calendar.

Which holidays are usually off

The government has a separate Q&A page for several holidays. Combined with expat media coverage, a clear pattern emerges.

The last two rows are why colleagues in the same office can have different days off. If you change jobs, do not assume your old employer's rules carry over.

Extra pay for working on a holiday

Holiday pay premiums are not in the law either. IamExpat says that if you work on a public holiday you are "(often) entitled to extra pay or time off in lieu", but that comes from CAOs. Retail and hospitality CAOs usually set premium rates; a contract without a CAO may say nothing at all.

3. Liberation Day and the five-year rule

Liberation Day (Bevrijdingsdag) on 5 May marks the end of the German occupation in 1945. The day before, 4 May, is National Remembrance Day (Dodenherdenking). According to ACCESS, the country observes two minutes of silence at 20:00. That day is not a public holiday.

The numbers behind "every five years"

The five-year rule is not law. It is a CAO habit: many agreements give 5 May off only in "lustrum" years ending in 0 or 5. Employers' association AWVN analyses more than 500 CAOs a year, and NL Times reported its latest figures.

Annual days off are growing, but still cover only about one CAO in eight. The same article says the share of workers with an annual paid day off rose from 27% in 2022 to 34% in 2024. DutchNews reported in April 2025 that "around one-third" of workers had the day off in 2024, so the figures line up. Note that one counts agreements and the other counts workers.

The next lustrum falls on a Sunday

The last lustrum was 2025; the next is 2030. Count the weekdays, though, and 5 May 2030 is a Sunday. In 2035 and 2040 it is a Saturday. The next lustrum on a weekday is 2045, a Friday.

In other words, anyone on a five-yearly CAO may not get a weekday off for Liberation Day for nearly twenty years. Dutch media such as MAX Vandaag have pointed this out too.

The debate about making it annual

The debate is ongoing. DutchNews reported that a majority of MPs backed a call to make 5 May a public day off, but in April 2025 the then social affairs minister declined to legislate, saying companies should decide.

On 5 May 2026, Prime Minister Rob Jetten said in Utrecht that he wanted to look again at making it an annual holiday, in consultation with employers, unions and the Social and Economic Council (SER). As of 30 October 2026, no decision had been announced, and the Rijksoverheid page on 5 May still only says it is an official holiday that not everyone gets off. NL Times cited an estimate of about €400 per employee for one paid day off.

4. Holidays in law: the General Time Limits Act

Apart from days off, the law does use the holiday list in one important place: deadlines. The General Time Limits Act (Algemene termijnenwet) sets out how they work.

Deadlines that land on a holiday are extended

Article 1 says that a time limit set by law that ends on a Saturday, Sunday or recognised public holiday is extended to the next day that is none of those. If your deadline to object to a government decision (bezwaar) falls on a holiday, you can file on the next working day. This does not apply to limits counted backwards from a date or event (article 1(2)).

Which days count

Article 3 lists the recognised holidays. Notice that 5 May is included with no five-year condition. For deadlines, Liberation Day is a holiday every year.

The government's English page puts it simply: a legal deadline for payment or a response that falls on a weekend or holiday moves to the next working day. Deadlines you agreed in a contract, such as a rent due date, may follow different rules, so check the contract wording.

5. Shops, public transport and government offices

Expatica's article mentions that shops close on holidays but does not cover trains or offices. This section fills the gap with official sources and recent reporting.

Shops: closed by law, open by local exemption

Article 2 of the Shop Opening Hours Act (Winkeltijdenwet) bans opening on Sundays and on New Year's Day, Easter Monday, Ascension, Whit Monday and both Christmas days. On Good Friday, 24 December and 4 May the ban starts at 19:00. On working days, shops may not open before 06:00 or after 22:00.

King's Day and 5 May are not on that list. Article 3 then lets each municipal council grant exemptions, so actual opening varies a lot from town to town.

The figures come from Openingstijden.nl data reported by NL Times. On New Year's Day 2026, about 45% of nearly 3,700 supermarkets opened, and in 88 municipalities, mostly in the east, every supermarket was closed. Big cities have the most open shops. If you live in a smaller town, do your holiday shopping early.

Trains: New Year's Eve ends early

NS usually stops running trains around 20:00 on 31 December. In its 2022 notice, NS wrote that "as every year" no trains run after 20:00 on New Year's Eve, with service restarting around 10:00 on 1 January. DutchReview, citing NOS, reported that at the end of 2025 trains to and from Schiphol ran until about 22:00 and that 25 and 26 December followed a Sunday timetable.

The 2026 holiday timetable was still not on the NS news page when checked on 30 October 2026. Do not assume it will be identical; check the NS app in December. DutchReview also notes that buses, trams and metros run reduced services over the holidays.

City halls and expat desks

Government counters normally close on public holidays. The Hague's municipality listed Easter, King's Day, 5 May, Ascension and Pentecost as closing days in 2026. Civil servants get 5 May off, so city halls may close even in non-lustrum years.

The Hague International Centre normally opens Monday to Thursday, 09:00 to 17:00. For 2026 it lists 6 April, 27 April, 14 May, 25 May and 25 December as closed. Appointments for registration or residence matters bunch up around holiday weeks, so book early.

6. School holidays: north, central and south

If you have children, school holidays shape the year more than public holidays do. The education ministry (OCW) publishes advice dates for three regions: north (noord), central (midden) and south (zuid).

Dates for 2026–2027

Christmas and May holidays are national; autumn, spring and summer are staggered.

These are advice dates. A school can deviate if its participation council agrees. Schools may also add a week to the May holiday; the advised extension in 2027 is 1–9 May. Always confirm in your school guide (schoolgids).

Dates for 2027–2028

The ministry has already published the next school year as well, which helps if you plan far ahead.

In 2027–2028 the first summer slot moves from the north to the central region. The advised May extension is 22–30 April 2028. These are advice dates and schools may change them (Rijksoverheid, checked 30 October 2026).

Which region are you in?

Regions follow provinces and municipalities (Rijksoverheid, "Regio's schoolvakantie", checked 30 October 2026). The four biggest cities:

Every municipality in South Holland is central and every municipality in North Holland is north. In the province of Utrecht only Eemnes and the former Abcoude are north; the rest, including Utrecht city, is central. Limburg and Zeeland are entirely south. Gelderland is split across all three: Arnhem and Nijmegen are south, Apeldoorn, Ede, Zutphen and Wageningen are central, and Hattem is north.

Because each region starts a week apart, the summer holiday season stretches over almost two months nationally. That affects traffic, prices and how full holiday parks are.

Are schools closed on public holidays?

The government says schools are almost always closed on Liberation Day. On Good Friday, the school decides; if it closes, it closes for everyone and must say so in the school guide. Carnival in the south is not a public holiday and gives no right to time off, though many southern schools time their spring break around it.

Taking children out of school

This rule surprises many parents. Children of compulsory school age (leerplicht) may not be taken on holiday outside school holidays, and parents can be fined.

There are two exceptions. The first is when your job makes it impossible to take a holiday in any school holiday that year; the head teacher can then grant up to 10 days, once a school year. You must apply at least eight weeks in advance, and it cannot be in the first two weeks after the summer holiday. The second is "important circumstances" (gewichtige omstandigheden) such as a funeral; requests over 10 days go to the municipal attendance officer (leerplichtambtenaar).

Divorced or separated parents and school holidays

When children move between two homes after a separation, the school holidays have to be shared. This section only summarises what the Rijksoverheid pages say. It is not legal advice; ask a lawyer or a mediator about your own situation.

What the parenting plan (ouderschapsplan) covers

According to Rijksoverheid, parents who are married or in a registered partnership make an ouderschapsplan, with or without joint custody. Unmarried parents who live together must make one if they have joint custody. The required topics are how the children are involved, how care is divided or contact arranged, how information is shared, how important decisions such as school choice are made jointly, and child maintenance (What must be in a parenting plan? — Rijksoverheid, checked 30 October 2026).

Holiday sharing is not on that list of required topics. A separate page on changing the plan names vakantieverdeling (how holidays are divided) as an example of an arrangement that may stop working (How do I change a parenting plan? — Rijksoverheid, same date). So the holiday split is something the parents agree between themselves.

Permission to take a child out of school (verlof)

The permission rules for leave outside the school holidays are the same for separated parents as in the section above. The Rijksoverheid page I checked lists no separate exception for divorce or separation. Wanting to match the other parent's holiday dates is not named as a reason for leave.

The page does not say whether the other parent's consent is needed. Before applying, ask the head teacher or the municipality's leerplichtambtenaar how the procedure works for your family. Taking a child out of school without permission can lead to a fine; the page gives no amount (Rijksoverheid, leave outside school holidays, checked 30 October 2026).

7. How public holidays fit with your leave

If a holiday is not a day off, you take leave instead. This section covers the statutory minimum, expiry, how to request leave and holiday allowance.

The statutory minimum: four times your weekly hours

Article 7:634 of the Civil Code gives you at least four times your agreed weekly working hours as leave each year. At 40 hours a week that is 160 hours, or 20 eight-hour days. At 32 hours over four days, it is 128 hours, or 16 eight-hour days.

Many CAOs and contracts add extra days on top (bovenwettelijke vakantiedagen). How many varies by employer, so check your CAO and contract.

Are holidays counted separately?

If your CAO makes a public holiday a paid day off, you do not use leave for it. IamExpat notes that most employers count public holidays separately from leave, but advises checking with your company.

Part-timers should look closely. If a holiday falls on your usual day off, whether you get anything in return depends on your CAO and staff rules. Someone who never works Mondays gets little benefit from Easter Monday and Whit Monday.

Expiry dates

According to the government, statutory days lapse six months after the year in which you earned them: days from 2026 lapse on 1 July 2027. Extra days expire after five years. If you could not take your statutory days, for example because of illness, they also last five years.

Requesting leave and when you can be refused

Under article 7:638 of the Civil Code, your employer sets your leave dates according to your wishes unless there are "serious reasons" (gewichtige redenen) against it. If the employer does not refuse in writing, with reasons, within two weeks of your written request, your leave is set as you asked.

So put longer trips in writing, by email, and early. That starts the two-week clock.

Holiday allowance

The government states that holiday allowance (vakantiegeld) is at least 8% of your gross salary over the past year. Many employers pay it in May or June, just before the summer holidays. There can be exceptions, for example for high earners, so check whether your quoted salary includes it.

8. Where sources disagree

Holiday information online is not always consistent. These are the main differences found while comparing sources.

Seven versus eleven depends on whether you count the two Sundays, Good Friday and 5 May. Expatica's 2 August would end the north's summer four weeks before the others and does not match the government list. DutchReview corrected its own summer dates in May 2026 after a reader pointed out a mismatch. For school dates, rely on the government and your school, not media.

9. How the Dutch system compares

If you have moved from elsewhere, three features stand out.

No substitute days

Many countries move a holiday that falls on a weekend to the following Monday. The Netherlands does not. The one adjustment is King's Day: if 27 April is a Sunday, it is celebrated on Saturday the 26th. The next time that happens is 2031.

Few holidays, more leave

Counts vary by method, but the Netherlands sits near the bottom in Europe for public holidays. A 2026 DutchNews column called it the stingiest in Europe with seven. The flip side is a statutory leave minimum of four weeks from your first year, plus whatever your CAO adds.

A long stretch without holidays

After Whit Monday there is no official holiday until Christmas. In 2027 that is more than seven months. The same DutchNews column mentions this gap. Many people use it for their main summer trip and an autumn break.

10. Planning tips: making the most of 2026–2027

Linking holidays with leave days gives long breaks for little leave. IamExpat published a version of this for 2026; the table below applies the same idea to late 2026 and to 2027. Good Friday and 5 May change the count depending on your CAO.

Late April to early May 2027 is the standout. King's Day, Liberation Day and Ascension fall within ten days, overlapping the school May holiday (24 April – 2 May) and its advised extension (1–9 May). Christmas 2027 is the weak spot: both days fall on a weekend and 1 January 2028 is a Saturday.

A five-step plan

1. Check whether Good Friday and 5 May are paid days off in your CAO or staff rules
2. Check your school region and your children's school guide
3. Pick options from the table and compare them with your team's leave calendar
4. Request long leave in writing, early, so the two-week rule applies
5. Book travel, and time big payments around your holiday allowance in May or June

The team leave calendar

Some employers ask staff to enter summer plans in a shared leave calendar (vakantieplanning) in the first months of the year. If only a few people can be away at once, early requests get priority.

Visitors and travel home

If family is visiting or you are flying home, think about how the calendar affects arrivals. Avoid landing at Schiphol late on 31 December: trains normally stop around 20:00, and in 2025 Schiphol services ran only until about 22:00. On 25–26 December and 1 January, many shops are closed or have reduced hours, so stock up beforehand. King's Day (27 April) is memorable, with free street markets (vrijmarkt) where, according to ACCESS, anyone can sell without a licence. It also brings crowds and road closures, so it is a better day to stay put than to travel.

11. Scenarios (fictional)

The people below are fictional and only illustrate how the rules apply.

For Ana, a company without a CAO may not mention holidays in the contract at all. Email HR to ask which holidays are paid days off and keep the reply. For Family C, the full 16-day school break costs eight leave days in 2026, and any statutory days left over must be used before 1 July 2027.

12. Common mistakes to avoid

Most holiday problems come from assumptions. All of these can be avoided with a quick check.

13. Checklist

Before you book anything, run through this list.

• I know the name of my CAO and have read its holiday clause
• I asked HR whether Good Friday and 5 May are paid days off
• As a part-timer, I checked what happens when a holiday falls on my day off
• I know my school region and checked the school guide dates
• I checked my leave balance (statutory and extra) and the expiry dates
• I sent my long-leave request in writing
• I checked NS times and a backup option for any travel around 31 December
• I compared visitors' dates with Dutch holidays and shop closures

14. Summary

• The Netherlands has 11 official public holidays, but no law gives you the day off; your CAO or contract does
• In 2026, only Christmas remains, and Boxing Day is a Saturday with no substitute day
• In 2027, up to seven holidays fall on weekdays; Christmas falls on a weekend
• Most CAOs give 5 May off every five years; the next one, 2030, is a Sunday, and an annual holiday is under discussion
• For legal deadlines, 5 May counts as a holiday every year
• Shops must close by law but local exemptions are common; trains usually stop around 20:00 on 31 December
• Christmas and May school holidays are national; children generally may not miss school for trips
• Statutory leave is 4× your weekly hours and lapses on 1 July of the following year

Sources

Government and legislation

• Wanneer zijn de officiële feestdagen in Nederland? — Rijksoverheid: 2026 and 2027 dates; no legal right to a day off
• Public holidays in the Netherlands — Government.nl: English holiday list and deadline extension
• Is Bevrijdingsdag (5 mei) een vrije dag? — Rijksoverheid: Liberation Day and schools
• Is Koningsdag (27 april) een vrije dag? — Rijksoverheid: King's Day, Saturday rule
• Official holidays and statutory or extra leave — Ondernemersplein: days off set by CAO or contract; leave expiry
• Algemene termijnenwet — wetten.overheid.nl: articles 1 and 3 on deadlines and recognised holidays
• Winkeltijdenwet — wetten.overheid.nl: articles 2 and 3 on shop closing and local exemptions
• Civil Code article 7:634 — wetten.overheid.nl: minimum leave
• Civil Code article 7:638 — wetten.overheid.nl: setting leave dates and the two-week rule
• Hoe kan ik mijn vakantiedagen opnemen? — Rijksoverheid: leave requests and expiry
• Hoe hoog is mijn vakantiegeld? — Rijksoverheid: holiday allowance of at least 8%
• School holiday dates 2026–2027 — Government.nl: English school holiday overview
• Overzicht schoolvakanties 2026-2027 — Rijksoverheid: regional dates and conditions for deviating
• School holiday overview 2027-2028 — Rijksoverheid: regional dates for 2027–2028
• Regio's schoolvakantie — Rijksoverheid: which provinces and municipalities are north, central and south
• Wat moet er in een ouderschapsplan staan? — Rijksoverheid: who makes a parenting plan and the required topics
• Hoe pas ik een ouderschapsplan aan? — Rijksoverheid: changing the plan, mediator, court, holiday split as an example
• Op welke feestdagen is mijn kind vrij van school? — Rijksoverheid: schools on holidays, Good Friday, carnival
• Mag ik mijn kind meenemen op vakantie buiten de schoolvakantie? — Rijksoverheid: exceptions, 10-day maximum, eight weeks' notice
• Holiday timetable at Christmas and New Year — NS: no trains after 20:00 on 31 December (2022 notice)
• Opening hours around the holidays — Gemeente Den Haag: 2026 closing days
• Contact — The Hague International Centre: opening hours and 2026 closing days

Expat and news media

• Dutch public holidays in 2026 — Expatica: starting article; 2026 and 2027 lists; weekend holidays not moved
• School holidays in the Netherlands — Expatica: regions and 2026–2027 dates (north summer end date differs)
• Dutch holidays 2026 & 2027 — IamExpat: list and CAO rule
• How to use Dutch public holidays in 2026 for a longer time off — IamExpat: bridge-day approach
• Holidays in the Netherlands: all your days off in 2026 — DutchReview: holidays and school dates
• Liberation Day in the Netherlands — DutchReview: Liberation Day events
• Holiday timetable for Dutch public transport — DutchReview: end-of-2025 services
• More Dutch workers get paid time off on Liberation Day — NL Times: AWVN figures and cost estimate
• More workers getting Liberation Day as a paid day off — NL Times: ministry on working on holidays
• Nearly half of supermarkets open on Christmas — NL Times: Christmas 2025 opening
• More supermarkets open on New Year's Day — NL Times: New Year's Day 2026 opening
• Calls grow for Liberation Day to be made annual holiday — DutchNews: cabinet position and worker share
• Jetten voices support for making Liberation Day national holiday — DutchNews: Prime Minister's remarks
• Jetten is wrong, we don't need another May holiday — DutchNews: column counting seven holidays
• What are the public holidays in the Netherlands? — ACCESS: holidays, 4 May silence, King's Day markets
• Typical Dutch Festivities — Xpat.nl: observances and holidays listed together

Holiday dates, school holidays (2026–2028), school regions, parenting plan and school-leave pages, NS and the Liberation Day page were checked on 30 October 2026; the other sources on 22 October 2026. Holiday entitlements, school dates and holiday timetables change by year, employer and school, so confirm with your CAO, your school and NS before you book.

Original article

Dutch public holidays in 2026 — Expatica