Long Weekends 2027: Dates, Leave Plan and Trips Abroad from India

The long weekends 2027 offers central government staff are few but usable. Three need no leave at all: Good Friday (26 to 28 March), Bakrid (15 to 17 May) and Diwali (29 to 31 October). Four more need one day of leave: Republic Day, Holi, Buddha Purnima and the five-day Ram Navami to Mahavir Jayanti break in April. Six of the 17 central government holidays fall on a Saturday or Sunday, so planning matters more than usual.

Every date below is checked against the Government of India's 2027 holiday list, and every weekday was recomputed separately. For each break you get the leave you need, two or three destinations that suit that length and that month's weather, and the visa lead time to watch.

Long weekends 2027 at a glance

The table assumes a Monday to Friday week and the central government list for Delhi. "Restricted" means a restricted holiday that central staff may choose (two a year in Delhi).

Lost to weekends in 2027: Independence Day and Id-e-Milad (both Sunday 15 August), Gandhi Jayanti (Saturday 2 October), Dussehra (Saturday 9 October), Guru Nanak Jayanti (Sunday 14 November) and Christmas (Saturday 25 December). The holiday order says no substitute holiday is given when this happens.

Why your 2027 holiday list may differ

The dates above come from the Department of Personnel and Training's office memorandum of 16 July 2026, as forwarded by the Department of Posts. It fixes 17 holidays for central government offices in Delhi. Offices elsewhere keep 14 compulsory holidays and pick three more, such as Holi or Ram Navami, through a state committee.

• States and private employers set their own lists. Many state governments had not published 2027 lists by mid-November 2026, and companies follow their own HR calendars. Check yours before you pay for anything.
• Holi: the festival (Rangwali Holi) falls on Monday 22 March, and most state calendars close that day. The central holiday is Tuesday 23 March. Either way, Saturday 20 March starts the break.
• Mahavir Jayanti: central offices close on Monday 19 April, but several state calendars list Sunday 18 April. If yours does, the April break shrinks to four days.
• Moon-dependent dates: Eid ul-Fitr (expected Wednesday 10 March, possibly Tuesday 9), Bakrid (Monday 17 May) and Muharram can move by a day once the moon is sighted.
• Diwali: in states that mark Naraka Chaturdasi as the holiday, central offices may close on Thursday 28 October instead of Friday 29.
• Ambedkar Jayanti (Wednesday 14 April) is not on the 2027 central list. In 2026 the Centre declared it a holiday by a separate order dated 9 April. If that happens again, the April break becomes six days.

January 2027: New Year and Republic Day

New Year's Day is a Friday, so anyone whose employer gives 1 January gets a three-day weekend. Republic Day is a Tuesday: take Monday 25 January and you have four days, Saturday to Tuesday. That is three nights abroad, which suits a short-haul city.

• Bangkok: January is one of the driest months, with about 9 mm of rain on one day on average (WMO climate normals). Thailand is visa-free for 30 days, and you file the free TDAC arrival card online. Our 4-night Bangkok and Pattaya package needs one more leave day, Friday 22 January.
• Almaty: real winter, with average highs of about minus 1°C. Kazakhstan is visa-free for 14 days. The 3-night Almaty culture package fits the four days exactly.
• Singapore: early January is still in the wet phase of the monsoon, so plan indoor backups. The visa goes through an authorised agent and takes 3 to 5 working days, so apply in the first week of January at the latest. The 3-night Singapore budget package fits.

One warning for January trips: Malaysia's visa-free entry for Indians runs until 31 December 2026, and no extension had been announced by 13 November 2026. Check our Malaysia visa update before booking Kuala Lumpur for 2027. For more January ideas, see our guide to the best places to visit in January outside India.

March 2027: Holi, Good Friday and a nine-day bridge

March is the best month of the year for long weekends in 2027. Eid ul-Fitr is expected on Wednesday 10 March; two leave days on Thursday and Friday give five days. Then come Holi and Good Friday in the same week.

Take Monday 22 March (Holika Dahan, a restricted holiday for central staff) and you get Saturday 20 to Tuesday 23. Good Friday on 26 March gives a second three-day weekend. Add leave on Wednesday 24 and Thursday 25, and the whole stretch from 20 to 28 March is nine days for three leave days. If your state closes on Monday 22 for Holi, it costs only two.

• Four days: Dubai is at its best, with average highs near 28°C in March. Our 4-night Dubai budget package needs one more leave day. Bangkok is dry (about 29 mm of rain on two days) but hot, with highs near 34°C.
• Nine days, beaches: the Maldives is in its dry season, with about 74 mm of rain on five days in Malé. The free visa on arrival makes it easy, and the 3-night Maafushi package leaves days to spare for a second island. Phuket and Krabi are fairly dry too; see the 5-night Phuket and Krabi package.
• Nine days, something different: the Philippines is in its hot, dry season from March to May (PAGASA), and Indians get 14 days visa-free. The Cebu and Bohol package runs six days. Southern Vietnam is also dry, with about 18 mm of rain in Ho Chi Minh City in March, but the e-visa takes 3 to 5 working days, so apply by early March.

March is also when fares dip. On Kayak's 12-month data, March is the cheapest month to fly from Delhi to Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Almaty.

April 2027: five days from Ram Navami to Mahavir Jayanti

Ram Navami is Thursday 15 April and Mahavir Jayanti is Monday 19 April. Take Friday 16 April off and you get five days for one leave day, enough for four nights abroad. If Ambedkar Jayanti on Wednesday 14 April is declared a holiday again, it becomes six.

• Bali: April is when the rains ease. Denpasar averages 88 mm of rain on nine days in April against 345 mm on 27 days in January. Budget for the visa on arrival (IDR 500,000) and the Bali levy (IDR 150,000). The 4-night Bali budget package fits the break.
• Kathmandu: warm days around 27°C with cool nights, and only about six rainy days. No visa is needed, but carry a passport or an original voter ID; Aadhaar is not accepted for air travel. Our Nepal budget guide has the plan.
• Dubai: still workable, with highs around 32°C. It gets much hotter from May.

May 2027: Bakrid and Buddha Purnima

Bakrid is expected on Monday 17 May, giving a three-day weekend with no leave. Buddha Purnima is Thursday 20 May: take Friday 21 and you have four days. Take Tuesday 18, Wednesday 19 and Friday 21 as well, and Saturday 15 to Sunday 23 becomes nine days for three leave days. In many states this falls in the school summer holidays, so book family trips early.

May is a hard month for weather. Dubai averages highs near 37°C, and May is the dearest month to fly there from Delhi on Kayak's data. Thailand's beaches enter the wet season: Phuket averages about 270 mm of rain on 20 days. The Maldives' south-west monsoon usually starts in May too.

• Bali: the best fit, deep in the dry season (about 93 mm on eight days). The nine-day bridge suits the 5-night Bali family package.
• Almaty: mild, with highs near 22°C, but May has rain on about 20 days. Go for the mountain lakes and pack a jacket; the 4-night Almaty nature and lakes package covers them.
• Central Vietnam: Da Nang is dry in May (about 71 mm) but hot at around 33°C.

June to September 2027: the quiet months

There is no easy long weekend between June and September for central offices. Muharram falls on Wednesday 16 June, so a five-day break costs two leave days. Independence Day and Id-e-Milad both fall on Sunday 15 August.

The best option is the Raksha Bandhan week: Raksha Bandhan is Tuesday 17 August, a restricted holiday for central staff and a full holiday in some states. Take Monday 16 August off and Saturday 14 to Tuesday 17 gives four days. Janmashtami (Wednesday 25 August) and Ganesh Chaturthi (Saturday 4 September) do not create long weekends. In Kerala, state calendars show Onam holidays from Saturday 11 to Tuesday 14 September; confirm when the state publishes its list.

If you do travel in August, Bali is at its driest (about 25 mm of rain on four days). Almaty is warm and dry, with highs near 29°C. Sri Lanka's east coast around Trincomalee averages about five rainy days in August, against eleven in Colombo.

October 2027: Durga Puja, Dussehra and Diwali

Dussehra falls on Saturday 9 October. Mahashtami (Thursday 7) and Mahanavami (Friday 8) are restricted holidays for central staff in Delhi but full holidays in West Bengal and several other states. Using both gives Thursday to Sunday, four days. From Kolkata, Bangkok has the lowest fares of the four metros we checked, but October is one of its wettest months (about 242 mm), so treat it as a city break.

Diwali is Friday 29 October, a three-day weekend with no leave. Take Thursday 28 (Naraka Chaturdasi) as well for four days. If your employer follows the Karnataka calendar, Rajyotsava on Monday 1 November stretches it to five.

• Kathmandu: October and November are the clearest months, with highs near 26°C and about four rainy days in October. It is also the dearest month to fly there from Delhi, so book by August.
• Almaty: crisp autumn days around 16°C. The 3-night Almaty package fits a four-day Diwali break.
• Bali: the dry season is ending (about 63 mm on 12 days); the four-night package fits if you can stretch the break to five days.

Our Diwali long weekend guide has more ideas for this break.

December 2027: Christmas to New Year 2028

The last of the long weekends 2027 offers is also the longest. Christmas falls on Saturday 25 December and New Year's Day 2028 on a Saturday too. Central staff can use Christmas Eve (Friday 24, restricted) for a three-day weekend. For the year-end, five leave days from Monday 27 to Friday 31 December give nine days off, from 25 December to 2 January 2028.

This is the most expensive week of the year to fly. On Kayak's data, December is the dearest month from Delhi to Singapore, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Colombo. Book flights by September.

• Dubai: highs around 26°C and cool evenings. The 6-night Dubai and Abu Dhabi package uses most of the nine days.
• Thailand: Bangkok averages about 10 mm of December rain and Phuket about 62 mm. The 5-night Bangkok and Phuket package includes the domestic flight.
• Almaty in snow: highs near 0°C. The 5-night Almaty ski package includes two days of ski passes and a beginner lesson. Our Almaty winter guide covers clothing.

Visa lead times: what to sort first

On a four-day break, a visa delay ruins the trip. Sort entry papers as soon as you know your leave.

• Nothing to apply for in advance: Nepal (passport or voter ID), Thailand (visa-free 30 days, plus the online TDAC), Kazakhstan (14 days), the Philippines (14 days) and the Maldives (free visa on arrival, plus an online traveller declaration).
• Online, a few days: Sri Lanka's free ETA (before you fly), Vietnam's e-visa (3 to 5 working days), Indonesia's e-visa on arrival, and the UAE tourist visa through your airline or a licensed agent.
• Through an agent: Singapore, 3 to 5 working days via an authorised agent.
• Weeks ahead: a Schengen visa can be filed up to six months and no later than 15 days before travel, and normal processing is 15 days (European Commission). Only the nine-day bridges are long enough for Europe.
• Uncertain: Malaysia from 1 January 2027, until an extension of the visa exemption is announced.

For destinations month by month beyond these dates, see our international travel calendar, and for the cheapest trips across all regions, our ranking of the cheapest countries to visit from India. If none of our packages fits your long weekends 2027 plan, use the enquiry form on this page for a custom quote.

Cover photo: Diego Delso / CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons