Holidays in the Netherlands: when are the public, national, and school holidays in 2024?

Grab your agenda! 📅

There are holidays of cultural, religious and historical significance throughout the year in the Netherlands — but when should you officially celebrate? No worries, we’ve got the full guide to all public, national, and school holidays in the Netherlands for 2024.

So, get ready to jot some of these dates down in your calendar — you surely don’t want to miss King’s Day in the Netherlands or have your mom remind you about Mother’s Day.

Public holidays in the Netherlands in 2024

Whether you’re already looking forward to holidays or trying to find out when you can get a day off work, we’ve compiled a list of official holidays in the Netherlands for this year. Relax, sit back, sharpen your pencil, and grab your agenda.

second-christmas-day-in-the-Netherlands-family-having-christmas-dinner-together-at-home
Why have one Christmas day when you can have two in the Netherlands? Image: Freepik

Other noteworthy national dates

Even if they’re not national days off, they’re certainly just as important.

School holidays in the Netherlands

These dates include primary, secondary, and special education — independent schools set their own specific dates.

READ MORE | Going camping with kids: the ultimate Dutch holiday guide

When it comes to school holidays in the Netherlands, it’s key to remember that the holidays are generally divided into three regions (North, Middle, and South) so that the whole country doesn’t go on holiday in the same week.

photo-of-dutch-woman-with-kids-in-kitchen-on-her-computer-while-they-draw-during-their-school-holidays
Dutch kids love school holidays — so much so that they’ve got five blocks of them! Image: Depositphotos

Spring holiday 2024 (voorjaarsvakantie, carnavalsvakantie, or krokusvakantie)

  • North: February 17 – February 25, 2024
  • Central: February 17 – February 25, 2024
  • South: February 10 – February 18, 2024

May holidays 2024 (meivakantie)

  • North: April 27 – May 5, 2024
  • Central: April 27 – May 5, 2024
  • South: April 27 – May 5, 2024

Summer holidays 2024

  • North: July 20 – September 1, 2024
  • Central: July 13 – August 25, 2024
  • South: July 6 – August 18, 2024

Autumn holidays 2024 (herfstvakantie)

  • North: October 26 – November 3, 2024
  • Central: October 26 – November 3, 2024
  • South: October 19 – October 27, 2024

Christmas break 2023-2024

  • North: December 21, 2024 – January 5, 2025
  • Central: December 21, 2024 – January 5, 2025
  • South: December 21, 2024 – January 5, 2025

Note: the above dates come from the Ministry for Education, but individual schools may have slight deviations. We advise double-checking dates with your school before booking any tickets!

What will you be doing over this year’s holidays? Letting the kids escape, or escaping the kids? Tell us in the comments below!

Feature Image:Freepik
Emma Brown
Emma Brown
A familiar face at DutchRevew. Emma arrived in Holland in 2016 for a few weeks, fell in love with the place and never left. Here she rekindled her love of writing and travelling. Now you'll find her eating stroopwafels in the DutchReview office since 2017.

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1 COMMENT

  1. You’ve forgotten to inform that Dutch companies decide on which public holidays will be non-working. The list above doesn’t apply to everyone, it’s different per company. Also, number of Dutch holidays compared to other countries, Austria with 15, Germany with 14 non-working days… 😉

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