These are the most important national holidays in the Netherlands and an overview of Dutch school holidays. It can be interesting to connect your trip with feast days or events. Cities like Utrecht can be very quiet during school holidays as there are living 35.000 students in Utrecht that leave on vacation in the summertime. Their departure has a great impact on the city’s social life.
In the Netherlands, school holidays are organized by region and by type of school. There are three regions: north, central, and south. Scroll down to overview the details.
Planning your trip to Holland
When you plan your trip to Holland during the Dutch holiday period on the one side you will enjoy more activities than off to the holiday season and on the other side, certain cities are very quiet as most people left on a vacation. Amsterdam, the beach resorts, and the Dutch Isles will be crowded in summer while cities inland can be nicely quiet. Take a look at my Events Calendar as well. I selected a broad range of events for you. In the summertime all over the country concerts and parties are going on. Make your choice and have a good time.
| DUTCH AND NATIONAL HOLIDAYS | DATE |
| New Year’s Day | 1 January |
| White Thursday | Thursday before Easter |
| Good Friday | Fryday before Easter |
| Easter | Easter, 1st Sunday after the first full moon in spring. |
| Kings Day | 27 April – never on a Sunday |
| Commemoration of the dead | 4 May |
| Liberation Day | 5 May |
| Ascension | Thursday, Ascension Day is the 40th Easter day |
| Pentecost | Sunday, the 10th day after Ascension |
| Christmas Day | 25 December |
| Boxing Day | 26 December |
| New Years Eve | 31 December |
| OTHER HOLIDAYS | DATES |
| Epiphany | 6 January |
| Carnival | February or March |
| Valentine’s Day | 14 February |
| Summertime The clock goes one hour forward in time | Saturday, last weekend of March |
| Mothers Day | 2nd Sunday in May |
| Fathers Day | 3e Sunday in June |
| Ramadan | 9th month in the Islamic calendar |
| Eid al-Fitr | Last day of Ramadan |
| Prinsjesdag Openingday of Dutch parliament | 3rd Tuesday in September |
| Animals Day | 4 October |
| Wintertime The clock goes one hour back in time | Saturday, the last weekend in October |
| Halloween | 31 October |
| Saint Martin | 11 November |
| St. Nicolas | 5 December |
School holidays in the Netherlands and school holidays in Europe
School holidays in the Netherlands are divided into 3 regions: north, center, and south. The regions rotate every year so that every 3 years a region has an early holiday period, a middle holiday period, and a late holiday period. When planning a tour of Europe, it can be useful to know the school holidays of each European country.
School holidays Europe
Regio Noord | Regio North | Region Middle | Region South |
|---|---|---|---|
| Herfstvakantie | 15 oktober t/m 23 oktober 2022 | 22 oktober t/m 30 oktober 2022 | 22 oktober t/m 30 oktober 2022 |
| Kerstvakantie | 24 december 2022 t/m 8 januari 2023 | 24 december 2022 t/m 8 januari 2023 | 24 december 2022 t/m 8 januari 2023 |
| Voorjaarsvakantie | 25 februari t/m 5 maart 2023 | 25 februari t/m 5 maart 2023 | 18 februari t/m 26 februari 2023 |
| Meivakantie | 29 april t/m 7 mei 2023 | 29 april t/m 7 mei 2023 | 29 april t/m 7 mei 2023 |
| Zomervakantie | 22 juli t/m 3 september 2023 | 8 juli t/m 20 augustus 2023 | 15 juli t/m 27 augustus 2023 |
Distribution of holidays per region in the Netherlands
Provinces region North Netherlands: Groningen / Overijssel / Drenthe, Flevoland, Noord-Holland / a part of Utrecht
Provinces region Central Netherlands: Utrecht / a part of Noord Brabant / Zuid Holland / a part of Gelderland
Provinces region South Netherland: Limburg / Zeeland / a part of Noord Brabant / a part of Gelderland
