One trip. Three UK holiday calendars.

Compare the leave, then choose the dates

When your crew follows different UK bank-holiday calendars, the same dates can require different amounts of annual leave. We calculated 2,920 possible trips for a hypothetical crew: one Monday-to-Friday worker each in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, with every listed bank holiday off.

The table shows the leave each person would need for full days away, including the return day. These are calculated examples. The May weekends give all three people a three-day break without annual leave; Easter and August need a closer look.

On a narrow screen, scroll the table sideways to compare all three regions.

Easter: the extra day is Monday 29 March

For 26 March–4 April 2027, ten days away require four leave days in England and Wales, five in Scotland and four in Northern Ireland. The difference is Easter Monday, which is absent from Scotland’s listed bank holidays. In this model, the Scottish worker requests 29 March as well as 30 March–2 April.

Even the shorter 26–29 March break needs one leave day for the Scottish member, while the other two need none. Check that difference before asking everyone to vote on an “Easter long weekend”.

August: two summer bank holidays to work around

Scotland’s summer bank holiday is 2 August 2027; England and Wales and Northern Ireland use 30 August. The earlier weekend needs a day of leave from the England and Wales and Northern Ireland members. The later one needs a day from the Scottish member.

Across every three-to-ten-day window starting in August, none requires zero annual leave for all three people. Ordinary two-day weekends are still free in the model; they fall outside the durations we studied.

Christmas: ten days, three leave days each

25 December 2027–3 January 2028 gives all three people ten full days away with three leave days each: 29, 30 and 31 December. The Christmas and Boxing Day substitutes on 27 and 28 December, plus the New Year substitute on 3 January, appear in all three official calendars.

For every ten-day window, we looked at the member needing the most leave. The lowest such cost was three days. This familiar Christmas pattern is a useful shared option. The contribution of this page is the comparison across calendars and its reproducible dataset.

How we calculated the calendar

We used the GOV.UK bank-holiday JSON, checked against the published calendar on 3 October 2026 (UTC). The download includes the exact source snapshot so future calendar changes do not silently change this version’s results.

1. Start on each of the 365 dates in 2027. For every start, consider a trip lasting 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10 calendar days: 365 × 8 = 2,920 windows.
2. Count both the start and end as full days away. End date equals start date plus duration minus one day. January 2028 returns are allowed; the latest possible end is 9 January 2028.
3. For each regional worker, count one leave day for every Monday-to-Friday date that is absent from their listed bank holidays. Use the listed substitute dates and never double-count weekends.
4. Record the leave for each person, the crew total, the highest individual cost and the gap between the highest and lowest costs.

These overlapping windows are the complete enumeration under those rules. They are neither independent observations nor surveyed trips. England and Wales share one official calendar. Here, “region” means the person’s applicable holiday calendar, which may differ from where they live.

For equal-length trips, the highest individual cost helps you see how much leave the most affected member needs. The gap shows whether the request is evenly shared. Neither measure tells you whether a trip suits your friends.

Download and reproduce the results

The full CSV contains every window, including the exact leave dates for each person. The bundle includes the CSV, GOV.UK source snapshot, Python script, summary and written method. Python 3’s standard library is enough to reproduce it.

• Download the complete research bundle (ZIP)
• All 2,920 windows (CSV)
• Full methodology and column definitions (Markdown)
• Reproduction script (Python)
• Frozen GOV.UK source (JSON) · Calculation summary (JSON)

Extract the bundle and run:

python reproduce.py bank-holidays-source.json reproduced

The generated CSV and summary should match the supplied files byte for byte. The method includes the source’s SHA-256 checksum and definitions for every column.

What to check with your crew

This is a synthetic calendar model. It assumes weekends and listed bank holidays are off without annual leave. GOV.UK explains that employers do not have to grant paid leave on bank holidays. Each person still needs to check their actual employer calendar and get leave approved.

Shift work, part-time schedules, local holidays, employer shutdowns, school terms and caring commitments can change the answer. We have not measured prices, transport, accommodation, access needs, booking availability or preferences. There are no traveller survey results, booking trends or demand estimates in these figures. Future official calendars may change.

Use the comparison to offer dates with a clear leave cost for each person. Once you have a shortlist, NomadCrew’s shared plans and polls can help the crew agree on it. Our group trip planning template gives you a place to work through the rest of the plan.

Cite this research or report a correction

NomadCrew (2026). 2027 UK cross-region travel calendar, version 1.0. Published 3 October 2026. https://nomadcrew.uk/uk-travel-calendar-2027/

You can reuse the original derived data, script and methodology under CC BY 4.0. Credit NomadCrew, link this page and identify changes. The GOV.UK source snapshot retains its Open Government Licence terms.

For a calculation error or changed official date, email [email protected] with the affected start date, duration and source. Substantive corrections will be dated on this page and in the downloadable method.

Version history: 1.0 · 3 October 2026 · Initial publication.