PLAN AHEAD
Long weekend planner
Every U.S. federal holiday creates either an automatic 3-day weekend or a bridgeable long break with one or two PTO days. Here’s the full 2026–2027 breakdown so you can book time off before the good dates are gone.
2026 long weekends
| Federal holiday | Weekend length | How to get it |
|---|---|---|
| New Year’s Day Thursday, January 1 | 4-day weekend with 1 PTO day | Take Friday, January 2 off to bridge into a 4-day break. |
| Martin Luther King Jr. Day Monday, January 19 | 3-day weekend (Sat–Mon) | Automatic 3-day weekend — no extra time off needed. |
| Washington’s Birthday (Presidents’ Day) Monday, February 16 | 3-day weekend (Sat–Mon) | Automatic 3-day weekend — no extra time off needed. |
| Memorial Day Monday, May 25 | 3-day weekend (Sat–Mon) | Automatic 3-day weekend — no extra time off needed. |
| Juneteenth Friday, June 19 | 3-day weekend (Fri–Sun) | Automatic 3-day weekend — no extra time off needed. |
| Independence Day Saturday, July 4 | 3-day weekend (Fri–Sun) | Automatic 3-day weekend — no extra time off needed. |
| Labor Day Monday, September 7 | 3-day weekend (Sat–Mon) | Automatic 3-day weekend — no extra time off needed. |
| Columbus Day Monday, October 12 | 3-day weekend (Sat–Mon) | Automatic 3-day weekend — no extra time off needed. |
| Veterans Day Wednesday, November 11 | 5-day break with 2 PTO days | A midweek holiday — take the Thursday and Friday off (or the Monday and Tuesday before) for a 5-day break. |
| Thanksgiving Day Thursday, November 26 | 4-day weekend (Thu–Sun) | Thanksgiving is Thursday, and the Friday after is a common extra day off at many employers — confirm with yours, but plan for a 4-day break. |
| Christmas Day Friday, December 25 | 3-day weekend (Fri–Sun) | Automatic 3-day weekend — no extra time off needed. |
2027 long weekends
| Federal holiday | Weekend length | How to get it |
|---|---|---|
| New Year’s Day Friday, January 1 | 3-day weekend (Fri–Sun) | Automatic 3-day weekend — no extra time off needed. |
| Martin Luther King Jr. Day Monday, January 18 | 3-day weekend (Sat–Mon) | Automatic 3-day weekend — no extra time off needed. |
| Washington’s Birthday (Presidents’ Day) Monday, February 15 | 3-day weekend (Sat–Mon) | Automatic 3-day weekend — no extra time off needed. |
| Memorial Day Monday, May 31 | 3-day weekend (Sat–Mon) | Automatic 3-day weekend — no extra time off needed. |
| Juneteenth Saturday, June 19 | 3-day weekend (Fri–Sun) | Automatic 3-day weekend — no extra time off needed. |
| Independence Day Sunday, July 4 | 3-day weekend (Sat–Mon) | Automatic 3-day weekend — no extra time off needed. |
| Labor Day Monday, September 6 | 3-day weekend (Sat–Mon) | Automatic 3-day weekend — no extra time off needed. |
| Columbus Day Monday, October 11 | 3-day weekend (Sat–Mon) | Automatic 3-day weekend — no extra time off needed. |
| Veterans Day Thursday, November 11 | 4-day weekend with 1 PTO day | Take Friday, November 12 off to bridge into a 4-day break. |
| Thanksgiving Day Thursday, November 25 | 4-day weekend (Thu–Sun) | Thanksgiving is Thursday, and the Friday after is a common extra day off at many employers — confirm with yours, but plan for a 4-day break. |
| Christmas Day Saturday, December 25 | 3-day weekend (Fri–Sun) | Automatic 3-day weekend — no extra time off needed. |
How this is calculated
A U.S. federal holiday that lands on a Monday or Friday automatically creates a 3-day weekend with no extra planning. One that falls on a Tuesday or Thursday can usually be turned into a 4-day weekend with a single day of paid time off bridging it to the weekend. A holiday that falls midweek on a Wednesday, like Veterans Day some years, takes two PTO days to build a full break — either the two days after or the two days before.
A note on Thanksgiving and observed dates
Thanksgiving is always a Thursday, and a large share of U.S. employers also close or grant the Friday after, so it’s listed here as a built-in 4-day weekend — confirm your own employer’s policy since it isn’t federally mandated. When a fixed-date holiday like Independence Day or Christmas lands on a Saturday or Sunday, most employers observe it on the adjacent Friday or Monday instead; the dates above use the actual calendar date, and the day-of-week guidance already accounts for that shift.
Not every employer follows the federal calendar exactly
Federal employees, banks and much of the public sector reliably get all 11 federal holidays off. Private employers choose their own holiday schedule and, per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, commonly grant fewer than all 11 — Columbus Day and Juneteenth are the two most frequently skipped. Check your own company calendar before booking travel around a bridge day.
Holiday dates come from the same rule-based U.S. federal calendar used across this site, cross-checked against the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. See our editorial policy.