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Guide · UK hosts
Easter and summer 2027: set your prices before January
Easter and the summer holidays get booked in January. If your 2027 calendar still shows winter prices, that’s what families will book. Here are the 2027 dates, which don’t line up across the UK, and what to set before New Year.
In short
- January is booking season. The Civil Aviation Authority says “Sunshine Saturday”, early in January, is seen as the busiest day of the year for booking holidays.
- Easter weekend 2027: Good Friday 26 March to Easter Monday 29 March. Easter Monday isn’t a bank holiday in Scotland.
- School holidays don’t line up. Easter breaks run from 22 March (Wales) to 19 April (Edinburgh). Summer starts after 29 June in Edinburgh and after 16 to 28 July in the English councils we checked.
- Before New Year: open your calendar 12 months ahead, price the peak weeks first, check your early-bird discount, and watch your competitors through January.
Why January matters
The Civil Aviation Authority, which runs the ATOL protection scheme, says “Sunshine Saturday is seen as the busiest day of the year for people booking holidays”. In 2026 it fell on 3 January. The CAA also says 4.3 million people booked ATOL-protected holidays in January 2025.
Those are holidays with flights, not cottages. But it’s the same families, planning the same year, so January is when they choose where Easter and the summer go.
Holiday lets book well ahead too. Sykes Cottages puts its average lead time at about 101 days (its own data for 25,000 properties). Count back 101 days from Good Friday 2027 and you land on 15 December 2026 (our maths). So by the January rush, Easter is already selling.
Christmas and a quiet January are different problems: see Airbnb slow season for winter.
The 2027 dates
Bank holidays
| Bank holiday | England and Wales | Scotland | Northern Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good Friday | Fri 26 March | Fri 26 March | Fri 26 March |
| Easter Monday | Mon 29 March | Not a bank holiday | Mon 29 March |
| Early May | Mon 3 May | Mon 3 May | Mon 3 May |
| Spring | Mon 31 May | Mon 31 May | Mon 31 May |
| Summer | Mon 30 August | Mon 2 August | Mon 30 August |
gov.uk, “UK bank holidays” (bank-holidays.json, read 17 October 2026). Northern Ireland also has St Patrick’s Day (17 March) and the Battle of the Boyne (12 July).
Easter school holidays
| Area | Last day of spring term | Back at school |
|---|---|---|
| Wales (all 22 councils) | Fri 19 March | Mon 5 April |
| Essex, Nottinghamshire, Westmorland and Furness | Thu 25 March | Mon 12 April |
| Highland | Thu 25 March | Mon 12 April |
| Edinburgh | Fri 2 April (also off Good Friday and Easter Monday) | Tue 20 April |
gov.wales approved term dates 2026 to 2027; Essex County Council term dates PDF; Nottinghamshire County Council school holiday calendar; Westmorland and Furness Council term dates page; Highland Council and City of Edinburgh Council term dates pages (all read 17 October 2026). Dates are for council-maintained schools: academies can set their own.
Our maths: from the first weekday off in Wales (Monday 22 March) to the last day off in Edinburgh (Monday 19 April) is 29 days. That’s about four weeks of Easter demand, not one long weekend.
May
The bank holidays are Monday 3 May and Monday 31 May. In every Welsh council and the three English councils we checked, the 31st also starts half-term week (31 May to 4 June).
Summer holidays
| Area | Last day of the school year |
|---|---|
| Edinburgh | Tue 29 June |
| Highland | Thu 1 July |
| Westmorland and Furness | Fri 16 July |
| Wales (21 of 22 councils; Powys Fri 16 July) | Tue 20 July |
| Essex | Wed 21 July |
| Nottinghamshire | Wed 28 July |
Same sources as above. Within England alone, the three councils we checked finish 12 days apart.
So “the summer holidays” start on a different week depending on where your guests live. Check the councils your guests usually come from.
What to set before New Year
1. Open your calendar far enough
Airbnb lets you take bookings 3, 6, 9, 12 or 24 months ahead (its availability window), and your calendar opens one day at a time. On 2 January 2027, a six-month window reaches only the start of July, so none of the English summer holidays above can be booked yet (our maths). Twelve months covers them all.
2. Price those nights before you open them
If Easter and August sit at your normal rate, the first families to look get peak weeks at a winter price. In Airbnb you can “select any night or set of nights in your calendar to edit your price”.
3. Check your discounts
An early-bird discount takes money off bookings made 1 to 24 months before check-in, which is when peak weeks book. If you use one, check which nights it covers. (Airbnb also says early-bird discounts aren’t available with Smart Pricing on.)
4. Price each holiday by your guests’ school dates
If your guests come from Scotland, your summer starts at the end of June. If they come from England, it starts in mid to late July. The same goes for Easter: Welsh families are off a week before most English ones, and Edinburgh’s a week after.
5. Watch your competitors through January
Which of their Easter and summer nights are getting booked, and who’s raising prices? If your peak weeks fill long before theirs, your price is probably too low. If they’re filling and you aren’t, look at your price and your listing.
Still setting your base price? Start with how to price your Airbnb, and see Airbnb minimum stay for peak-week minimums.
Questions hosts ask
When is Easter 2027?
Good Friday is 26 March 2027 and Easter Monday is 29 March 2027 (gov.uk). Easter Monday is a bank holiday in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, but not in Scotland.
When do the 2027 summer school holidays start?
It depends on the council. Edinburgh finishes on 29 June and Highland on 1 July. Most of Wales finishes on 20 July. In England, Westmorland and Furness finishes on 16 July, Essex on 21 July and Nottinghamshire on 28 July. Academies can set their own dates.
When should I set my Easter and summer prices?
Before January. The Civil Aviation Authority calls early January’s “Sunshine Saturday” the busiest day of the year for booking holidays, and one big cottage agency’s average booking is made about 101 days ahead, which for Good Friday 2027 is mid-December.
How far ahead should my Airbnb calendar be open?
Airbnb offers 3, 6, 9, 12 or 24 months. In early January, six months only reaches the start of July, so English summer holidays aren’t bookable yet. Twelve months covers all of 2027’s peak weeks.
Check it against your real competitors
Through January, the question is whether your competitors’ Easter and summer nights are filling, and whether they’re raising prices. You can check by hand on Airbnb, or let PeakRate track their prices night by night.
- Free listing audit (Airbnb listings). Paste your Airbnb listing link and PeakRate compares your price and listing with similar ones nearby.
- PeakRate, for the full picture. You choose the competitors that count, PeakRate tracks their prices night by night, and puts a suggested price next to the typical competitor price. Nothing changes until you approve it.
- Built for UK hosts, priced in pounds. From £19 a month for one property (£49 for up to 3), with a 30-day free trial and no card. It sends approved prices through Hospitable today, with more systems coming soon (see the latest).
More guides
- Short-term let pricing
- England’s short-term let register
- How to price your Airbnb
- Airbnb’s 15.5% host fee
- Airbnb slow season
- Airbnb bookings down?
Sources
- UK Civil Aviation Authority (ATOL), “Sunshine Saturday set for record bookings…” (3 January 2026, read 17 October 2026): Sunshine Saturday “seen as the busiest day of the year for people booking holidays” (Selina Chadha); 4.3 million people booked ATOL-protected holidays the previous January
- Sykes Cottages, Sykes Staycation Index 2026 (29 May 2026, read 17 October 2026): average lead time around 101 days (agency data, 25,000 properties)
- gov.uk, UK bank holidays (bank-holidays.json, read 17 October 2026): 2027 bank holidays for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
- Welsh Government, “Approved school term dates 2026 to 2027” (updated 16 July 2025, read 17 October 2026): all 22 councils
- Essex County Council, “School Term and Holiday Dates 2026–2027” (PDF, read 17 October 2026)
- Nottinghamshire County Council, school holiday calendar 2026–2027 (iCalendar file, read 17 October 2026)
- Westmorland and Furness Council, “School term and holiday dates” (read 17 October 2026)
- City of Edinburgh Council, “School term dates 2026/27” (read 17 October 2026)
- The Highland Council, “School term dates 2026/2027” (last modified 13 August 2026, read 17 October 2026)
- Airbnb Resource Centre, “Updating your availability” (article 708, updated 14 July 2025, read 17 October 2026): availability window of 3, 6, 9, 12 or 24 months
- Airbnb Resource Centre, “Perfecting peak season” (article 699, updated 19 March 2025, read 17 October 2026): calendar opens one day at a time; early-bird for bookings 1 to 24 months before check-in; not available with Smart Pricing
- Airbnb Resource Centre, “Using Airbnb pricing tools” (article 707, updated 14 July 2025, read 17 October 2026): “Select any night or set of nights in your calendar to edit your price”
- Our maths: 26 March 2027 − 101 days = 15 December 2026; 22 March to 19 April inclusive = 29 days; 16 to 28 July = 12 days; 2 January + 6 months = 2 July
PeakRate makes pricing and competitor-benchmarking software for hosts. Where this guide mentions it, we say so; everything else is sourced above.