This is how you can take an 18 day holiday using just 9 days of annual leave in 2019

Thanks to the way 2019's bank holidays fall, you may be able to secure yourself 18 days of holiday in a row while only using up nine days of annual leave. All you have to do is get your boss on board.

How it works

Easter Sunday falls quite late in April 2019 (21 Apr) meaning that all of the usual bank holidays surrounding that date will happen close to the early May bank holiday on 6 May. This is the case in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

If you are allowed the time off, you'll finish work on Friday 19 April (Good Friday) and return to work on Tuesday 7 May feeling very refreshed.

However, if you live and work in Scotland, Easter Monday (22 April) is not a bank holiday, so you will have to use up one more day of annual leave to secure the full 18 day spell.

Here's how nine (or 10) days of annual leave can stretch into an uninterrupted 18 day break off work:

Fri 19 Apr '“ Bank holiday Sat 20 Apr '“ Weekend Sun 21 Apr '“ Weekend Mon 22 Apr '“ Bank holiday (or annual leave if in Scotland) Tue 23 Apr '“ Annual leave Wed 24 Apr '“ Annual leave Thu 25 Apr '“ Annual leave Fri 26 Apr '“ Annual leave Sat 27 Apr '“ Weekend Sun 28 Apr '“ Weekend Mon 29 Apr '“ Annual leave Tue 30 Apr '“ Annual leave Wed 1 May '“ Annual leave Thu 2 May '“ Annual leave Fri 3 May '“ Annual leave Sat 4 May '“ Weekend Sun 5 May '“ Weekend Mon 6 May '“ Bank holiday

Bank holidays in 2019

Tue 1 Jan: New Year's Day Wed 2 Jan: 2 January (Scotland only) Mon 18 Mar: St Patrick's Day (Northern Ireland only) Fri 19 April: Good Friday Mon 22 April: Easter Monday (except Scotland) Mon 6 May: Early May bank holiday Mon 27 May: Spring bank holiday Fri 12 Jul: Battle of the Boyne (Northern Ireland only) Mon 5 Aug: Summer bank holiday (Scotland only) Mon 26 Aug: Summer bank holiday Mon 2 Dec: St Andrew's Day (Scotland only) Wed 25 Dec: Christmas Day Thu 26 Dec: Boxing Day