What are bridge days (siltapäivät) in Finland?

Bridge days are working days between a public holiday and a weekend. By taking these as vacation, you can extend a holiday period without using many vacation days. For example, one vacation day next to a mid-week holiday can give you a 4-day weekend.

Which Finnish public holidays are best for bridge days?

The best opportunities occur when public holidays fall on Tuesday or Thursday. Good examples are Epiphany (January 6), May Day (May 1), Ascension Day, and All Saints Day. These often create opportunities for 4+ day weekends with just 1–2 vacation days.

How many vacation days can I save with the vacation optimizer?

With smart vacation planning, you can often achieve 2–3 times as many days off compared to taking random vacation days. The optimizer identifies the best combinations in the Finnish holiday calendar.

Vacation Optimizer

Get more time off with fewer vacation days. Discover the best bridge days in the Finnish holiday calendar to maximize your holiday periods.

YearAvailable holiday days: 10

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Work week type

The vacation optimizer helps you maximize your time off by placing holiday days cleverly around public holidays and weekends. That way you stretch your accrued days into the longest possible continuous breaks.

How the calculator works and what it’s for▾

How the optimization works

The tool scans the calendar for spots where a few holiday days bridge weekends and public holidays into one long break. So-called bridge days between holidays and weekends produce the most time off with the smallest use of holiday days.

Instead of planning the calendar by hand, the tool scores the different options and surfaces the best packages. You get ready-made suggestions on when it is worth taking leave.

What you enter and what you get

You tell the tool how many holiday days you have available, along with settings it uses to build the suggestions. You can also influence how long a continuous break you are aiming for.

In return you get suggestions for the best bridge-day packages: which days to take off and how long a continuous break they yield.

Who it is for

The optimizer serves anyone who wants more time off from the same number of days. It is especially useful if you enjoy long trips or want to fully disconnect from everyday life in one go.

For families, the tool also helps line up leave with the rhythm of schools and public holidays.

Tips for maximizing time off

Focus on periods where holidays fall in the middle of the week, since that is when a small number of days yields the most time off in relative terms. A single bridge day can turn an ordinary weekend into a long break.

Compare the different suggestions and pick the one that best fits your situation. The longest break is not always the best if the timing does not suit your other plans.

🔄 Reviewed June 2026