A list of public
holidays in Portugal. From various sources!
Holidays are always observed on the day they fall
and are not moved to a convenient Monday as in the UK.
Buses and trains run to Sunday/Holiday timetables on public
holidays. They do run on Christmas Day and New Year's Day.
On Christmas Eve December 24th and New Year's Eve December 31st Businesses and shops close early, around 6 or 7pm. On Christmas Eve virtually everything closes early including bars and restaurants. Some late-evening buses and trains (especially long-distance services) will not run. This information is announced in detail only about two weeks beforehand.
Major malls and supermarkets are usually open all
day on public and religious holidays, except on Christmas Day and
New Year's Day, when they remain closed.
Some may also close on Good Friday, Easter Sunday and May 1st. You
will need to check locally and/or nearer the time.
In tourist areas, smaller shops usually stay open
all day except some will close on Good Friday and / or Easter
Sunday.
On Christmas Day and New Year's Day shops are closed. Many small
shops in the villages and of course all post offices and banks
observe the holidays strictly.
The 2022 / 2023 school year first term ended
Friday 16th December.
Second term began Tuesday 3rd January 2023 ended Friday 31st March
2023 for Easter Holidays
In between, there were three days off, 20th to 22nd February 2023,
for Carnaval
Third term begins Monday 17th April 2023, ends between 7th and
28th June 2023 according to age group.
'Schooldays Only' buses will in general not run after 14th June.
The 2023 - 2024 school year will begin week commencing Monday 11th
September
There may be small local variations for local festivals etc. This
is the general pattern every year.
Buses marked in the timetables as 'SCH' (Schooldays) only operate during those periods, except on public holidays as below.
Sunday 1st January - New Year's Day
Tuesday 21st February - Carnaval /Shrove Tuesday. Not an official
holiday but observed on most railway and bus routes, which run to
Sunday times.
Friday 7th April - Good Friday
Sunday 9th April - Easter Sunday ('Easter Monday' is not a holiday
in mainland Portugal)
Tuesday 25th April - Liberation Day
Monday 1st May - Labour Day
Thursday 8th June - Corpus Christi
Saturday 10th June - National or Portugal Day
Tuesday 15th August - Assumption
Thursday 5th October - Republic Day
Wednesday 1st November - All Saints
Friday 1st December - Restoration of Independence Day
Friday 8th December - Immaculate Conception
Monday 25th December - Christmas Day
(26th December is not a holiday in Portugal.)
In addition to the national holidays, many cities and towns have
a local or municipal holiday. Local buses may run to Sunday times
or not at all. The 'Festa São João' is a big event in Lisbon and
Porto, around the 23rd June each year. These events can affect
local transport.
Cross border travel may be affected as may local travel in
Spain. Do check before making firm plans. In particular, some of
the cross border buses (coaches) between Seville, the Algarve
region and Lisbon do NOT operate on December 25th and January 1st.
They do operate on most other major holidays.
Spanish Public Holidays 2023
For a list of all the timetables on the site,
click here
For an alphabetical list of places in the Algarve, click here
For some important general notes about buses in the Algarve, click
here
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