With only a limited number of leave days, making the most of public holidays in the Netherlands is a great way to have an extended period off from work. Here’s how to best use the Dutch holidays in 2025 to maximise your vacation time. 

How to maximise Dutch public holidays in 2025

Full-time workers in the Netherlands are entitled to a minimum of 20 days of paid holiday leave each year. However, many Dutch companies have been known to offer between 24 and 32 days of annual leave. If you make a few calculated choices, you could plan your vacation around public holidays and end up with up to 52 days off over the whole year.

Some of the holidays that provide the greatest opportunities for extended time off are Easter, Ascension Day and Liberation Day. These are all the holidays acknowledged in the Netherlands and when they will be celebrated in 2025:

• New Year’s Day (Nieuwjaarsdag) - January 1
• Good Friday (Goede Vrijdag) - April 18
• Easter Sunday (Eerste Paasdag) - April 20
• Easter Monday (Tweede Paasdag) - April 21
• King’s Day (Koningsdag) - April 26
• Liberation Day (Bevrijdingsdag) - May 5
• Ascension Day (Hemelvaartsdag) - May 29
• Whit Sunday (Eerste Pinksterdag) - June 8
• Whit Monday (Tweede Pinksterdag) - June 9
• Christmas Day (Eerste Kerstdag) - December 25
• Boxing Day (Tweede Kerstdag) - December 26

Easter holidays and Liberation Day in the Netherlands

It is important to note that while Good Friday is an official holiday in the Netherlands, it is up to the employer whether employees will get the day off from work. If you are one of the lucky ones to get April 18 off, then you could have a 10-day holiday by only taking four days off of work (April 22-25). However, most people will be able to get nine days in a row without Good Friday.

If you have children and want to have an even longer holiday in April that links up well with the school holidays, you can enjoy at least 17 days off in a row from April 19 to May 5 with only nine days of leave as Liberation Day is a day off in 2025 and falls on a Monday. The holiday on May 5 is only a public holiday every five years.

Make the most of May/June holidays in the Netherlands

With Ascension Day falling on Thursday (May 29), you could enjoy a long weekend by taking the Friday off, or you could take the week after off as well to enjoy a 12-day holiday (May 29 to June 9) as Tweede Pinksterdag falls on Monday, June 9. You could take it a step further by taking that week off as well to get a whopping 18 days off with just 10 days of leave (May 29 until June 15). 

2025 Christmas holidays in the Netherlands

In 2025, Christmas Day and Boxing Day fall on a Thursday and Friday - already giving everyone a nice long weekend to enjoy all the Dutch festive traditions. To enjoy the holiday season and make the most of the Dutch public holidays you could take the days leading up to Christmas off and even the days that follow. Taking December 22-24 off, combined with December 29, 30, 31 and January 2, 2026, you could plan yourself a merry winter escape for 16 days with just seven vacation days. 

Plan up to 52 days off using Dutch public holidays

Overall, according to Alannah Paans from travel company TravelHunter, you could have 52 days for getaways and relaxation time with just 25 days leave if you plan strategically. To do that, these are the dates you’ll want to mark on your calendar:

• April 19 - 27
• May 3 - 11
• May 29 - June 15
• December 20 - January 4

However, if you don’t want to use up all your leave during these months of the year and want to save some leave for a summer holiday when there are no public holidays in the Netherlands, you can have 40 days off with just 17 vacation days. For this option, these are the dates to take note of:

• April 19 - May 5
• May 29 - June 1
• December 20 - January 4

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