There’s always one colleague who books their leave in September and vanishes for a fortnight, having used only four days of annual leave. In 2027, that should be you, because the calendar does most of the work.

Leave maximisation is the art of stacking annual leave against weekends and public holidays to turn a handful of days into a proper trip. Some years the holidays land badly, and there’s little to gain. This isn’t one of them.

The good weeks go to whoever asks first. Here’s where the value is, window by window.

The one-day trick in January

Book Monday, January 25, off and you get Saturday, January 23, to Tuesday, January 26, off. One leave day, four days away. Nothing else in the year returns that ratio.

Stretch it by adding Wednesday, January 27, to Friday, January 29, and four leave days become nine days off – Saturday, January 23, to Sunday, January 31. This works in every state and territory.

The March long weekends

Western Australia’s Labour Day is Monday, March 1. Book March 2-5 for nine days off.

Victoria’s Labour Day, South Australia’s Adelaide Cup Day, Tasmania’s Eight Hours Day and Canberra Day all land on Monday, March 8. Take Tuesday, March 9, to Friday, March 12, and you’re off from Saturday, March 6, to Sunday, March 14.

Easter is at the end of March in 2027. Photo: Getty

Easter is early in 2027

Good Friday is March 26 and Easter Monday is March 29, an early Easter period. Take Tuesday, March 30, to Friday, April 2, and four leave days deliver 10 days off, from Friday, March 26, to Sunday, April 4.

For a proper trip, add Monday, March 22, to Thursday, March 25. Eight leave days get you 16 days off, from Saturday, March 20, to Sunday, April 4.

An early Easter also pulls the autumn school holidays forward, so the shoulder weeks in April are quieter and cheaper than usual.

Tasmanian public servants do better. Easter Tuesday, March 30, is a holiday, so three leave days buy the same 10 days.

Anzac Day, and who misses out

Monday, April 26, is a public holiday in NSW, the ACT, Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia. Take Tuesday, April 27, to Friday, April 30, and four leave days become nine days off, Saturday, April 24, to Sunday, May 2.

Queenslanders and Territorians get the best block of the year here. Labour Day in Queensland and May Day in the NT both fall on Monday, May 3, one week later. The same four leave days stretch to 10 days off – Saturday, April 24, to Monday, May 3. Add Tuesday, May 4, to Friday, May 7, and eight leave days deliver 16 days off.

If you’re in Victoria, South Australia or Tasmania, there’s nothing here. Plan the rest of your year around it.

In January, four annual leave days can become nine days off. Photo: Getty

Mid-year

King’s Birthday is Monday, June 14, in NSW, Victoria, SA, Tasmania, the NT and the ACT. Four leave days, nine days off, Saturday, June 12, to Sunday, June 20.

WA runs its own timetable: Western Australia Day on Monday, June 7, and King’s Birthday on Monday, September 27, each worth nine days off for four days of leave.

Canberra has the best block in the country. Reconciliation Day is on Monday, May 31, and King’s Birthday is on Monday, June 14. Take the nine working days between them, and you get 17 consecutive days off, from Saturday, May 29, to Monday, June 14.

Spring

Labour Day falls on Monday, October 4, in NSW, SA and the ACT, and Queensland’s King’s Birthday is the same day. Book Tuesday, October 5, to Friday, October 8, for nine days off.

Victorians get Melbourne Cup on Tuesday, November 2. Take Monday, November 1, and Wednesday, November 3, to Friday, November 5, for nine days off. Tasmanians in the north get Recreation Day on Monday, November 1, which does the same job.

Victorians have one more long weekend coming, but nobody can book it yet. AFL Grand Final Friday is the only public holiday in the country set by a sporting fixture, and the 2027 date isn’t confirmed until the AFL releases its finals schedule.

It almost always lands on the last Friday in September, which in 2027 is September 24. If it holds, four leave days from Monday, September 20, to Thursday, September 23, buys nine days off.

Less time in the office means more time meeting unique attractions like Rottnest Island’s quokkas. Photo: Getty

The holidays only some of us get

A handful of 2027’s best long weekends are regional, and they’re the reason the state totals below look so uneven.

Hobart and southern Tasmania get the Royal Hobart Regatta on Monday, February 8, the only February public holiday in the country. Take Tuesday, February 9, to Friday, February 12, and four leave days become nine days off, from Saturday, February 6, to Sunday, February 14.

Southern Tasmanians get a second one in spring: The Royal Hobart Show on Thursday, October 21. Because it’s a Thursday, the cheap version is very cheap. Book the Friday alone, and you have four days off for one day of leave, the same ratio as Australia Day and the only other time all year you’ll get it.

Early August belongs to Darwin and Brisbane. Picnic Day falls on Monday, August 2, in the NT, and four leave days from Tuesday, August 3, to Friday, August 6, buy nine days off, Saturday, July 31, to Sunday, August 8.

Nine days later, Brisbane gets the Royal Queensland Show on Wednesday, August 11. A midweek holiday is the expensive kind, so there’s no shortcut: Book Monday the 9th, Tuesday 10th, Thursday 12th and Friday the 13th, and you’re off from Saturday, August 7, to Sunday, August 15. Outside the Brisbane area, most Queensland towns get their own show day instead, so check your local date.

None of these travel. They’re the difference between a Hobart reader and a Launceston one, and they’re worth knowing about before you book anything else.

The festive season

Christmas Day is on a Saturday in 2027, so the substitutes fall on Monday, December 27, and Tuesday, December 28. Take Wednesday, December 29, to Friday, December 31, and three leave days buy 10 days off, through to Monday, January 3, 2028.

Go bigger by adding Monday, December 20, to Friday, December 24. Eight leave days become 17 days off – Saturday, December 18, 2027 to Monday, January 3, 2028.

Republished from Australian Traveller