School holidays in Austria do not follow a uniform national calendar. Each Land (federal state) sets its own dates for several periods of the year, including the February holidays and summer holidays. To plan a stay or organize a family trip in 2024, this regional peculiarity changes the game compared to the centralized system known in France or Belgium.
Semesterferien 2024: February holidays spread according to the Länder
The February period, called Semesterferien, marks the mid-year break. Its peculiarity in Austria lies in the deliberate staggering between regions. The Austrian Federal Ministry of Education has confirmed that this staggered distribution aims to avoid overcrowding in ski resorts and on highways during the peak winter season.
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Vienna and Lower Austria generally kick off with a week of holidays at the beginning of the month. Burgenland, Salzburg, Tyrol, Vorarlberg, and Carinthia follow with the next week. Upper Austria and Styria round out the schedule with a third staggered week.
This wave system, which may vary slightly from year to year, has a direct consequence: accommodation prices in resorts rise over a longer period, but with less severe peaks than in countries with a single calendar. For precise dates, the school holiday calendar in Austria on Encrages details the distribution region by region.
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Autumn, Christmas, and Easter holidays: the national periods of 2024
Three holiday periods apply uniformly across the entire Austrian territory, without regional variation.
Autumn holidays 2024
The autumn holidays run from October 27 to 31, 2024. They are linked to two public holidays that effectively extend them: the Austrian National Day on October 26 and All Saints’ Day on November 1. This block creates a full week of holidays for most families.
Christmas holidays 2024-2025
The winter break extends from December 23, 2024, to January 6, 2025. The return to class coincides with the day after Epiphany, a public holiday in Austria. This period remains the most uniform in the Austrian school calendar, with all schools in the country closing on the same dates.
Easter holidays 2025
The Easter holidays are set from April 12 to 21, 2025. They include Easter Sunday and Monday. Their timing depends each year on the liturgical calendar, making them movable from season to season.
Summer holidays 2025 in Austria: two distinct regional blocks
Summer follows the same principle of regional staggering as the Semesterferien. Two groups clearly emerge.
- Vienna, Lower Austria, and Burgenland start their summer holidays as early as June 28, 2025, with a return on August 31, 2025.
- The other six Länder (Carinthia, Upper Austria, Salzburg, Styria, Tyrol, Vorarlberg) begin on July 5, 2025, and return on September 7, 2025.
- The gap between the two groups is about a week at the start and a week at the return, which spreads the tourist pressure on lakes and mountain areas.
The 2024 school year followed the same pattern, starting on September 2 for the first group and September 9 for the second.
Austrian public holidays and non-school days: the hidden bridges of 2024
Beyond the official holiday periods, the Austrian calendar includes thirteen legal public holidays. Several of these fall in the middle of the week and generate informal bridges decided at the school level.
The Austrian administration allows each school to set an annual quota of non-school days. These days are often attached to a public holiday to create a long weekend. October 26 (National Day) and November 1 (All Saints’ Day) are the most common examples, but Ascension (May 9, 2024) or Corpus Christi (May 30, 2024) also create mini-bridges depending on the schools.
- January 1: New Year’s Day
- January 6: Epiphany
- May 1: Labor Day
- August 15: Assumption
- October 26: Austrian National Day
- November 1: All Saints’ Day
- December 8: Immaculate Conception
- December 25 and 26: Christmas
Movable public holidays (Easter, Ascension, Pentecost, Corpus Christi) depend on the liturgical calendar and change every year. These variations make the actual school calendar more fragmented than the official dates suggest.
Differences between the Austrian school calendar and the French calendar
The Austrian system is distinguished by the absence of uniform February holidays and by staggered summer holidays according to regions. The French calendar, divided into three zones (A, B, C), applies a similar principle of rotation, but only for winter and spring holidays. French summer holidays remain the same across the entire territory.
The other notable difference concerns the duration of summer holidays. Austrian schools benefit from nine weeks of summer break, compared to about eight weeks in France. This surplus is offset by shorter autumn and spring holidays in Austria.
Franco-Austrian families or expatriates must therefore navigate two calendars that are rarely synchronized, complicating the planning of family reunions or joint trips during school periods.