Most Public Holidays in Europe 2026
Romania has the most public holidays of the 27 countries on this site, with 16 national holidays in 2026, ahead of Cyprus and Slovenia, tied at 15. Switzerland has the fewest with just 4 federal holidays, though each canton adds its own.
You will find different answers to this question elsewhere — and most of them are not wrong. There is no agreed way to count a public holiday in Europe. Here is exactly how we counted, and why other sources land somewhere else.
Why you will see a different answer on Google
Search Google for this and you may be told Cyprus, or Slovakia, or Liechtenstein — sometimes a different one on each refresh. That is not a glitch. Those answers usually come from EURES, the EU employment service, which counts a different set of countries and applies different rules than most calendar sites do.
Our count covers 27 countries and does not yet include Bulgaria, Iceland, Lithuania or Latvia — so if you are comparing against an EU-wide figure, that is the first thing to check. We would rather tell you that than quietly present an incomplete list as the final word.
Average across these 27 countries: 12 national public holidays in 2026.
How we counted, and why other sources disagree
There is no single legal definition of a public holiday across Europe, so any ranking depends on five choices. Ours are listed below. A source that chooses differently gets a different winner — legitimately.
- Which countries count as Europe. We cover 27. EU-focused sources use the 27 member states plus Norway, Iceland and Switzerland, which brings in Bulgaria, Iceland, Lithuania and Latvia — countries we do not track yet. Those four are not listed here because published sources disagree about their totals by one to three days, and we would rather leave a country out than publish a figure we cannot stand behind.
- State holidays you still work. Slovenia has six official state holidays that are explicitly not work-free — people are legally expected to work. We exclude them, which is why Slovenia appears here at 15 rather than the 21 you will see elsewhere.
- Customary days that are not statutory. Almost everyone in Sweden, Denmark and Finland has Christmas Eve off, and most of Sweden and Finland has Midsummer Eve off, but none of those days is a statutory public holiday — they come from collective agreements. Denmark's Constitution Day (5 June) is the same, and the Friday after Ascension is a closure of the banking sector only. We exclude all of them from the totals, and label them “not a day off” on the country pages rather than hiding them. That is why Denmark shows 10 here rather than the 13 or 14 you will see elsewhere, and Sweden and Finland 13 rather than 15. Sweden's figure now matches its statute exactly: Lag (1989:253) om allmänna helgdagar names 13 days, and julafton and midsommarafton are not among them.
- Regional holidays. We count national holidays only. Spain, Germany and Switzerland all add substantial regional days — a Bavarian gets more days off than the German national figure suggests, and Swiss cantons range from roughly 8 to 14 against a federal figure of 4.
- Holidays that land on a weekend. Some countries move them to the following Monday, others simply lose them. So the same country can have a different usable total from one year to the next, and sources disagree on whether to count the calendar date or the actual day off.
- Two holidays on one date. Greece observes Independence Day and the Annunciation on 25 March every year, and in 2026 Romania’s Children’s Day falls on Whit Monday. Both names are real public holidays, but you only get one day off, and neither country grants a replacement day — so we count the date once. That is why Romania shows 16 here while its labour code lists 17, and Greece shows 14 while many lists say 15. Sources that count names rather than days off will be one higher.
Quoting this page? Please quote the counting rule with the number — a different rule gives a different winner, legitimately. The rules have a permanent link: publicholidayseu.com/most-holidays-europe#how-we-counted. The scope of the table, and the countries not yet in it, are stated in the opening paragraph.
Key Numbers
16
Most in Europe
Romania
4
Fewest (federal)
Switzerland
12
European average
across 27 countries
12
Day gap
top vs bottom
27
Countries ranked
2025 – 2027 data
Notable Facts
🇩🇪Germany has 9 national holidays but states like Bavaria add regional holidays bringing totals up to 13.
🇪🇸Spain has 10 national holidays but 17 autonomous communities each add their own, pushing real totals to 12–14.
🇨🇭Switzerland's 26 cantons each set additional holidays beyond the 4 federal ones — real totals range from 8 to 14.
🌉Holiday count matters less than placement. 9 well-placed holidays can yield more long weekends than 15 mid-week ones.
Make the most of your public holidays
The number of holidays matters less than how you use them. Our Leave Optimizer finds the best bridge days so you get the most consecutive days off per leave day used.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which country in Europe has the most public holidays in 2026?
Romania tops the 27 countries on this site for 2026 with 16 days off, ahead of Cyprus and Slovenia, tied at 15. Romania’s labour code lists 17 public holidays, but two of them — Children’s Day and Whit Monday — both land on 1 June 2026, and Romanian law treats that as one day off with no replacement day, so 2026 gives 16. There is no single agreed answer to this question, because countries count differently and sources cover different sets of countries — EU-wide figures include Bulgaria, Iceland, Lithuania and Latvia, which are not tracked here yet. Even EURES, the EU source most of those figures come from, lists totals that differ from the news articles citing it.
Why do different websites give different answers to this question?
Because there is no single legal definition of a public holiday in Europe, and any ranking depends on five choices: which countries count as Europe, whether state holidays on which people still work are included, whether customary days like Christmas Eve in Sweden and Denmark are counted, whether regional holidays are added to the national total, and how holidays falling on a weekend are treated. EU employment data via EURES puts Cyprus first with 15; a count that includes regional days or customary days off produces a different winner again. None of these are wrong — they answer slightly different questions.
Which European country has the fewest public holidays?
Switzerland has the fewest federal public holidays with 4 in 2026. However, Swiss cantons each set their own regional holidays, so the real total varies significantly by location — from 8 in some cantons to 14 in others.
How many public holidays does the average European country have?
The average across all 27 European countries is 12 national public holidays in 2026.
Does Germany have fewer holidays than France?
Yes. Germany has 9 national public holidays in 2026, while France has 11. However, German states (Bundesländer) add regional holidays — Bavaria, for example, observes up to 13 holidays in total.
Why does the UK have so few public holidays?
The United Kingdom has 8 bank holidays in England and Wales in 2026 — among the lowest in Europe. Scotland and Northern Ireland each observe 10, because Scotland adds 2 January and St Andrew’s Day while Northern Ireland adds St Patrick’s Day and the Battle of the Boyne. The UK historically has fewer statutory holidays than most of continental Europe.
Which country gives workers the most time off in Europe?
This depends on combining public holidays with statutory annual leave entitlements, and the two do not line up. Romania leads on public holidays with 16, but Austria, Finland, France, Denmark and Sweden all guarantee 25 days of paid annual leave by law — five weeks, above the EU minimum of 20 — which is worth more than a few extra holidays.
Explore holidays for any country
Data source: Official government publications — see our data sources page. National holidays only — regional holidays not included in country ranking. · Report an error