ExploPlanning
Public holidays and travel: how to plan around them
Local holidays can close shops, fill trains and raise prices, or give you the best week of your trip. Here is how to check them and what to do about them.
You can pick the perfect month, the right city and a good fare, and still arrive on the one day when everything is shut. Local public holidays change how a place works, and sometimes they are the reason to go.
The trick is to know about them before you book. Here is what holidays change, which big ones to watch for and how to check.
What holidays change on the ground
- Opening hours. Banks, government offices and many shops close. Some museums, markets and restaurants do too, especially on the main day of a major holiday.
- Transport. Trains, buses and domestic flights sell out as locals travel home. Some routes run a reduced timetable.
- Prices. Hotels and fares can jump, often well in advance.
- Crowds. Popular sights fill with domestic visitors, not only foreign tourists.
- The atmosphere. Festivals, processions, fireworks and street food can make a holiday the highlight of a trip.
Holidays that move
Fixed-date holidays are easy to look up. The ones that catch travellers out are those that follow a lunar or religious calendar, because the date changes every year:
- Lunar New Year falls between late January and mid-February.
- Ramadan and Eid follow the Islamic calendar, so they arrive about eleven days earlier each year.
- Easter can fall anywhere between late March and late April, and the Orthodox date often differs from the Western one.
- Diwali usually falls in October or November.
Big ones worth knowing
| Holiday | Where | When | What to expect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lunar New Year | China, Vietnam, South Korea and others | Late Jan to mid Feb | Huge domestic travel, many businesses closed for several days |
| Golden Week | Japan | Late April to early May | Packed trains, hotels and sights, higher prices |
| Songkran | Thailand | Mid April | Nationwide water festival, some shops closed, busy transport |
| Ramadan and Eid | Muslim-majority countries | Moves about 11 days earlier each year | Shorter opening hours, limited daytime dining in some places, busy travel and closures around Eid |
| Easter and Holy Week | Europe and Latin America | Late March to late April | Processions and closures, especially Good Friday and Easter Monday |
| Christmas and New Year | Much of the world | 24 Dec to 2 Jan | Closures in many countries, peak fares, also Christmas markets |
| Diwali | India and Indian communities worldwide | Oct to Nov | Festival of lights, shops often closed, heavy travel |
How to check
- Look up the destination's holidays for your exact dates. Use the government's official calendar or a trusted list. Explo shows public holidays on each country's page, using the free Nager.Date service by country and year.
- Check your own country's holidays too. Flight prices out of your home country rise around its school and public holidays.
- Look for "bridge days". When a holiday falls near a weekend, many people take the extra day off and make a long weekend. France and Spain are well known for it, and the effect on travel is the same as a bigger holiday.
- Check school holidays. They aren't public holidays, but they fill beaches and resorts all the same.
Not every country is covered by free holiday lists. If a country shows no holidays, check the government's own calendar.
Avoid it, or lean into it
You have two good choices.
If you want to avoid the crush, shift your dates by a week, or plan your busiest sightseeing for days when locals are working. Book transport and rooms early, and keep an extra day of slack for delays.
If you want to join in, book early, because the best rooms and seats go first. Learn the basics of the custom, dress respectfully and ask before you photograph people during religious events.
Practical tips
- Carry some cash and withdraw it before a long closure. Machines run empty on busy weekends.
- Buy tickets to major sights in advance when you can.
- Check the opening hours of the specific place you want, for the specific day.
- Arrive a day early rather than on the last day of a holiday if you have a fixed connection.
Put it into your plan
Holidays work best as one of several filters, along with the season and your own free days. Our guide to choosing the best time to visit shows how to combine them, and the pre-trip checklist lists what to sort once your dates are set.
