How to Turn 30 Days of Annual Leave into 65 Days of Adventure in 2025

Ready to make 2025 your most adventurous year yet? With a little planning, you can transform 30 days of annual leave into 65 days of exploration! By cleverly aligning your holidays with bank holidays, you’ll unlock extra time for trekking mountains, snowshoeing Arctic landscapes, and exploring new horizons.

Here’s how to maximise your time off and create unforgettable adventures in 2025. We appreciate every country has different bank holidays, however, to help you make tracks, we’ve based our list on the Bank Holidays in England & Wales….

1 January (New Year’s Day)
18 April (Good Friday)
21 April (Easter Monday)
5 May (Early May Bank Holiday)
26 May (Spring Bank Holiday)
25 August (Summer Bank Holiday)
25 December (Christmas Day)
26 December (Boxing Day)

Here’s how to use these bank holidays to make the most of your annual leave:

January

This New Year, skip the resolutions and jump straight into adventure – trade gym sessions and takeaway cutbacks for summit bagging, hiking & biking or wildlife spotting in the diverse lands of Morocco and Costa Rica.

Days Off: 28 December – 5 January
Book: 30 – 31 December, 2 – 3 January (4 days)

Adventure ideas:

Mt Toubkal Winter Trek, Morocco: 1 – 5 January 2025
Costa Rica Coast to Coast Adventure: SOLD OUT

April (Easter)

Easter falls in late April this year, bringing the opportunity for (hopefully) better weather and longer daylight hours. With a free four-day weekend, a few well-placed annual leave days on either side can unlock two full weeks of adventure.

Days Off: 12 – 27 April
Book: 14 – 17 April, 22 – 25 April (8 days)

Adventure ideas:

All-female Yala Peak Trek, Nepal, with Jo Bradshaw: 13 – 27 April 2025
The Kumano Kodō Trail Self-Guided Trek, Japan (choose dates that work for you)
The Nakasendō Trail Self-Guided Trek, Japan (choose dates that work for you)
Camino de Santiago Self-Guided Trek, Spain (choose dates that work for you)

May (Early & Spring Bank Holidays)

Every year, May’s abundance of bank holidays seems to catch everyone in the UK by surprise. The Early May bank holiday sneaks in then, the Spring bank holiday follows to round off the month. Plan ahead, and these long weekends become prime opportunities for a great adventure.

Early May
Days Off: 3 – 11 May
Book: 6 – 9 May (4 days)

Adventure ideas:

Mt M’Goun Berber Trade Routes & Kasbahs Trek, Morocco: 2 – 11 May 2025
Via Francigena, final 100kms from Montefiascone to Rome: (choose dates that work for you)
Katie Piper Jurassic Coast Trek: 9th – 10th May 2025
Lake District 24 Peaks in 24 Hours (over 2 days): 9 – 11 May 2025

Late May
Days Off: 24 May – 1 June
Book: 27 – 30 May (4 days)

Adventure ideas:

Welsh 15 Peaks Challenge: 24 – 26 May 2025
Mt Toubkal Summer Trek: 24 – 28 May 2025

August (Summer Bank Holiday)

Ah, summertime – the perfect season for exploring new horizons! Cross a country coast to coast, trek to the iconic Machu Picchu, scale the peaks of Kyrgyzstan, or hike, kayak, and wild camp through breathtaking fjords.

Days Off: 23 – 31 August
Book: 26 – 29 August (4 days)

Adventure ideas:

Trek Georgia and the Caucasus Mountains: 16 – 23 August 2025
North Iceland Hike & Swim: 19 – 23 August 2025
Augsante and Rainbow Mountain Trek, Peru: (details coming soon)

December (Christmas & New Year)

Days Off: 20 December – 1 January
Book: 22 – 24 December, 29 – 31 December (6 days)

Adventure ideas:

Brand new Sahara Desert Trek, Morocco: details coming soon
Mt Toubkal Winter Trek, Morocco: 25 – 29 Dec 2025
Trek Tasmania Australia: details coming soon

By planning ahead and using these hacks, you’ll have time for unforgettable adventures, from scaling peaks to kayaking rivers. Let 2025 be the year you explore the world like never before! 🌍

Feeling inspired? Explore our full range of adventures today. With our Travelife award for sustainable tourism and ABTOT protection for your booking, there’s never been a better time to make your 2025 come alive.

Responsible Tourism

Now more than ever our commitment to maintain our support of one of the leading global climate change charities, Cool Earth and the local protection and sustainability work of the Snowdonia Society, is of utmost importance.

To do this we’ll continue to contribute a % from every booking to Cool Earth and maintain our partnership with the Snowdonia Society. It’s time that we all live in a more responsible world.

This means that not only will you have a fabewelous experience when you travel with Adventurous Ewe, you can do so whilst taking pride in knowing that you are helping support both of these fantastic causes.

We have also invested in Water-to-Go bottles so you, our valued flock, will be healthier whilst also helping to make the World a better place! Together we can help reduce our consumption of single use plastics.

When joining us for a long haul overseas trip you’ll receive a free Adventurous Ewe Water-to-Go bottle. This is our way of saying thank-ewe and also making a difference to the consumption of single use plastics in developing countries.

New Adventures

Are you up for something new? Trot over and check out some of our exciting new UK short breaks – Snowdonia Packrafting Weekend, Wales Top to Tail 3-day Cycle or Snowdonia Bike & Hike 1 day adventure.

Bespoke Trips

We offer Bespoke Trips. Subject to availabilty we are able to do trips that cater for you and take you to areas of the world that you would like to go.