Long Weekend Planner
Free long weekend planner for 2026 and 2027. Pick your country, pick your year, and see every public holiday — with the best PTO days to book for 4-day and 9-day breaks highlighted.
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Long Weekend for Android — calendar sync, multi-country combos, "buy 1 day, get 4" alerts.
How to Use This Long Weekend Planner
- Pick your country. UK, US, AU, HK are pre-loaded with official public holidays.
- Pick 2026 or 2027 — both calendar years are available.
- Look for ⭐ marks. Those are bridge days where one PTO buys a 4-day weekend.
How "Best PTO Days" Are Calculated
The planner walks each public holiday and checks the day of week. A Friday or Monday holiday is already a long weekend. A Tuesday or Thursday is a "bridge" — booking the adjacent Monday or Friday turns one holiday into four consecutive days off.
Tuesday holiday → ⭐ book Monday PTO → 4 days off
Thursday holiday → ⭐ book Friday PTO → 4 days off
Wednesday holiday → ⚠️ awkward (would need 2 PTO days)
Christmas + New Year clusters are the highest-leverage windows of the year — typically 3 PTO days can buy 9 consecutive days off.
One day off, in the right place, buys a four-day weekend
The idea behind a "bridge day" is simple: when a public holiday falls on a Tuesday or a Thursday, taking the single working day between it and the weekend turns one day of leave into a four-day break. This planner finds those high-value days across the year, so you can spend limited annual leave where it stretches furthest — instead of noticing the good combinations only after they've gone.
This one is my daily reality rather than a story. For 20 years in IT support I've worked with teams spread across Manila, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore, and every one of those places runs on a different public-holiday calendar. Somebody is always off when everyone else is working. Plan a cross-border meeting, a release, or a handover without checking, and you'll discover half the team is out for a holiday the other half has never heard of. I keep each country's holidays in front of me precisely so I don't schedule something important on a day a whole office is closed — and the same calendar that prevents those clashes is exactly what tells you where the bridge-day long weekends are.
— Hill, 20 years in IT supportFrequently Asked Questions
What counts as a long weekend?
Three or more consecutive days off. A Friday or Monday public holiday automatically gives a 3-day weekend. Booking one strategic PTO day next to a Tuesday or Thursday holiday gives a 4-day weekend.
Which days are flagged as "best PTO"?
Tuesdays and Thursdays — bridge days. A Tuesday holiday + Monday PTO = 4 days off. A Thursday holiday + Friday PTO = 4 days off. The biggest wins come around Christmas / New Year where 3 PTO days can buy 9 days off.
Are these dates official?
Yes — they follow each country's published 2026 and 2027 public-holiday calendar. UK = England & Wales bank holidays. US = federal holidays. AU = national holidays. HK = general holidays.
Can I plan around another country's holidays?
Yes — pick the country to see its public holidays and bridge days. If you work with international teams, checking each country's calendar is also the easiest way to avoid scheduling meetings or deadlines on a day when a whole office is closed.