Public holidays in Europe
Europe has the most misleading holiday statistics of any region, for two reasons. Several countries set holidays regionally rather than nationally — Switzerland by canton, Spain by autonomous community and municipality, Germany by state — so the national totals published elsewhere are usually a sum of things no single resident actually gets. The counts below deliberately do the opposite: they include only what applies across the whole country, which is why Switzerland shows a very short list. And most of Europe does not give a substitute day when a holiday falls on a weekend, so the number of days people take off varies by several between years.
Europe has the most misleading holiday statistics of any region, for two reasons. Several countries set holidays regionally rather than nationally — Switzerland by canton, Spain by autonomous community and municipality, Germany by state — so the national totals published elsewhere are usually a sum of things no single resident actually gets. The counts below deliberately do the opposite: they include only what applies across the whole country, which is why Switzerland shows a very short list. And most of Europe does not give a substitute day when a holiday falls on a weekend, so the number of days people take off varies by several between years.
The other structural split is Easter. Most of Europe uses the Gregorian computus; Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, North Macedonia and Georgia follow the Julian reckoning, which usually puts Orthodox Easter one to five weeks later.
How many public holidays each country has in 2026
The 35 countries in Europe hold between 4 and 17 nationwide public holidays in 2026. The median for the group is 13, exactly the median across all 100 countries we track. Latvia has the most at 17; Switzerland has the fewest at 4.
Across 34 of the 35 countries in the group, 133 named holidays are set by a calendar other than the Gregorian one. We can tell because they land on a different day in 2027: Iceland has the most, at 9. A further 3 dates in 2 of these countries follow the Islamic calendar and are marked estimated, because the official day is confirmed only when the new moon is sighted and can move by one either way.
Nationwide public holidays in 2026, ranked. “On a weekday” counts those falling Monday to Friday. “Holidays that move” counts named holidays that fall on a different day in 2027 because another calendar sets them; a festival running several days counts once. Each row links the country's holiday page, its guide and the five cities we cover.
Why European holiday counts are unreliable
Regional holidays inflate national totals. Switzerland has only one holiday that applies across the whole confederation by federal law; everything else is cantonal. Spain's calendar is built in three layers — national, autonomous community and municipal — and no resident receives all of them. Germany's states differ by several days. Any dataset that flattens these into one national list produces a number that is too high for every individual in the country.
Most of Europe does not substitute. The United Kingdom and Ireland grant a substitute weekday when a holiday falls on a weekend. Much of continental Europe does not: a holiday that lands on a Sunday is simply lost that year. This is why the same country can have visibly more days off in one year than the next without any law changing.
Two Easters. The Western churches date Easter by the Gregorian calendar. The Orthodox churches of Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, North Macedonia and Georgia use the Julian reckoning for it, which normally falls later and in some years by more than a month. Countries with both traditions can have both dates marked.
Bridge days are cultural, not statutory. The French faire le pont, the Italian ponte and the German Brückentag describe taking the working day between a holiday and a weekend as annual leave. It is a widespread practice and it shuts offices, but it is not a public holiday and will not appear on any official list.
Common follow-up questions
Which European country has the most public holidays?
Latvia, with 17 nationwide public holidays in 2026, followed by Hungary, Lithuania and Romania on 16 each. At the other end Switzerland has 4 and the United Kingdom 6. Read those low numbers carefully: they are the days that apply across the entire country. Swiss cantons and Spanish autonomous communities add several more, so no Swiss resident actually gets only four days off. Lists that put Switzerland and Spain at the top of Europe are summing regional holidays that no single resident receives.
Do European countries give a day back if a holiday falls on a Sunday?
The UK and Ireland do, by substituting the following weekday. Most of continental Europe does not, so the holiday is lost for that year. This is the single biggest cause of year-to-year variation in days off across Europe.
Why is Orthodox Easter on a different date?
Because it is calculated from the Julian calendar rather than the Gregorian one, and follows the rule that it must fall after Passover. The two dates coincide in some years and are up to five weeks apart in others.