How to get 48 days off in 2023 using just 19 days of annual leave

• Maximise the number of days off you get in 2023 by booking annual leave around bank holidays

• To get up to 48 days off, you only need to take 19 days of holiday allowance

• There are opportunities to have nine or 10 consecutive days off in Easter, May, August and over the Christmas period

• Read the full article to see the full list of bank holidays next year and which days you need to request off

The holidays may be coming to an end, but 2023 is set to be jam-packed with them if you make the most of your annual leave.

Using the same logic as those who only had to take off the 28, 29 and 30 December 2022 for a fairly long break, thanks to Christmas bank holidays falling on the 26 and 27 after the weekend, you can maximise the number of consecutive days you have away from your desk next year.

And working around the nine bank holidays we're already blessed with – including one extra thanks to the King's Coronation – you'll only have to take 19 days annual leave to get up to 48 days of holiday.

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Next year's bank holidays include New Year's Day (Monday 2 January), Good Friday (Friday 7 April), Easter Monday (Monday 10 April), Early May (Monday 1 May), King's Coronation (Monday 8 May), Spring (Monday 29 May), Summer (Monday 28 August), Christmas Day (Monday 25 December), and Boxing Day (Tuesday 26 December).

To maximise your Easter holidays you only need to take the rest of the week after Easter Monday off, from Tuesday 11 April to Friday 14 April, to get 10 days free (also thanks to Good Friday on 7 April and two weekends). This will only lose you four days of annual leave.

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The King's Coronation falls a week after the usual May Day bank holiday on 1 May, so by taking off Tuesday 2 May to Friday 5 May, you could get another 10 days away from work, including two weekends. But if you want to utilise the bank holiday on the 29th, why not take the rest of that week off too (ending 2 June) to give you another nine days. So in exchange for 19, you've only taken eight.

Booking off another four days in August, from Tuesday 29 to Friday 1 September, you'll get to enjoy yet another nine consecutive days of freedom, thanks to the Monday bank holiday and two weekends again conveniently sandwiched around the period.

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And lastly, ending on a high for Christmas 2023, you just need to take three days off, from Wednesday 27 December to Friday 29, to get 10 days in total for the festive period, if you count New Years Day (in total this will run from Saturday 23 December to Monday 1 January).

As promised, that's 48 days off for just 19 annual leave days, and that's before you've even used the rest of your holiday allowance. But you better try and get in there first...

2023 bank holidays

• Monday 2 January – New Year's Day (substitute day)

• Friday 7 April – Good Friday

• Monday 10 April – Easter Monday

• Monday 1 May – Early May bank holiday

• Monday 8 May – Bank holiday for the coronation of King Charles III

• Monday 29 May – Spring bank holiday

• Monday 28 August – Summer bank holiday

• Monday 25 December – Christmas Day

• Tuesday 26 December – Boxing Day

• (2024) Monday 1 January – New Year's Day

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