How to maximise your annual leave for travel in 2026?
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Want more time off without burning through your annual leave allowance? With a little planning around bank holidays, you can turn a small number of leave days into big breaks.
The legal amount of annual leave in the UK is 20 days. Most companies give employees 20-25 annual leave days a year on average, plus we usually have 8 bank holidays. By using extra days strategically, you can really maximise your annual leave.
In my corporate job, I get 27 annual leave days, which I’m so grateful for as it means I can travel more. Some companies also offer a salary sacrifice scheme where you can buy extra annual leave, and I take advantage of this—it’s the best way to get extra days off for those trips and maximise your annual leave.
My Top Tips for maximising leave
Use Bank Holidays
The best thing to do with making the most of your annual leave is to take leave just before or after bank holidays. For Example: If there’s a bank holiday on a Monday, booking Friday off gives you a long weekend or booking Tuesday to Friday gives you around 10days off.
Plan around big calendar moments
I always plan a winter travel trip around Christmas and New year as I get to use less annual leave days but travel for longer. The time around Easter, Christmas & New Year, May bank holidays, and summer bank holidays.
In 2024/2025, I went away just after Christmas to Sri Lanka. I made a post on maximising annua leave for 2025.
Spread leave throughout the year
Rather than using up all leave in one go, aim for a few longer breaks plus some mini-breaks/days off to refresh during the year. This helps avoid burnout and gives more flexibility.
Annual leave hack for 2026
👉 With these hacks, you could turn 31 days of leave into 70+ days off in 2026.
Christmas & New Year 2025/26
- Book: 22nd December 2025 – 5th January 2026
- Get: 16 days off for 7 annual leave days
Easter Break
- Book: 30 March–2 April and 7–10 April
- Get: 16 days off for 8 annual leave days (28 March–12 April).
Early May Long
- Book: Tuesday 5th –Friday 8th May
- Get: 9 days off for 4 annual leave days (2–10 May).
Spring Bank Holiday
- Book: Tuesday 26–Friday 29 May
- Get: 9 days off for 4 annual leave days (23–31 May).
Summer Bank Holiday
- Book: Tuesday 1–Friday 4 September
- Get: 9 days off for 4 annual leave days (29 August–6 September).
Christmas & New Year 2027
- Book: Monday 21–Wednesday 24 December and Tuesday 29–Wednesday 31 Dec
- Get: 16–17 days off for 7 annual leave days (20 December –4 January).
2026 offers so many great chances to get more time off for using less annual leave.
If you plan now, your 2026 leave could feel a lot more generous. Maybe this will be the year you finally take that long trip, slow down more, or discover somewhere new without draining your leave.