Grab your travel notebook, it’s time to plot out the most strategic way to maximise your annual leave in 2026. Sadly, we’re already on the cusp of September – which means that, realistically, the festive season is coming for us and before we know it we’ll be welcoming in the new year.
However, if – like me – you like to try and plan ahead when it comes to your holidays, now is the perfect time to pencil in some 2026 breaks. Especially when you can turn 28 days of annual leave into 69 days off. That’s almost ten weeks of holiday.
Sounds too good to be true, right? But Sam Bruce, CMO and co-founder of Much Better Adventures, has meticulously laid out exactly how to do it. Carve out the time to visit places on your bucket list – like soul-soothing beaches in Sri Lanka, or Japan’s infamous adrenaline-packed slopes – or simply use the days off to relax and hit your nearest spa. Either way, it’s worth preparing now.
How to double your annual leave in 2026
With some strategic planning, you can easily maximise your annual leave by booking days off around bank holidays, public holidays and weekends. I’ve organised it month by month, so all you have to do is get in there before your colleagues do…
January 2026
4 days of annual leave, 9 days holiday
Book off: 29th, 30th, 31st December 2025 and 2nd January 2026
Given that this falls over the festive break, you can carefully place your annual leave between Boxing Day and New Years Eve. Then, book off the day after New Year’s Day. Three of those annual leave days will come out of your 2025 allowance, meaning just one day will be used from your 2026 days bank.
April 2026
8 days of annual leave, 16 days holiday
Book off: 30th, 31st March, 1st, 2nd, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th April
Book off the four days before Good Friday, and the four days after Easter Monday and you’ll enjoy 16 days off for just 8 days of annual leave.
May 2026
8 days of annual leave, 18 days holiday
Book off: 5th – 8th May, and 26th – 29th May
Again, booking the four days after the two May bank holidays (they fall on 4th and 25th May) will actually turn into two stretches of 9 days. Smart.
September 2026
4 days of annual leave, 9 days holiday
Book off: 1st – 4th September
Make the most of that late August Bank Holiday. Next year, it falls on 31st August – so taking four days of annual leave afterwards will make your summer feel that little bit longer.
December 2026
7 days of annual leave, 17 days holiday
Book off: 21st – 24th December, and 29th – 31st December
Finish the year with a full two-week break. Next year, thanks to Boxing Day and New Years day falling on weekends, the public holidays will roll over – meaning that if you clock off on 18th December and book these dates off, you’ll actually get 17 days off altogether.
Shop holiday books and beach reads
Evenings and Weekends, Oisin McKenna
A heady, poignant and engulfing portrait of love, sexuality, grief and friendship. It’s an unmissable debut from Oisin McKenna, and is as beautiful as it is brutal.
Blue Sisters, Coco Mellors
Following the incredible success of Cleopatra and Frankenstein, Coco Mellors returns with a moving and tender tribute to sisterhood.