Are you or one of your family members attending one of The Best International Schools in the Netherlands? Learn more about the school holidays in the Netherlands!
The Netherlands is divided into three regions for the school holidays (north, central, and south). Spreading the school holidays across the three regions helps control peaks in holiday traffic.
See overview of the three regions, with their provinces and municipalities
Fixed school holidays in the Netherlands
Some school holidays (schoolvakanties) such as the summer, Christmas, and May vacations, are fixed. The May holiday cannot be moved, but schools can extend it by one week. It is therefore important to always check the precise dates with your school.
Flexible school holidays in the Netherlands
Schools are allowed to deviate from the advised holiday period for spring break and the autumn holiday. For example, schools in the south of the Netherlands often shift their spring break forward to correspond with Carnival, instead of having it later like the rest of the country. Autumn vacation dates can also be flexible for school districts, but usually, these remain the same as the advised dates.
Note: When a national holiday is not mentioned, means it’s already included in a school break period of time (ex. 2nd day of Christmas, King’s Day)
School Holidays in the Netherlands 2020
*All dates are subject to errors and changes
| Holiday | Date | Regions |
| Autumn break | from 19-10-2019 to 27-10-2019 | Only North and Central |
| Autumn break | from 12-10-2019 to 20-10-2019 | Only South |
| Christmas break | from 21-12-2019 to 05-01-2020 | All regions |
| Spring break | from 15-02-2020 to 23-02-2020 | Only North |
| Spring break | from 22-02-2020 to 01-03-2020 | Only Central and South |
| Good friday | 10-04-2020 | National holiday |
| Easter Monday | 13-04-2020 | National holiday |
| May break | from 25-04-2020 to 03-05-2020 | All regions |
| Ascension day | 21-05-2020 | National holiday |
| Whit Monday | 01-06-2020 | National holiday |
| Summer break | from 04-07-2020 to 16-08-2020 | Only North |
| Summer break | from 18-07-2020 to 30-08-2020 | Only Central |
| Whit Monday | from 11-07-2020 to 23-08-2020 | Only South |
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Dutch school regions
Schools in Holland are broken out by province across three regions: North (‘Noord’), Central (‘Midden’) and South (‘Zuid’). More details below!
The Northern region
(regio noord)
| Province | Municipality |
| Province of Groningen | All municipalities |
| Province of Friesland | All municipalities |
| Province of Drenthe | All municipalities |
| Province of Overijssel | All municipalities |
| Province of Flevoland | All municipalities except Zeewolde |
| Province of Gelderland | Hattem |
| Province of Utrecht | Eemnes and the former municipality of Abcoude |
| Province of North Holland | All municipalities |
The Central region
(regio midden)
| Province | Municipality |
| Province of Flevoland | Zeewolde only |
| Province of Gelderland | Aalten, Apeldoorn, Barneveld, Berkelland, Bronckhorst, Brummen, Buren, Culemborg, Doetinchem, Ede, Elburg, Epe, Ermelo, Geldermalsen, Harderwijk, Heerde, Lingewaal, Lochem, Montferland (except the former municipality of Didam), Neder-Betuwe (except the former municipality of Dodewaard), Neerijnen, Nijkerk, Nunspeet, Oldebroek, Oost-Gelre, Oude IJsselstreek, Putten, Scherpenzeel, Tiel, Voorst, Wageningen, Winterswijk and Zutphen |
| Province of Utrecht | All municipalities except Eemnes and the former municipality of Abcoude |
| Province of South Holland | All municipalities |
| Province of North Brabant | Werkendam (except the communities of Hank and Dussen) and Woudrichem |
The Southern region
(regio zuid)
| Province | Municipality |
| Province of Gelderland | Arnhem, Beuningen, Doesburg, Druten, Duiven, Groesbeek, Heumen, Neder-Betuwe (only the former municipality of Dodewaard), Lingewaard, Maasdriel, Millingen aan de Rijn, Montferland (only the former municipality of Didam), Nijmegen, Overbetuwe, Renkum, Rheden, Rozendaal, Rijnwaarden, Ubbergen, Westervoort, West Maas & Waal, Wijchen, Zaltbommel and Zevenaar |
| Province of Zeeland | All municipalities |
| Province of North Brabant | All municipalities except Woudrichem and the communities of Sleeuwijk, Nieuwendijk and Werkendam in the municipality of Werkendam |
| Province of Limburg | All municipalities |