the United States · 2026
Bridge days 2026 in the United States
Bridge days are workdays squeezed between federal holidays and weekends. Take those few days as PTO and short gaps become long consecutive breaks. Based on the 10 federal holidays in the United States in 2026, here are the 10 best opportunities.
32
PTO days
76
days off
Taking every bridge day below turns 32 PTO days into 76 consecutive days off across the year.
Jan 1 – Jan 4, 2026
1 PTO day → 4 days off
Built around New Year's Day (Thu, Jan 1).
Take PTO on: Fri, Jan 2
Jan 17 – Jan 25, 2026
4 PTO days → 9 days off
Built around Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (Mon, Jan 19).
Take PTO on: Tue, Jan 20Wed, Jan 21Thu, Jan 22Fri, Jan 23
Feb 14 – Feb 22, 2026
4 PTO days → 9 days off
Built around Presidents Day (Mon, Feb 16).
Take PTO on: Tue, Feb 17Wed, Feb 18Thu, Feb 19Fri, Feb 20
May 23 – May 31, 2026
4 PTO days → 9 days off
Built around Memorial Day (Mon, May 25).
Take PTO on: Tue, May 26Wed, May 27Thu, May 28Fri, May 29
Jun 13 – Jun 21, 2026
4 PTO days → 9 days off
Built around Juneteenth National Independence Day (Fri, Jun 19).
Take PTO on: Mon, Jun 15Tue, Jun 16Wed, Jun 17Thu, Jun 18
Jun 27 – Jul 5, 2026
4 PTO days → 9 days off
Built around Independence Day (Fri, Jul 3).
Take PTO on: Mon, Jun 29Tue, Jun 30Wed, Jul 1Thu, Jul 2
Sep 5 – Sep 13, 2026
4 PTO days → 9 days off
Built around Labour Day (Mon, Sep 7).
Take PTO on: Tue, Sep 8Wed, Sep 9Thu, Sep 10Fri, Sep 11
Nov 7 – Nov 11, 2026
2 PTO days → 5 days off
Built around Veterans Day (Wed, Nov 11).
Take PTO on: Mon, Nov 9Tue, Nov 10
Nov 26 – Nov 29, 2026
1 PTO day → 4 days off
Built around Thanksgiving Day (Thu, Nov 26).
Take PTO on: Fri, Nov 27
Dec 19 – Dec 27, 2026
4 PTO days → 9 days off
Built around Christmas Day (Fri, Dec 25).
Take PTO on: Mon, Dec 21Tue, Dec 22Wed, Dec 23Thu, Dec 24
Want a plan built around your PTO budget?
The free optimizer combines these bridge days with your available PTO, block days, and on-call periods — and lets you compare six planning strategies.
Optimize My 2026 PTO