Little-known trick to turn your 28 days of annual leave into 63 next year

We hope, for the most part, that we work to live instead of live to work.

And, as anyone who is part of the daily slog that is the 9 to 5 will know, those 28 days of annual leave are beyond precious.

Whether you book them off for a big girls' holiday, a romantic weekend getaway or simply to lounge about at home without a care in the world - it's clear we probably wouldn't say no to almost doubling our annual leave.

Well, there's actually a way you can do that if you think ahead and strategically maximise your time off around bank holidays and weekends, so that you can spend more time travelling and spending time with loved ones in the places you’ve always wanted to visit.

So, without further ado, here are all the dates you need to book off to turn your 28 days of annual leave into 63 days off (including weekends either side of these breaks).

This is a life hack you're going to definitely want to remember come 2026 (celiaosk / Getty Images)

January

Extend your New Year’s celebrations by booking off Friday 2nd January.

In 2026, bank holiday New Year’s Day falls on a Thursday, so you can turn a single day of annual leave into a four-day weekend.

April

In April, use eight days of annual leave to get 16 days off in a row.

Bank holidays Good Friday (3 April) and Easter Monday (6 April) create two four-day weeks, so be sure to book that time off if you want to get more than two weeks of uninterrupted holiday.

May

Take four days of leave for a nine-day break in May.

There are actually two opportunities to do this, with bank holidays on Monday 4th May and Monday 25th May.

So, if you book off Tuesday-Friday, with the weekend either side, that adds up to a full nine-day break.

Do this for both bank holidays and you’ll get 18 days off in May in total!

You could maximise your 28 days of annual leave into 63 days of consecutive holidays with bank holidays and weekends included (syahrir maulana / Getty Images)

September

To get nine days off in September, just book off four days from Tuesday 1st to Friday 4th September at the start of the month.

Thanks to the summer bank holiday on Monday 31st August, there’s another chance to have just over a week off for a perfect late summer holiday.

Hotels, car rental and flights are all likely to be cheaper too, as it’s around the time the schools go back in many UK counties.

December

Extend your Christmas break by taking off Monday 21st December until Thursday 24th December, as well as Tuesday 29th to Thursday 31st December too, and you’ll turn seven days off into 16 days of holiday.

The exact dates

If that's still a tad too wordy to wrap your head around, here are the exact dates to book off in 2026 to turn your 28 days of annual leave into 63 days of holidays - weekends and bank holidays included, of course.

• Book off 2nd January (1 day of annual leave) and you will have 1st - 4th January off (4 days off)
• Book off 30th - 2nd April and 7th - 10th April (8 days of annual leave) and you will have 28th March - 12th April off (16 days off)
• Book off 5th - 8th May (4 days annual leave) and you will have 2nd - 10th May off (9 days off)
• Book off 26th - 29th May (4 days of annual leave) and you will have 23rd - 31st May off (9 days off)
• Book off 1st - 4th September (4 days annual leave) and you will have off 29th August - 6th September (9 days off)
• Book off 21st December - 24th December and 29th-31st December (7 days annual leave) and you will have 19th December - 4th January off (16 days off)