Travelling over a public holiday: what closes, what opens
Christmas, Easter, national days and the long weekends in between. What shuts, what gets busy, what you can only see then, and how to find out before you book the dates.
A public holiday can be the best day of a trip or a day of closed doors, depending on whether you knew it was coming.
Find out first
Search the country's name with "public holidays" and the year before you fix the dates. Look for the local and regional ones too: a city's patron saint's day, a regional holiday, a bank holiday Monday. Then check what the holiday means in that country, because a holiday in Spain and a holiday in Germany close different things.
What usually closes
Shops and supermarkets in much of Europe, especially on Sundays and religious holidays. Many museums on 25 December and 1 January, and often on the national day. Government offices and banks always. Restaurants are open but busy; the good ones are booked.
What usually opens
Markets, fairs and parades that exist only then: Christmas markets from late November, Easter processions in Spain and Italy, national day fireworks, carnival. Churches, which are at their most alive. Parks, viewpoints, and the city itself, with locals out walking in their best clothes.
Transport
Reduced timetables, sometimes a Sunday service on a Tuesday. Trains and flights around a long weekend fill early and cost more; book the travel days first and the hotel second. The day before a holiday the roads out of a city are slow, and the day after they are slow coming back.
The days around it
The day before a big holiday is often the real event: the market, the shopping, the queues. The day after is quiet and some places stay closed for a second day. A trip that straddles a holiday wants the sightseeing on the days either side and the holiday itself kept loose.
Eat early, book earlier
On the holiday itself, lunch is the meal; many kitchens close early. Book the restaurant a week ahead or eat where the families are eating, which will be full and good.
How Travlyo does it
Stops from our guides carry their opening hours and closing day and the planner will not put a museum on a day it is shut. The holiday calendar itself is the one check that is still yours.
Do it in Travlyo
Pick a city, and the days, the bookings, the money and the packing list are one plan — free to start.
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