Before you go
Public holidays in Poland 2026 and 2027 – and what is open
Poland has fourteen public holidays a year, and on every one of them almost all shops close. Most are religious, two are patriotic, and a few turn the whole country into a long-weekend road trip. Here is when they fall, what they mean and how they will affect your plans.
Arrive in Poland on a public holiday and you will notice it at once. Supermarkets are dark, shopping centres shuttered, and the streets are quieter than on a Sunday. Then, by afternoon, the parks and old-town squares fill up, restaurants are busy, and on certain days – All Saints' Day in November, Independence Day a week and a half later – you may witness something genuinely moving.
For visitors, the practical rule is simple: on a public holiday, buy what you need the day before. Everything else – what is open, what the days mean and when Poles take to the roads – is below.
Public holidays in 2026
| Date | Day | Holiday | Polish name |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 January | Thursday | New Year's Day | Nowy Rok |
| 6 January | Tuesday | Epiphany (Three Kings' Day) | Trzech Króli |
| 5 April | Sunday | Easter Sunday | Wielkanoc |
| 6 April | Monday | Easter Monday | Poniedziałek Wielkanocny |
| 1 May | Friday | Labour Day | Święto Pracy |
| 3 May | Sunday | Constitution Day | Święto Konstytucji 3 Maja |
| 24 May | Sunday | Pentecost | Zielone Świątki |
| 4 June | Thursday | Corpus Christi | Boże Ciało |
| 15 August | Saturday | Assumption of Mary / Armed Forces Day | Wniebowzięcie NMP |
| 1 November | Sunday | All Saints' Day | Wszystkich Świętych |
| 11 November | Wednesday | Independence Day | Narodowe Święto Niepodległości |
| 24 December | Thursday | Christmas Eve | Wigilia |
| 25 December | Friday | Christmas Day | Boże Narodzenie |
| 26 December | Saturday | Second Day of Christmas | Drugi dzień świąt |
Public holidays in 2027
| Date | Day | Holiday |
|---|---|---|
| 1 January | Friday | New Year's Day |
| 6 January | Wednesday | Epiphany |
| 28 March | Sunday | Easter Sunday |
| 29 March | Monday | Easter Monday |
| 1 May | Saturday | Labour Day |
| 3 May | Monday | Constitution Day |
| 16 May | Sunday | Pentecost |
| 27 May | Thursday | Corpus Christi |
| 15 August | Sunday | Assumption of Mary |
| 1 November | Monday | All Saints' Day |
| 11 November | Thursday | Independence Day |
| 24 December | Friday | Christmas Eve |
| 25 December | Saturday | Christmas Day |
| 26 December | Sunday | Second Day of Christmas |
Easter, Pentecost and Corpus Christi move every year with the date of Easter. Christmas Eve has been a public holiday only since 2025.
What is open on a public holiday?
| Usually… | |
|---|---|
| Supermarkets, shops and shopping centres | Closed |
| Small family-run shops, petrol stations, some pharmacies | Often open – petrol-station shops are the classic emergency option |
| Restaurants, cafés and bars | Mostly open, especially in tourist areas – except on Christmas Eve evening and Easter Sunday morning, when many close |
| Museums and sights | Many open, often with shorter hours; some close on Christmas, Easter and New Year's Day – check before you go |
| Public transport | Runs to a Sunday or holiday timetable; reduced on Christmas Eve evening and Christmas Day |
| Banks, post offices, offices | Closed |
Two more days to note: on Holy Saturday, the day before Easter, shops close early, at 14:00. And because Poland also restricts Sunday trading, a holiday next to a weekend can mean two or three days in a row without supermarkets.
Sundays: the shopping ban
Most large shops in Poland are closed on Sundays too, except on a handful of trading Sundays (niedziele handlowe):
| 2026 | 2027 |
|---|---|
| 25 January | 31 January |
| 29 March | 21 March |
| 26 April | 25 April |
| 28 June | 27 June |
| 30 August | 29 August |
| 6, 13 and 20 December | 5, 12 and 19 December |
The rule: the last Sunday of January, April, June and August, the Sunday before Easter, and the three Sundays before Christmas.
The holidays, and what they mean
New Year's Day and Epiphany. On 6 January colourful Three Kings' processions (Orszak Trzech Króli) wind through city centres, and many Catholics chalk “K+M+B” and the year above their front doors.
Easter. The most important religious holiday. On Holy Saturday families carry decorated baskets of eggs, bread, salt and sausage (święconka) to church to be blessed – a lovely thing to see. Easter Monday is Śmigus-dyngus, when children (and not only children) soak each other with water. Expect to get wet.
The May long weekend (majówka). Labour Day on 1 May and Constitution Day on 3 May – marking Europe's first modern written constitution, of 1791 – often join up with a weekend into a long break. Hotels in the mountains and on the coast fill up, and roads out of the cities are jammed.
Corpus Christi. Colourful processions with flowers and banners pass through towns and villages, especially in the countryside; some streets close for a few hours.
15 August. A double holiday: the Catholic feast of the Assumption and Armed Forces Day, with a military parade in Warsaw in some years. It falls in the middle of summer, when Polish families are already on holiday.
All Saints' Day (1 November). Poles visit the graves of their families and light candles, and by evening every cemetery glows with thousands of flames. Visiting a large cemetery at dusk – Rakowicki in Kraków or Powązki in Warsaw – is one of the most moving experiences in Poland. Be respectful, and expect heavy traffic around cemeteries. More in Kraków in November.
Independence Day (11 November). Marks the rebirth of Poland in 1918 after 123 years off the map. Expect flags, concerts, runs and ceremonies; in Warsaw, large marches cross the city centre. In Poznań, 11 November is also St Martin's Day, when the whole city eats St Martin's croissants – crescent pastries filled with white poppy seeds.
Christmas. Christmas Eve (Wigilia) is the heart of a Polish Christmas, with a meat-free supper of twelve dishes when the first star appears. From the afternoon of the 24th until the 26th, the country is largely closed. See Christmas markets and traditions.
Polish national holidays vs public holidays
In Poland, national holidays (święta narodowe) are the patriotic ones – Constitution Day (3 May) and Independence Day (11 November). The others on the list are public holidays (days off work), most of them religious. Several other national days are marked but are not days off, including Flag Day (2 May) and National Remembrance Day of the “Cursed Soldiers” (1 March).
Tips for visitors
- Shop the day before a holiday – supermarkets are crowded on the eve of Christmas, Easter and long weekends.
- Book early for the May long weekend, Corpus Christi weekend and the Christmas–New Year period, especially in Zakopane, the Tatras and on the Baltic coast.
- Check opening hours of museums and sights for the exact date.
- Have some cash for small shops and stalls that stay open.
- Expect heavy traffic before and after long weekends – see our guide to car hire and driving in Kraków.
Sources
- Polish Act on public holidays (as amended in 2024 – Christmas Eve a public holiday from 2025)
- Forsal: Public holidays 2026 and 2027 – dates
- Wiadomości Handlowe: Trading Sundays in 2026; Eska: Trading Sundays 2027
Prices and opening hours change – we re-check them regularly. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.