What actually closes on a public holiday

Published 2026-08-04 · last checked 2026-08-04 · written and calculated in-house by timedatelive

Banks, government offices, immigration counters and courts close. Hospitals, airports and pharmacies on a rota stay open. The two that catch people out are bank settlement and immigration appointments.

The short answer

On a public holiday, assume the following are closed: banks, government offices, immigration and visa counters, post offices, courts, and most professional services. Assume the following are open: hospitals and emergency services, pharmacies on a rota, airports, and in most countries supermarkets and restaurants, though often on reduced hours.

The two that catch people out are banking settlement and immigration. A transfer initiated on a public holiday does not settle that day even where the app accepts it, and a visa or residence appointment missed because an office was shut is not usually rescheduled quickly. Both are worth checking before you book travel around a holiday.

What	Typical status	What to do instead
Banks and branches	Closed	Cards and apps work; settlement and cut-off times slip to the next working day
Interbank transfers	Not settled	Initiate before the holiday if the money must arrive
Government and municipal offices	Closed	Online portals usually stay up but nothing is processed
Immigration and visa appointments	Closed	Check the consulate calendar before booking flights around a deadline
Post offices and couriers	Closed or reduced	Tracked deliveries pause; lockers usually still accessible
Courts and registries	Closed	Filing deadlines that land on a holiday normally roll to the next working day, but confirm locally
Supermarkets	Usually open, reduced hours	In parts of continental Europe and Latin America, closed on the largest holidays
Restaurants and cafes	Mixed	Tourist areas open, business districts often shut
Public transport	Sunday or holiday timetable	Check the operator; last services are frequently earlier
Museums and attractions	Mixed	Many close on the largest national holidays specifically
Pharmacies	Rota	Most countries require a duty pharmacy; the rota is posted locally
Hospitals and emergency services	Open	Unaffected
Airports	Open	Flights run; ground transport to and from may be on a holiday timetable

General pattern across the 100 countries we cover. Individual countries vary, and the country pages linked below are the place to check.

The three that cost people money

Settlement, not the app. Retail banking apps accept instructions on a public holiday, which makes it look as though the transfer has gone. Interbank settlement systems do not run, so the money moves on the next working day. Where a chain of holidays runs into a weekend this can be four or five days, and cross-border transfers need both countries' calendars to be working days.

Immigration deadlines. Visa runs, residence renewals and biometric appointments are the things most damaged by an unexpected closure, because the deadline usually does not move even though the office is shut. Check the destination's holiday calendar and the calendar of the country issuing the document.

Multi-day clusters. Single holidays are easy to plan around. Clusters are not: Golden Week in Japan, Tet in Vietnam, Eid in the Gulf and Southeast Asia, and Lunar New Year across East Asia each close business for the better part of a week, and transport is booked out well in advance.

Check the calendar for a specific country 100 countries

Albania public holidays Argentina public holidays Armenia public holidays Australia public holidays Austria public holidays Azerbaijan public holidays Bahamas public holidays Barbados public holidays Belgium public holidays Belize public holidays Bolivia public holidays Brazil public holidays Bulgaria public holidays Cambodia public holidays Canada public holidays Cape Verde public holidays Chile public holidays Colombia public holidays Costa Rica public holidays Croatia public holidays Curaçao public holidays Cyprus public holidays Czechia public holidays Denmark public holidays Dominican Republic public holidays Ecuador public holidays Egypt public holidays El Salvador public holidays Estonia public holidays Fiji public holidays Finland public holidays France public holidays Georgia public holidays Germany public holidays Ghana public holidays Greece public holidays Guatemala public holidays Hong Kong public holidays Hungary public holidays Iceland public holidays India public holidays Indonesia public holidays Ireland public holidays Israel public holidays Italy public holidays Jamaica public holidays Japan public holidays Jordan public holidays Kazakhstan public holidays Kenya public holidays Kyrgyzstan public holidays Laos public holidays Latvia public holidays Lithuania public holidays Malaysia public holidays Malta public holidays Mauritius public holidays Mexico public holidays Montenegro public holidays Morocco public holidays Namibia public holidays Nepal public holidays Netherlands public holidays New Zealand public holidays Nicaragua public holidays North Macedonia public holidays Norway public holidays Oman public holidays Panama public holidays Paraguay public holidays Peru public holidays Philippines public holidays Poland public holidays Portugal public holidays Qatar public holidays Romania public holidays Rwanda public holidays Saudi Arabia public holidays Serbia public holidays Seychelles public holidays Singapore public holidays Slovakia public holidays Slovenia public holidays South Africa public holidays South Korea public holidays Spain public holidays Sri Lanka public holidays Sweden public holidays Switzerland public holidays Taiwan public holidays Tanzania public holidays Thailand public holidays Tunisia public holidays Turkey public holidays United Arab Emirates public holidays United Kingdom public holidays United States public holidays Uruguay public holidays Uzbekistan public holidays Vietnam public holidays

What this page is and is not. The table above is the general pattern across the 100 countries we cover, not a statement about any one of them. Closure rules are set nationally and often locally, and a few of the entries here are reversed in particular countries — retail closes completely on the largest holidays in parts of continental Europe, and opens normally in much of Asia. The country pages carry the dates; the local operator, bank or consulate carries the hours.

How this page was built. Holiday dates are computed from each country's own rules by the python-holidays library, restricted to the statutory public category, for the 100 countries this site covers. Countries are partitioned by region so that each appears on exactly one regional page. Where a holiday falls at a weekend and the law grants a substitute weekday, the substitute and the original are counted as one holiday; where the law moves the holiday instead of adding a day, as Colombia's Ley Emiliani does, the moved date is the one that counts. Islamic dates that depend on sighting the new moon are marked estimated. The totals were cross-checked against the independent Nager.Date dataset for the 82 countries it covers: 33 match exactly, 50 are within one day and the median difference is 1. Sources are listed on data sources; the wider method is on methodology.

Common follow-up questions

Do bank transfers go through on a public holiday?

The instruction is accepted but the money usually moves on the next working day, because interbank settlement does not run on public holidays. For cross-border transfers, both countries need to be having a working day.

Are supermarkets open on public holidays?

In most countries yes, on reduced hours. In parts of continental Europe and Latin America the largest holidays close retail almost completely, and in a few countries that is enforced by law rather than by choice.

Does public transport run on a public holiday?

Nearly always, on a Sunday or dedicated holiday timetable. The thing to check is the last service, which is frequently earlier than on a normal day.

What happens to a legal or filing deadline that falls on a public holiday?

In most jurisdictions it rolls to the next working day, but this is a matter of local law rather than a universal rule, and it is worth confirming rather than assuming.