Your guide to London's culture and transport news and events taking place across the city.

UK public holidays in London for 2022-2023

Details about London’s public holidays in 2023 and 2023, Christmas closures and what’s on ahead of your trip to London.

UK public holidays

In the UK, there are a number of statutory holidays, known as Bank Holidays as banks were traditionally required to be closed on those days.

While many UK bank holidays are timed for specific events, such as May Day or Easter, candidly, not many people observe the origins of the holiday, so, for example, for the majority of people, Easter and Christmas are just days off work without any religious significance.

These days, most shops and restaurants are open on Bank Holidays, and many cultural venues will hold special events.

Easter

The big exception to the above is Easter, when there’s Good Friday and Easter Monday as holidays, but be warned, while most venues are open over the weekend, all large retail stores are closed on Easter Sunday — a hangover from the days when all shops in the UK closed on Sundays. You’ll still be able to go out and enjoy yourself on Easter Sunday, but you won’t be able to do any department store style shopping.

Things to do in London on a Bank Holiday weekend

A number of major celebrations are also timed to coincide with a bank holiday, mainly because more people can attend them.

It varies each year, but typically the spring bank holiday will have a large festival in the canals near Paddington and the August bank holiday is famous for the Notting Hill Carnival. Many smaller local festivals also take place around the city on Bank Holidays.

Two other large events take place across the entire city, which are not on public holidays, but if they appeal, it’s worth timing a visit for — that’s the Open Garden Squares Weekend which opens up a lot of normally private gardens to visit, and the huge Open House Weekend, which is an amazing chance to see inside normally closed buildings.

If your idea of a good city visit is seeing the insides of grand buildings, then book your trip to time it for Open House Weekend in September – but note that many of the best buildings need pre-booking, in mid-August.

(There is also a similar event outside London the weekend before – Heritage Open Days)

In 2022, it’s also The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in June, which will involve a huge celebration in London over four days.

Christmas Holidays

If visiting over Christmas, then be aware that there’s no public transport at all on Christmas Day. Also, all shops, and most restaurants are closed. It is however a magical time to visit the city as you can wander the almost deserted streets and see London in a way you will likely never see again.

Holiday transport

London’s public transport often uses the quieter weekends to carry out maintenance work, so there’s a chance that some tube and railways will be closed. You can always check for travel disruptions on the TfL website, and they will have replacement bus services if there’s no suitable local rail service available.

Buses are very rarely affected by closures at weekends.

UK public holiday dates

In the UK, if a public holiday falls on a weekend, then the following workdays are substituted for it as compensation. For example, 25th December 2021 is a Saturday, so the following Monday is the substitute public holiday as compensation.

A tip, for most classic office workers, if you book three days holiday between Boxing Day and New Year, you will be out of the office for 10 days in a row. For example, in 2022, booking the 28th, 29th and 30th Dec as holiday means you will be out of the office from Saturday 24th December 2022 until Tuesday 3rd January 2023. A similar pattern happens every year.

There are also a few differences in dates between Scotland, Northern Ireland, and England/Wales.

England/Wales public holiday dates

Public Holiday	2022	2023
New Year’s Day	Monday 3rd Jan*	Monday 2nd Jan*
Good Friday	Friday 15th April	Friday 7th April
Easter Monday	Monday 18th April	Monday 10th April
Early May bank holiday	Monday 2nd May	Monday 1st May
Spring bank holiday	Thursday 2nd June	Monday 29th May
Platinum Jubilee holiday	Friday 3rd June	—
Summer bank holiday	Monday 29th August	Monday 28th August
Christmas Day	Tuesday 27th December*	Monday 25th December
Boxing Day	Monday 26th December	Tuesday 26th December

Northern Ireland public holiday dates

Public Holiday	2022	2023
New Year’s Day	Monday 3rd Jan*	Monday 2nd Jan*
St Patrick’s Day	Thursday 17th March	Friday 17th March
Good Friday	Friday 15th April	Friday 7th April
Easter Monday	Monday 18th April	Monday 10th April
Early May bank holiday	Monday 2nd May	Monday 1st May
Spring bank holiday	Thursday 2nd June	Monday 29th May
Platinum Jubilee holiday	Friday 3rd June	—
Battle of the Boyne (Orangemen’s Day)	Tuesday 12th July	Wednesday 12th July
Summer bank holiday	Monday 29th August	Monday 28th August
Christmas Day	Tuesday 27th December*	Monday 25th December
Boxing Day	Monday 26th December	Tuesday 26th December

Scotland public holiday dates

Public Holiday	2022	2023
New Year’s Day	Monday 3rd Jan*	Monday 2nd Jan*
2nd January	Monday 3rd January*	Tuesday 3rd Jan*
Good Friday	Friday 15th April	Friday 7th April
Early May bank holiday	Monday 2nd May	Monday 1st May
Spring bank holiday	Thursday 2nd June	Monday 29th May
Platinum Jubilee holiday	Friday 3rd June	—
Summer bank holiday	Monday 1st August	Monday 7th August
St Andrew’s Day	Wednesday 30th November	Thursday 20th November
Christmas Day	Tuesday 27th December*	Monday 25th December
Boxing Day	Monday 26th December	Tuesday 26th December