{"id":26375,"date":"2026-07-29T02:14:49","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T23:14:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/travelgenius.gr\/28-october-2026-no-long-weekend\/"},"modified":"2026-11-04T22:22:48","modified_gmt":"2026-11-04T20:22:48","slug":"28-october-2026-no-long-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/travelgenius.gr\/en\/28-october-2026-no-long-weekend\/","title":{"rendered":"28 October 2026: The Year Without a Long Weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEvery year from mid-September onwards, the same search begins across Greece: \u00abwhere to go for the 28 October long weekend\u00bb. This year there is a problem with that phrase.\r\n\r\n28 October 2026 \u2014 Greece\u2019s Ochi Day holiday \u2014 falls on a Wednesday.<\/strong>\r\n\r\nThat is not a calendar footnote. It changes the whole logic of the trip.\r\n

What it means in practice<\/h2>\r\nIn years when the holiday lands on a Friday or a Monday, you can be away three days without spending a single day of annual leave. The short escape makes sense: two nights somewhere near Greece, a European city two and a half hours away, quick and cost-free in leave days. This year, to make 28 October work for you, leave days have to be invested<\/strong> \u2014 so they had better buy a journey that deserves them.\r\n\r\nThessaloniki plays this differently. 26 October, St Demetrius\u2019 Day, is a public holiday for the city<\/strong>, and in 2026 it falls on a Monday<\/strong>. The city gets a three-day weekend from Saturday 24 to Monday 26, one working day on Tuesday 27, and another holiday on Wednesday 28<\/strong>.\r\n\r\nWhich means that for a five-day journey from 26 to 30 October<\/strong>, a Thessalonian spends three days of leave<\/strong> and departs on a holiday. An Athenian spends four<\/strong> for the same trip.\r\n

The short-escape trap<\/h2>\r\nYou will see plenty of two- and three-day city-break ideas. They are good ideas \u2014 for another year.\r\n\r\nThis year, a two-day European capital costs the same leave as a five-day journey somewhere that truly changes the scenery. The transfers, the airport, the check-in and check-out are nearly identical. What changes is how much journey is left once you subtract the travelling<\/strong>.\r\n

Where your leave days are worth spending this year<\/h2>\r\nThe last week of October is one of the best of the year for North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean<\/strong>. The heat has gone, humidity has dropped, and the cities move at their own pace rather than tourism\u2019s.\r\n\r\nIn Morocco<\/strong><\/a> specifically, October is the month locals themselves consider right for travelling. Days around 25\u00b0C, evenings that call for a light jacket, souks without the summer crowds. A five-day escape from 26 to 30 October 2026 to live the Colours of the East<\/a><\/strong> in their finest season is the ideal answer.\r\n\r\n\"Majorelle\r\n\r\nWithin a few days you will see four different faces of Morocco<\/strong>: cosmopolitan Casablanca<\/strong>, royal Rabat<\/strong>, vibrant Marrakech<\/strong> and Atlantic Essaouira<\/strong>.\r\n\r\nIf you book early, prices start from 1,270 \u20ac<\/strong> departing from Athens<\/a> and 1,385 \u20ac<\/strong> from Thessaloniki<\/a>. It may cost more than a three-day stay in a Greek mountain village \u2014 but the experience will repay you.\r\n

And the other option: eight days with the desert<\/h2>\r\nIf you are based in Thessaloniki and can use St Demetrius\u2019 Day, you can reach the Sahara itself on an 8-day Morocco journey<\/strong><\/a> from 19 to 26 October<\/strong>. You leave on a Monday and return on a Monday \u2014 on St Demetrius\u2019 Day itself<\/strong>. Five days of leave for eight days of travel is not a bad trade.\r\n\r\n\"Morocco\r\n\r\nAnd if Morocco is not your call, Egypt<\/strong> is also waiting this October with a magical 5-day journey to Cairo<\/a><\/strong>.\r\n

One practical piece of advice<\/h2>\r\nIf you decide to travel in that window, book early<\/strong>. Precisely because there is no free long weekend this year, fewer people travel \u2014 but those who do decide earlier<\/strong>, to secure their leave in time and plan properly.\r\n\r\nFor more autumn travel ideas abroad, have a look at our favourite destinations<\/a><\/strong>.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every year from mid-September onwards, the same search begins across Greece: \u00abwhere to go for the 28 October long weekend\u00bb. This year there is a problem with that phrase. 28 October 2026 \u2014 Greece\u2019s Ochi Day holiday \u2014 falls on a Wednesday. That is not a calendar footnote. It changes the whole logic of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":26043,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[542],"tags":[576,565,544],"class_list":["post-26375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel-guides","tag-autumn-travel","tag-egypt","tag-morocco"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/travelgenius.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/travelgenius.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/travelgenius.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travelgenius.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travelgenius.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26375"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/travelgenius.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26375\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27772,"href":"https:\/\/travelgenius.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26375\/revisions\/27772"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travelgenius.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/travelgenius.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travelgenius.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travelgenius.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}