How to take 50 days paid holiday by 2025

Vacation planning is not for the weak

There are two kinds of people in the world: people who enjoy planning vacations and people who understand vacationing is for relaxation-purposes only and planning them rips the joy of carelessness right out of a trip. If you identify with the latter, this post is just for you! We get that, so we decided to do the planning for you while optimizing your vacation days so that you can get the most out of your 2025 holiday plans!

The best days to take vacation in the UK in 2025

If you are reading this from the UK, the law grants you a minimum of 28 days of paid vacation per year (for anyone with a full-time job). If we use that as a base, and use all the public holidays between the end of 2024 and the beginning of 2026; your vacation days next year would allow you to take almost 60 days of vacation time without taking so much as one day of unpaid leave!

Without further ado: here's how to take (over) 50 days of vacation in the UK in 2025:

When to go on Winter Holidays 2024–2025

We have to start off strong — with Christmas coming up, we know everyone will me scrambling for last minute flights on the days nearing the festivities. If you're smart about it, this is what you should book:

December 21st—January 5th

Want to organize a decent Christmas holiday so you can manage to spend some time with family and friends, but maybe also take a few days to go skiing or explore a snow-covered city? Here’s how:

* Note that here we assume you still have 5 days left over from your vacation days in 2024!

December 21-22 (Saturday-Sunday): Weekend
December 23-24, 2024 (Monday-Tuesday): Take 2 vacation days
December 25, 2024 (Wednesday): Christmas Day (Public Holiday)
December 26, 2024 (Thursday): Boxing Day (Public Holiday)
December 27, 2024 (Friday): Take 1 vacation day
December 28-29, 2024 (Saturday-Sunday): Weekend
December 30-31, 2024 (Monday-Tuesday): Take 2 vacation days
January 1, 2025 (Wednesday): New Year's Day (Public Holiday)
January 2-3, 2025 (Thursday-Friday): Take 2 vacation days
January 4-5, 2025 (Saturday-Sunday): Weekend

Summary:

Total Days Off: 16 days (including weekends and public holidays)
Paid Vacation Days Used: 7 days (but only TWO in 2025!!!!)

When to go on Spring Holidays 2025

The months between the Winter holidays and Spring holidays feel endless, we agree. But in the second half of April the days start to warm up and Easter is the perfect time to finally cash in on some well-deserved rest! We think you should do it this way:

April 13th -22nd

April 13, 2025 (Sunday): Weekend
April 14-17, 2025: Take 4 vacation days
April 18, 2025 (Monday): Good Friday (Public Holiday)
April 19-20, 2025 (Saturday-Sunday): Weekend
April 21, 2025 (Monday): Easter Monday (Public Holiday)
April 22, 2025 (Tuesday): Take 1 vacation day

Summary:

Total Days Off: 10 days (including weekends and public holidays)
Paid Vacation Days Used: 5 days

May 3rd-10th

Yes, we know, the Easter holidays are a bit short lived… a week later you can take another! This way you can have 17 days of vacation between April and May! Now that’s an Easter Egg we bet you didn’t see coming ;)

May 3-4, 2025 (Saturday-Sunday): Weekend
May 5, 2025 (Monday): Take 1 vacation day
May 6, 2025 (Tuesday): Early May Bank Holiday (Public Holiday)
May 7-9, 2025 (Wednesday-Friday): Take 3 vacation days
May 10-11, 2025 (Saturday): Weekend

Summary:

Total Days Off: 7 days (including weekends and public holidays)
Paid Vacation Days Used: 4 days

Summer Holidays 2025

Vacationing in August takes the pressure off the overpriced high-season while still allowing you to enjoy some much-needed vitamin D! Here is what we suggest:

August 23rd - September 2nd

August 23-24, 2025 (Saturday-Sunday): Weekend
August 25, 2025 (Monday): Take 1 vacation day
August 26, 2025 (Tuesday): Summer Bank Holiday (Public Holiday)
August 27-29, 2025 (Wednesday-Friday): Take 3 vacation days
August 30-31, 2025 (Saturday-Sunday): Weekend
September 1-2, 2025 (Monday): Take 2 vacation days

Summary:

Total Days Off: 10 days (including weekends and public holidays)
Paid Vacation Days Used: 6 days

When to go on Winter Holidays 2025-2026

Aaaand we are back at the end of the year - and we intend to finish it off with a bang!

Demeber 20th, 2025 - January 2nd, 2026

December 20-21, 2025 (Saturday-Sunday): Weekend
December 22-24, 2025 (Monday-Wednesday): Take 3 vacation days
December 25, 2025 (Thursday): Christmas Day (Public Holiday)
December 26, 2025 (Friday): Boxing Day (Public Holiday)
December 27-28, 2025 (Saturday-Sunday): Weekend
December 29-31, 2025 (Monday-Wednesday): Take 3 vacation days
January 1, 2026 (Thursday): New Year's Day (Public Holiday)
January 2, 2026 (Friday): Take 1 vacation day

Summary:

Total Days Off: 14 days (including weekends and public holidays)
Paid Vacation Days Used: 8 days (ONE in 2026!)

Summary: Optimized 2025 Holidays & Vacation Days

If you choose to forego the vacation-planning drama, group chat debates, and the hell that is shared google calendars when trying to plan your vacation days for 2025, be sure to stick to our optimized vacation scheduling! As a recap, if you do so you get: 50 days of total time off (including weekends and public holidays) while only using 30 vacation days (of which only 24 are in 2025!!). This means that you even have (at least) 4 more vacation days to play with for whenever you feel you need it.