Thematic
Public Holidays in Poland 2026 and 2027: What Closes
Poland has 14 public holidays a year, and on each of them most shops close. Here are the dates for 2026 and 2027, what stays open and how they shape a trip.
By ViewPoland Editorial
6 min read
Updated October 2026
The short answer
Poland has 14 public holidays a year, fixed by law, on top of every Sunday. On these days most shops are closed, and since 2025 that includes Christmas Eve. Restaurants and cafes, bakeries, pharmacies, petrol stations, souvenir shops and shops at stations and airports may still open.
The list comes from the Act on Days Free from Work, a law from 1951, most recently amended to add Christmas Eve as a day off from 2025. A second law bans most shops from trading on Sundays and on those same holidays. Together they decide when you can buy groceries, when the roads fill up and when a city goes quiet.
What are the public holidays in Poland in 2026?
| Date | Day | Holiday |
|---|---|---|
| 1 January | Thursday | New Year's Day (Nowy Rok) |
| 6 January | Tuesday | Epiphany (Święto Trzech Króli) |
| 5 April | Sunday | Easter Sunday |
| 6 April | Monday | Easter Monday |
| 1 May | Friday | State Holiday (Święto Państwowe) |
| 3 May | Sunday | Constitution Day (Święto Narodowe Trzeciego Maja) |
| 24 May | Sunday | Pentecost (Zielone Świątki) |
| 4 June | Thursday | Corpus Christi (Boże Ciało) |
| 15 August | Saturday | Assumption of Mary |
| 1 November | Sunday | All Saints' Day (Wszystkich Świętych) |
| 11 November | Wednesday | Independence Day |
| 24 December | Thursday | Christmas Eve (Wigilia) |
| 25 December | Friday | Christmas Day |
| 26 December | Saturday | Second Day of Christmas |
Easter, Pentecost and Corpus Christi move every year. Pentecost falls 49 days after Easter Sunday and Corpus Christi 60 days after it, which is why Corpus Christi is always a Thursday. In 2026 Christmas Eve on a Thursday is followed by two holidays and a Sunday, so most shops stay shut for four days in a row, from 24 to 27 December.
What are the public holidays in Poland 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 | State Holiday |
| 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 is early in 2027, at the end of March, and 3 May lands on a Monday, which gives a three-day weekend from 1 to 3 May. Christmas runs from Friday to Sunday, so the closed days cover a single long weekend.
Are shops open on public holidays in Poland?
Mostly not. The law on Sunday and holiday trading bans selling, and putting staff to work in shops, on every public holiday, the same rule as on an ordinary Sunday. Supermarkets, shopping centres and most high-street shops close.
The exceptions are long, and several matter to a visitor. The ban does not apply to places whose main business is serving food and drink, to bakeries, patisseries and ice cream shops, pharmacies, petrol stations and florists, or to shops mainly selling souvenirs, newspapers, tobacco or public transport tickets. Shops at railway and bus stations that serve travellers, shops at airports, shops in hotels and in cultural, sports and tourist venues, and stalls set up for fairs and festivals can also trade. So can a shop run in person by a sole trader, in their own name and on their own account.
In practice, buy what you need the day before, eat out, and expect museum and attraction hours to vary from place to place. The everyday version of the same rule is explained in are shops open on Sundays in Poland.
Is Christmas Eve a public holiday in Poland?
Yes, since 2025. An amendment passed on 6 December 2024 added 24 December to the list of days free from work, and it came into force on 1 February 2025. Because the trading ban follows that list, shops now close on Christmas Eve as they do on Christmas Day, with the same exceptions as on any other holiday. Older guides and business pages that promise shorter Christmas Eve opening hours describe the rules before 2025.
The same amendment rewrote the rule on trading Sundays: shops may now open on the three Sundays before Christmas Eve. In 2026 they fall on 6, 13 and 20 December, and in 2027 on 5, 12 and 19 December. What the evening itself is like in a Polish home is described in Christmas in Poland, and the markets in Christmas markets in Poland.
What closes in Poland at Easter?
Easter Sunday and Easter Monday are both holidays, so shops close for two days. Trading also stops at 2 pm on Holy Saturday, the day before Easter Sunday, under a separate rule in the trading law; the usual exceptions still apply. The Sunday before Easter is a trading Sunday: 29 March 2026 and 21 March 2027.
Poland's trade agency notes that on Holy Saturday families take a basket of food to church to be blessed, and that Easter ranks with Christmas as the most important holiday in the country. How the long weekend plays out in one city is covered in Krakow at Easter.
What happens on All Saints' Day and Independence Day in Poland?
All Saints' Day on 1 November is a sombre holiday. The Polish Investment and Trade Agency describes it as the day when nearly all Poles travel to the places where their relatives are buried, with shops closed, cafes and restaurants on different schedules and heavy traffic around cemeteries and on main roads. If you are driving that weekend, allow extra time.
Independence Day on 11 November marks the day in 1918 when Poland declared independence after 123 years of partition. The same agency advises visitors to expect patriotic marches, especially in larger cities, significant road congestion and limited public services.
How do Polish public holidays affect a trip?
Three things are worth planning around. First, groceries and pharmacy runs: shops shut, so stock up the day before, and remember that a holiday next to a weekend can close shops for three or four days. Second, long weekends: on Corpus Christi, which is always a Thursday, the trade agency notes that many Poles take the Friday off and that large religious processions take place on the day itself, while restaurants and cafes mostly stay open. Third, the roads: the agency expects heavy traffic around All Saints' Day, Corpus Christi and Independence Day, and notes that many Poles travel to their home towns a couple of days before Christmas, when public transport runs a limited service.
Sightseeing rarely stops completely, but opening days differ by venue. Our guide to what is open in Krakow on Sundays and Mondays shows how to sequence a short stay, and when to visit Poland sets the holidays against the seasons.
Sources
Act on Days Free from Work, consolidated text, Journal of Laws 2025 item 296 for the list of holidays. Act restricting trade on Sundays and holidays, consolidated text, Journal of Laws 2025 item 301 for the ban, its exceptions, trading Sundays and Holy Saturday. Amending act of 6 December 2024, Journal of Laws 2024 item 1965 for Christmas Eve. Polish Investment and Trade Agency, holiday periods in Poland for what each holiday is like. Movable dates are calculated from the date of Easter. Cover photo: Wrocław's Market Square, Tomasz Skrzypczak / CC BY-SA 3.0 pl, via Wikimedia Commons.
Written by ViewPoland Editorial for ViewPoland, an independent English-language guide to Poland. Published 25 October 2026. Last updated 25 October 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Fourteen, listed in the Act on Days Free from Work, plus every Sunday. Christmas Eve is the newest, added from 2025.
They are allowed to be. The trading ban does not cover places whose main business is food and drink, so many restaurants and cafes open, although hours can change, especially on All Saints' Day and over Christmas.
Most are not. Christmas Eve has been a public holiday since 2025, so the same trading ban applies as on Christmas Day, with exceptions such as pharmacies, petrol stations, bakeries and shops at stations and airports.
Yes, All Saints' Day is a public holiday. In 2026 it falls on a Sunday and in 2027 on a Monday. Expect closed shops and heavy traffic near cemeteries.
Thursday 4 June 2026. In 2027 it falls on Thursday 27 May. It is always 60 days after Easter Sunday.
Until 2 pm. After that, trading stops in most shops until the Tuesday after Easter, because Easter Sunday and Easter Monday are both public holidays.