How to Turn UK Bank Holidays Into 9-Day Trips for 2 Days AL

Easter 2027 lands on 28 March, giving you Good Friday and Easter Monday free. Take the Tuesday and Wednesday before Good Friday off, and you've got nine consecutive days abroad for just two days of annual leave. Most people blow this by booking the obvious peak weekend flights, which is exactly the wrong move. Seville from £39 one-way on Ryanair from Stansted is the move if you fly out the Tuesday morning before Easter. Temperatures are already hitting the low 20s, the orange blossom is out, and you're there before the weekend crowds land. Coming back the following Wednesday keeps you off the priciest return dates and often saves £30-50 on the flight alone. Lisbon from £44 one-way on easyJet from Gatwick works brilliantly for this window. TAP Air Portugal also fly from Heathrow from around £52 one-way if you want slightly more civilised departure times. Nine nights in Lisbon in late March will run you £500-650 all-in if you use an Airbnb outside the tourist centre. Malta from £56 one-way on Ryanair from Stansted is worth serious consideration for Easter. The island is busy but not crushed before the school holidays peak, and a week's accommodation in a Sliema apartment runs roughly £350. Be warned: bag fees on Ryanair can add £25-40 each way, so pack light or factor that in.

The early May bank holiday, the first Monday of May, is the most underused one in the calendar. Take the Tuesday through Friday off after the bank holiday Monday and you've got nine days: the weekend before, the bank holiday Monday, four AL days, then the following weekend. Four days annual leave, nine days away. Athens from £47 one-way on easyJet from Gatwick is an easy win for early May. The heat is building, the tourist hordes haven't fully arrived, and you can do the Acropolis on a weekday morning without wanting to cry. Returns to Athens at this time of year regularly come in under £110 total if you're flexible on times. Porto from £38 one-way on Ryanair from Stansted sits at almost perfect weather in early May, low 20s, long evenings, no summer pricing yet. A week in Porto all-in, flights, accommodation, food and wine, comes to around £450 if you're not being daft about it. The Douro Valley day trips are cheaper than you'd expect too. Krakow from £29 one-way on Wizz Air from Luton is the value pick if your budget is tight. Eastern Europe in early May is excellent, genuinely warm, green, and most people haven't twigged that it's a great time to go. A full nine days including flights and accommodation can come in under £400 if you self-cater a few nights.

Late May bank holiday, the last Monday of May, follows the same logic as early May. Take Tuesday to Friday off and you get nine days for four AL days. The difference is that late May sits right after school half-term in England, so the weekend before is expensive. Fly on the Thursday or Friday before the bank holiday weekend to dodge the worst of it. Faro from £41 one-way on Ryanair from Bristol makes sense for late May. The Algarve in late May is genuinely lovely, mid-20s, far cheaper than July or August, and the flights are half the price they'll be six weeks later. A week in a self-catering apartment near Lagos runs about £420-550 total at this time of year. Dubrovnik from £63 one-way on easyJet from Gatwick is pricier but still reasonable in late May before the full summer surge hits. Croatia in June is worth the slight premium over May, and if you use the long weekend to justify a full nine-day trip, the cost-per-day becomes very manageable. Expect to pay around £700-850 all-in for nine days if you're not staying in the old town itself. August bank holiday is the hardest one to play well because everywhere is expensive in August. The trick is to go long-haul where the UK school holiday price spike doesn't hit as hard. New York from £389 return on Norwegian from Gatwick is a genuine option here. Fly out the Tuesday after the bank holiday Monday, come back nine days later, and you've used four AL days. Transatlantic fares in late August are softer than mid-July, and the city is quieter with half the finance crowd on the Hamptons.

Christmas is the bank holiday bonanza most people completely botch. You get Christmas Day and Boxing Day as bank holidays, plus New Year's Day. Take 27-31 December off, which is five AL days, and you can run from 24 December to 4 January, a twelve-day trip, for five days of leave. If your employer gives you the days between Christmas and New Year as standard, you need zero annual leave for a nine-day break. Marrakech from £89 return on easyJet from Gatwick is the best value warm-weather Christmas option from the UK. December and January are the coolest months, around 18-20 degrees, but that's plenty warm enough and the medina is far less chaotic than summer. A riad in the medina for five nights runs £200-350 depending on how fancy you go. Tokyo from £520 return on Japan Airlines from Heathrow sounds extreme for Christmas but hear it out. Japan at Christmas is not a Japanese holiday, so the country isn't remotely heaving. December is cold and clear, the yen has been weak, and if you're using the full Christmas-to-New-Year window, twelve days in Japan for £520 flights plus reasonable accommodation is genuinely competitive with a week in the Maldives. Tenerife from £67 one-way on Jet2 from Manchester is the no-nonsense option for families or anyone who just wants guaranteed sun in December. The south of the island stays around 22-24 degrees over Christmas, the resorts are busy but cheerful, and all-inclusive packages from Jet2 at this time of year regularly come in at £650-850 per person for a week. Book by August or the good rooms are gone.