How to Maximise Your Annual Leave in 2020

Last updated: 30 July 2023

We’re always on the lookout for ways to get more days off work in order to travel more.  Utilising bank holidays and weekends and if you can add in rostered days off then you’re well on your way to discovering more of the world. 

The dreaded life between 9 to 5, Monday to Friday is often a dull one. However, like the majority of office workers in the UK, we dream of being elsewhere! By utilising 8 bank holidays plus 28 days statutory annual leave days, you can take vacations and some much needed time off.  

Last year I wrote a post about How We Work Full Time and Travel 15 Trips a Year. For 2020 I thought I’d go a bit deeper and help you swindle a few more days out of the office. By planning ahead then you could feel like you’re getting much more time off for your annual leave than if you leave it until the last minute.

Insider Tip

Most workplaces open their leave calendar at the beginning of the year when everyone returns to work. Make this a priority for next week! As an employee, this has worked well for me in the past.  My suggestion is to go gung-ho and book your entire allowance up front in order to secure the best combinations, and tweak it closer to the time most workplaces allow this. 

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Keep scrolling down to discover which dates you need to book off and some ideas for what you can do to make the most of your time off.

APRIL

One of the best months to travel because the weather is fantastic across the entire continent and it’s often considered a shoulder season which means better deals on hotels, flights and tours. 

Bank Holidays: Friday 10 April (Good Friday) & Monday 13 April (Easter Monday)

Book these dates off work: 6-9 April and 14-17 April

Use:  8 days leave 

Result: 16 days holiday

Trip ideas for April: 

Independent travel: Cape Town, South Africa

Road trip: Drive & Discover the Heart of the Rockies 

Tour: Spend a week in the Netherlands, discovering large patchworks of vibrant tulips blooming all around, and be sure to stop by Amsterdam for King’s Day for a party-like atmosphere of bright orange-clad partygoers in the city’s streets on this short break tour.

MAY

May in the UK is brilliant as there is not one, but two bank holidays. In an unprecedented move, the early May bank holiday has been moved later to coincide with Victory in Europe Day.

Bank Holidays: Friday 8 May (Early May Bank Holiday & VE Day) & Monday 25 May (Spring bank holiday)

If you did want to go to a far flung destination such as Australia for a month, April/May is a great time to do it. The weather is fantastic, and I’m seeing some fantastic flight deals at the moment with the likes of Gulf carriers Qatar and Etihad. 

To make the best use of your annual leave, you would need to combine Easter bank holidays and 8 May noting that this would use up almost your entire annual leave allowance for an ultra long trip.

To jump on this, you would need to:

Book these dates off work: 6-9 April, 14-17 April, 20-24 April, 27 April-1 May, 4-7 May

Use:  22 days leave 

Result: 37 days holiday

Trip ideas for May: 

Spend three weeks exploring Australia’s East Coast, departing Sydney and ending with you snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

To conserve some annual leave days, how about 12 days in Queensland, where you can sail the Whitsunday Islands, walk through the Daintree Rainforest and 4×4 on the world’s largest sand island, Fraser Island.

For Shorter Breaks in May: 

Book these dates off work:  4-7 May or 26-29 May 

Use:  4 days leave 

Result: 9 days holiday

Short Trip Ideas for May: 

Independent travel: Experience the Caucaus region starting with Tbilisi, Georgia. May is a great time to visit as you’ll avoid the summer heat and humidity as well as the freezing winter. May in Georgia is harvest time is well worth a mention, especially around the vineyards of Kakheti, Georgia’s foremost wine region with 4,250 square miles of rolling vineyards.

Road trip: The Scottish Highlands are insanely beautiful all year-round but in May they burst into life. Brightly coloured blooms of wildflowers dot along the landscape and it’s still cool enough to keep those horrid midges away.

Tour: Discover the Balkans on this week-long highlights tour. Exploring the Old Town walls of Dubrovnik (aka King’s Landing from Game of Thrones), party the night away in Belgrade, and watch the sunset over the stunning Bay of Kotor.

AUGUST

August has to be my least favourite time of year to travel in Europe.  Yes, the weather is glorious, but everywhere is heaving with people, flights and hotels are at peak prices, and everything is ridiculously busy. 

For this reason, we don’t travel much in August. It’s a great time to seek adventure in lesser known destinations, avoiding busy cities which will certainly be busy with tourists.

The bank holiday falls as late as physically possible in 2020, meaning your late summer adventure will be into September.  

Read More: 13 Sure-Fire Ways to Save Money and Travel More

Bank Holiday: 31 August

Book these dates off work:  1-4 September 

Use:  4 days leave 

Result: 9 days holiday

Trip ideas for August:

Independent travel: Discover Agriturismo in Trentino, Italy. Bordering Austria and Switzerland, and is best known for the beauty of its peaks of the Dolomites.  Fondly embraced by outdoor enthusiasts, hikers and climbers, novelists, poets and those cityslickers desperate for some fresh mountain air. 

Alternatively, head to the lively city of Edinburgh in Scotland. Here you can discover the vibrant medieval streets as they’re filled with buskers, artists and actors vying for your attention during the world famous Edinburgh Fringe festival. 

Road trip: Iceland in summer is one of the few opportunities throughout the year where you can drive the full ring road which circles the island.  August is also optimal wildlife-viewing opportunities with the migration of Puffins & whale watching.

Tour: Discover the Baltic capitals on this whistle stop tour. Meander through old towns of each of these capitals and discover cultural experiences including the moving KGB Museum. 

DECEMBER

Insider Tip: Many companies have a closure period over Christmas and give days off to staff. Note this before booking your leave, you may just end up with a few days left over! 

Christmas classics of Christmas markets with the scent of mulled wine and roasted chestnuts in the air, and in parts of Europe there’s flakes of freshly fallen snow wafting through the air. 

Despite the ridiculous price hike in airfares at this time of year, Christmas 2020 looks like a great opportunity for an extended trip. 25 December falls on a Friday, therefore Boxing Day is on a Saturday, which means the UK gets an extra public holiday on the 28 December! 

By taking 29-31 December off, you will be left with an extended break from the 25 December through to the 4 January 2121, a whopping 10 days off for the price of 3, not bad at all! If you’ve got an additional 4 days in the bank, take 21-24 December off too and your trip now goes from 10 to 16 days! 

Bank Holidays: 25 December (Christmas Day) 28 December (Boxing Day), 1 January (New Year’s Day)

Book these dates off work:   21-24 December & 29-31 December

Use:  7 days leave 

Result: 16 days holiday

Trip ideas for December:

Independent travel: Sydney, Australia – There’s nothing quite like a swelteringly hot Christmas on Bondi Beach! 

Road trip: Head to Belize for the ultimate adventure of jungle, diving and paradise.

Tour: Escape the European winter and head to South America to take in three countries in just two action-packed weeks. From Cuzco’s historic centre to the Salt Flats of Uyuni and the modern metropolis of Santiago, you will get a good taste of the continent and whet your appetite for another visit.

Or embrace a once in a lifetime experience and undertake chimpanzee and gorilla trekking in Uganda! December is ideal time where the weather is dry, but the landscapes are lush and green. 

Bank Holidays in England for 2020:

• Wed 01 Jan 2020 New Year’s Day
• Fri 10 Apr 2020 Good Friday
• Mon 13 Apr 2020 Easter Monday
• Fri 08 May 2020 Early May Bank Holiday
• Mon 25 May 2020 Spring Bank Holiday
• Mon 31 Aug 2020 Summer Bank Holiday
• Fri 25 Dec 2020 Christmas Day
• Sat 26 Dec 2020 Boxing Day
• Mon 28 Dec 2020 Observed Holiday for Boxing Day
• Fri 1 Jan 2021 New Years Day

If you manage to hack your annual leave and generate more trips in 2020, drop us a line or leave a comment below. Don’t forget to pin this to your Pinterest boards so you can come back to it later and share it with family and friends so everybody wins!