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.
Buses marked in the timetables as 'SCH' (Schooldays) only operate during those periods, except on public holidays, as below.
School dates for 2025 - 2026 are as follows ;
11th September until 16th December. Christmas and New Year Holidays 17th December until 3rd January.
4th January until 27th March EXCEPT 16th, 17th and
18th February when schools will be closed for Carnaval. Although
not an official holiday, on 17th February (Carnaval Tuesday)
trains and buses run to Sunday / Holiday times.
30th March until 10th April Easter Holidays.
13th April until 12th June in many areas, some
schools remain in session until 30th June. School year start and
end dates vary slightly according to age and area.
Universities the same except Christmas holiday
begins 20th December and there is a shorter Easter break from 30th
March to 6th April. Last day for most students will be 27th June.
Finals follow in July.
There may be small variations for local festivals
etc. This is the general pattern every year. Exact dates in other
regions may vary.
Sunday 5th October - Republic Day
Saturday 1st November - All Saints
Monday 1st December - Restoration of Independence Day
Monday 8th December - Immaculate Conception
Thursday 25th December - Christmas Day
(26th December is not a holiday in mainland Portugal. But no doubt
banks, post offices etc will not open!)
Thursday 1st January 2026 - New Year's Day
Tuesday 17th February - Carnaval (Shrove Tuesday) - not an
official holiday but widely observed including on railways and
buses.
Friday 3rd April - Good Friday
Sunday 5th April - Easter Sunday
Friday 1st May - Labour Day
Thursday 4th June - Corpus Christi
Wednesday 10th June - Portugal Day
Saturday 15th August - Assumption
Monday 5th October - Republic Day
Sunday 1st November - All Saints
Tuesday 1st December - Restoration of Independence
Tuesday 8th December - Feast of the Immaculate Conception
Friday 25th December - Christmas Day
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 / 24th 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 2025 and 2026
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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