Czech Holiday Calendar 2018: How Many Days Off Will We Get this Year?

This year there's good news and bad news for those hoping to shave a few days off their office time in 2018.

Expats.cz Staff Jason Pirodsky

Written by Expats.cz StaffJason Pirodsky Published on 30.12.2017 23:42:06 (updated on 30.12.2017) Reading time: 2 minutes

This year there’s good news and bad news for those hoping to shave a few days off their office time in 2018.

In the Czech Republic, there will be 250 working days, approximately 2,000 hours of work.

Only two public holidays in 2018 fall on a weekend (last year it was three). 

In 2018, the consecutive May holidays (Labor Day and Victory Day) fall on a Tuesday, so taking an additional two days of vacation on the Monday preceding each will give you five long weekends total for the year.

Good news at Christmastime: While Christmas Day 2017 fell on a Sunday, in 2018 it will be on a Monday so the following Christmas holidays will last until Wednesday. Taking two days off will give you a nine-day stretch since New Year’s Day in 2019 falls on a Tuesday.

In 2017, a proposal passed to add several new culturally important days to the Czech calendar. Read about those days here. Culturally significant days are working days.

Full List of Public Holidays in 2018:

  • Monday, January 1: New Year’s Day/Czech Independence Day
  • Friday, March 30: Good Friday
  • Monday, April 2: Easter Monday
  • Tuesday, May 1: Labor Day
  • Tuesday, May 8: Victory Day
  • Thursday, July 5: St. Cyril and St. Methodius Day
  • Friday, July 6: Jan Hus Day
  • Friday, September 28: St. Wenceslas/Czech Statehood Day
  • Sunday, October 28: Day of the Independent Czechoslovak State
  • Saturday, November 17: Struggle for Freedom and Democracy Day
  • Monday, December 24: Christmas Eve
  • Tuesday, December 25: First Day of Christmas
  • Wednesday, December 26: Second Day of Christmas

Culturally Important Days in 2018:

  • Saturday, January 6: Three Kings Day
  • Tuesday, January 16: Jan Palach Day
  • Saturday, January 27: Holocaust Remembrance Day and Prevention of Crimes Against Humanity
  • Thursday, March 8: International Women’s Day
  • Friday, March 9: Day Commemorating Victims of the extermination of the Terezin family camp in Auschwitz-Birkenau
  • Monday, March 12: Anniversary of Czech Republic Joining NATO
  • Wednesday, March 28: Day of the Birth of Jan Amos Comenius
  • Saturday, May 5: Remembrance of the May Uprising of the Czech Nation (1945)
  • Friday, June 1: International Children’s Day
  • Sunday, June 10: Memorial Day Extermination of Lidice
  • Monday, June 18: Day of Heroes of the Second Resistance
  • Wednesday, June 27: Commemorating the Victims of the Communist Regime
  • Sunday, November 11: Veterans Day

Holidays that are observed but are not considered official days of remembrance or importance are: April Fools’ Day (Sunday, April 1), Čarodějnice (Monday, April 30), All Souls Day (Friday, November 2), St. Nicholas Day (Thursday, December 6).

Daylight savings (letní čas) is on March 25; the transition to winter time (zimní čas) takes place on October 28.

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