Dutch holidays 2024 & 2025

Dutch holidays are regulated in collective agreements (CAO) and labour agreements so check your employer’s CAO or labour agreement to see what holidays are considered to be free days. If you work on a public holiday, you are (often) entitled to extra pay. Finally, as an employee, you are also entitled to holiday leave.

Types of Dutch holidays

Holidays in the Netherlands can be divided into three categories:

Dutch national holidays

There are two national holidays in the Netherlands: King’s Day (Koningsdag) and Liberation Day (Bevrijdingsdag).

While Liberation Day is a national holiday, not everyone may be free that day. This will depend on your employer or school. This day is only a free day for most every five years.

Dutch public holidays

The commonly recognised public holidays in the Netherlands are the Dutch national holidays, New Year’s Day, and a few Christian holidays.

Please note that Good Friday is an official holiday in the Netherlands, but not everyone will be off from work. Please check with your employer or school whether you will have this day off.

Other holidays in the Netherlands

Additionally, the Netherlands also has a number of holidays that are not legally recognised (e.g. Sinterklaas).

School holidays in the Netherlands

In the Netherlands, there is a school-free period of six weeks in the summer (zomervakantie) and two in the winter (kerstvakantie). In addition, schools also schedule holidays in:

Spring (voorjaarsvakantie, carnavalsvakantie or krokusvakantie)
May (meivakantie)
Autumn (herfstvakantie)

Find out more about the Dutch school holiday system.