For many people, vacation is the most wonderful time of the year. Unfortunately, this time is very limited, especially for employees. Anyone who works full-time in Germany is generally entitled to at least 20 days of vacation per year; some employers give their employees up to 30 days of vacation per year. That’s four to six weeks that we have available to plan our vacation.
However, if you get there early and plan well, you can almost double your vacation time. By cleverly using the bridging days next year, you can get the most out of your vacation days. And 2024 is a good year for that because the holidays are convenient. So we start the new year with a Monday off, because this time the New Year falls at the beginning of the week. So if you take vacation between the years, you can get a whole ten days out of it with the Christmas holidays and New Year’s Eve.
In March, the residents of Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in particular can be happy because they can extend their weekend by a Friday off with Women’s Day on March 8th. And the Easter holidays will also fall in March in 2024. March 29th is Good Friday, which, like Easter Monday (April 1st), is also non-working in all federal states. Like every year, Easter is perfect for getting 16 days off with eight days of vacation.
Especially in May, travel fans can look forward to many opportunities to extend their free time. The month starts nationwide with Labor Day (May 1st), which this year falls on a Wednesday. If you take two days off before or after, you can fly into the sun for five days. Anyone who stays on the Friday after Ascension Day (May 9th) gets four days of vacation. If that’s not enough, you can go one step further and take a vacation from Ascension Day to the following Pentecost weekend (Monday is free here). In this case, with six days of vacation you ultimately gained 12 days off.
Anyone who lives in Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate or Saarland can even turn eight days of vacation into 16 days off in May. In these federal states, Corpus Christi is celebrated as a public holiday on the 30th, directly in the week after Pentecost. So if you take four days of vacation in each of the two weeks, you have more than two weeks to discover the world or simply relax.
While summer is, as usual – apart from individual exceptions such as the Assumption of Mary (August 15th), which is a public holiday in Bavaria and Saarland – quite thankless when it comes to bridging days, autumn offers more opportunities to extend your vacation. In October we celebrate German Unity Day (October 3rd) across Germany – this, like Reformation Day (October 31st), which is celebrated in nine federal states, falls on a Thursday in 2024. With one day of vacation on Friday you have four days off again.
In some federal states, November also offers some public holidays that invite you to take an extended vacation. On November 1st there is no work in Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland because of All Saints Day. This year the weekend will be extended as the holiday falls on a Friday. In Saxony, however, the day of repentance and prayer is free – and it takes place on a Wednesday every year, in 2024 on November 20th. By submitting their vacation slip for the two days before or after, employees can plan for five days off. If you take all four days, you can even take a nine-day break.
The Christmas holidays are also ideal in 2024. Christmas Eve takes place on Tuesday, so the non-working holidays are on Wednesday and Thursday. With just five days of vacation, you can enjoy the contemplative time of the year for a full 12 days without having to think about work. However, as with all other bridging days, the following applies: it’s worth being quick, because the bridging days are known to be the most popular vacation days.
New Year: January 1, 2024 (Monday)
Good Friday: March 29, 2024 (Friday)
Easter Monday: April 1, 2024 (Monday)
Labor Day: May 1, 2024 (Wednesday)
Ascension Day: May 9, 2024 (Thursday)
Pentecost Sunday: May 19, 2024 (Sunday)
Whit Monday: May 20, 2024 (Monday)
Day of German Unity: October 3, 2024 (Thursday)
Christmas Day: December 25, 2024 (Wednesday)
Boxing Day: December 26, 2024 (Thursday)
