Day 3136 (Thursday) 8th January 2026

This is Petite Afrique beach in Beaulieu

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and this is Cap-Ferrat. A sunset over a body of water Description automatically generated



There was another cruise ship in the bay this morning and the passengers had a lovely day to visit, although it was a bit cold.

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I had my first French lesson today and it was very difficult. Huw took me in and I have the same teacher as him and to break the ice she talked about Huw and how much he loves Badger. The first hour was fine but by 3 o’clock I thought my head was going to explode. By 3.25 I begged her to stop. I walked to Place Massena and caught the tram to the station and then the train home.

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Is 2026 a good year for public holidays in France?

Is 2026 a good year for public holidays in France?A beachgoer sits in front of the ocean on the beach in Portiragnes-Plage. (Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP)

It’s time to take a look at the 2026 calendar to see where you can get the best value for your annual leave in France with our month-by-month guide to the year’s public holidays.

In France, employees generally get 25 days of annual leave, on top of 11 public holidays (jours fériés) a year, rising – for historic reasons – to 13 for anyone living in the former Alsace-Lorraine region.

Some years are better than others when it comes to public holidays, as if a jour férié falls on a weekend, there is no way to get it back. 

In 2026, two of the 11 national public holidays — Assomption, on Saturday, August 15th, and Toussaint, on Sunday, November 1st — are lost to weekends, rising to three for those in the north-east, because the Fête de la Saint-Étienne, or the perfectly normal December 26th to the rest of us, is also a Saturday.

That means 2026 is officially a ‘decent year’ for public holidays in France — but there are a couple of noticeable gaps for holiday-booking purposes that you need to be aware of.

For strategic holiday bookings, only three jours fériés are on either a Thursday or a Tuesday, offering a chance to ‘faire le pont’ for an extended break at minimal annual leave allocation cost. But one is on a Wednesday, allowing you to ‘faire le viaduc’ (really).

By our calculations, with some canny scheduling and speedy booking, strategically booked holidays in May, July and November could get you 26 days off work for the cost of 11 days’ leave. 

Block-booking a double break in May could increase that to 38 days for 16 … but you may have to deal with some hard stares from your colleagues when they find out (unless they've beaten you to it, of course).


January

New Year’s Day is on a Thursday, so school children and many workers will not head back to the classroom/office after their Christmas break until the following Monday. 



April

There’s a long run before the next public holiday. Alsatians get Good Friday off, on April 3rd, while the whole of France gets Easter Monday, which falls this year on April 6th.


May

Ah, May. Public holiday month. Four jours ferie, on Friday 1st (May Day), Friday 8th (Victoire 1945 or VE Day), Thursday 14th (Ascension), and Monday 25th (Pentecost).

For some schools, the Ascension holiday comes with an auto-bridging day, guaranteeing a four-day weekend for everyone apart from those studying for their brevet or bac exams.

Some judicious holiday booking could get you an 11-day break for the price of four days of your precious annual leave, starting from May 1st. 

And, if you work for an organisation that auto-bridges Ascension, five days annual leave could give you 12 days consecutive break from May 14tthto May 26th.


July

The Fête Nationale public holiday falls on a pont-worthy Tuesday in 2026. One day’s annual leave will get you a four-day break, or you could spend four for nine consecutive days off.

It may be worth making the most of it, because the next two public holidays in France — Assomption on August 15th, and Toussaint on November 1st — both fall on weekends, meaning the next midweek public holiday isn’t until Armistice Day, on November 11th.


November

The long wait for a bank holiday in France ends on Wednesday, November 11th, offering one chance for a restorative ‘viaduc’ five-day break before Christmas.


December

Christmas Day falls on a Friday in 2026, with the Fête de la Saint-Étienne, for those in Alsace-Lorraine, the following day.







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