Public holidays in Croatia 2026

Long weekends and closed shops in 2026

In 2026, Easter Monday (Monday 6 April), Labour Day (Friday 1 May), Anti-Fascist Struggle Day (Monday 22 June) and Christmas Day (Friday 25 December) fall on a Monday or a Friday, which makes three-day weekends. New Year's Day (Thursday 1 January), Epiphany (Tuesday 6 January) and Corpus Christi (Thursday 4 June) fall on a Tuesday or a Thursday, and one day of leave in between turns each of them into four days off.

Shops are closed on every public holiday, Saturdays included, and in 2026 three of them fall on a Saturday: Statehood Day (30 May), Assumption of Mary (15 August) and St. Stephen's Day (26 December). With holidays on consecutive days, shops stay shut on Sunday 5 and Monday 6 April and on Friday 25 and Saturday 26 December. A Sunday next to a holiday is an ordinary Sunday, so a shop may open on it if it has chosen the day as one of its 16 working Sundays. In 2026 that applies to 31 May, 21 June, 16 August and 27 December.

What is closed on a public holiday

Shops and supermarkets, banks and public offices are closed. Most pharmacies close as well, and larger towns keep one on duty. Croatian Post shuts almost every branch; the ones that usually stay open are the main office in Zagreb at Branimirova 4 and the branch at the Bajakovo border crossing.

Museums vary. Some close on every public holiday and others only on the biggest ones, with 1 January, Easter Sunday, 1 November and 25 December the dates most often shut, so it is worth checking the museum's own page before you set out. National parks are more reliable, and Plitvice Lakes is open every day of the year.

City buses and trams usually run to a Sunday timetable, which is what ZET does in Zagreb. Intercity buses, trains and ferries run too, often with fewer departures than on a weekday.

The holidays visitors run into most often

Summer visitors come across 22 June, 5 August and 15 August. The Assumption on 15 August is the biggest of the three. Pilgrims reach the Marian shrines at Sinj, Marija Bistrica and Trsat in their tens of thousands, many of them on foot, and on the coast the date sits at the peak of the season. On 5 August the central state ceremony is held in Knin and broadcast live on national television.

Spring visitors should look up Easter, Easter Monday and Corpus Christi, which move every year, along with 1 May and 30 May. In a year when those dates fall close together, late May and early June can bring several short working weeks in a row.