How to get a nine-day break from work with just four days of annual leave during the summer holidays

If you're dreaming of a break from work, you have an opportunity over the summer to turbo boost your annual leave and get a nine-day break from work with just four days of annual leave.

Even if you don't go on holiday, taking a moment of respite from your everyday routine is a chance to refresh and relax.

And, with school out for summer, time off work also gives you an opportunity to spend time with your kids or other friends and family.

You can even use a break from the office to get to those DIY jobs you have been putting off or just relax in the garden.

The best news is that you don't need to use up loads of annual leave to get a decent break in August.

Here's how to max your break...

How to use the August Bank Holiday to get 9 days off work

The trick for making the most of your annual leave is to work around the bank holidays.

This year the Summer Bank Holiday falls on Monday 31 August 2026, which automatically creates a three-day weekend for anyone who works a standard Monday to Friday schedule.

If you then book off Tuesday 1 September to Friday 4 September as annual leave, you'll only need to use four days of holiday allowance.

In return, you'll get nine consecutive days away from work, starting on Saturday 29 August and running through to Sunday 6 September.

It's as easy as that.

How to get a three-day work week in 2026

After the August Bank Holiday, there isn't another public day off work until Christmas.

It may seem a while to wait but once it rolls around, there will only be a three-day working week - helping us to get well and truly into the festive spirit.

That's because Boxing Day 2026 falls on a Saturday so the Boxing Day Bank Holiday will instead take place on Monday 28 December.

Work will pick up as normal on the Tuesday 29 December, Wednesday 30 December and Thursday 31 December.

But then we get another bank holiday on New Year's Day - Friday 1 January 2027.

How to get 16 days off work with 7 days of holiday in 2026

If you want to maximise the cluster of Bank Holidays over the festive period, you can get a whopping 16 days off work with just seven days of leave.

That gives you plenty of time to buy presents, watch all of the Christmas TV, plus enjoy plenty of parties without worrying about a hangover at work.

You'll just need to book off 21, 22, 23 and 24 December, then the 29, 30 and 31 December the following week.

This will allow you to put your out of office on from 19 December all the way through to 4 January. That's a 16-day stint without emails or work calls. Not bad, eh?