Cyprus Public Holidays 2027: Full List, Long Weekends and What Closes

Cyprus has 16 public holidays in 2027, and Orthodox Easter falls late, on Sunday 2 May. That puts Green Monday on 15 March, Good Friday on 30 April and Kataklysmos on 21 June. Five holidays land on a weekend, including Labour Day (Saturday 1 May, which is also Holy Saturday) and both Christmas days, so 2027 has fewer weekdays off than usual.

The Central Bank of Cyprus has already published its official 2027 bank holiday calendar (dated 6 April 2026), and the Deputy Ministry of Tourism lists the 2027 dates of the movable holidays. As of October 2026 we could not find a separate 2027 notice for the public service, but the dates follow fixed rules: the national and religious days stay on the same date every year, and the Easter-linked days move with Orthodox Easter. Below are all the dates with their weekdays, which ones are bank holidays only, what closes, and how to turn them into long weekends.

What are the public holidays in Cyprus in 2027?

The same 16 public holidays (Easter Tuesday excluded) appear on the Visit Cyprus holidays page and in the 2027 list of EU national holidays compiled by the European Medicines Agency. The bank column comes from the Central Bank of Cyprus 2027 calendar, which also notes that banks close every Sunday and every Saturday for bank transactions.

How are the 2027 Easter dates worked out?

Orthodox Easter Sunday 2027 is on 2 May. Everything else in the Easter cycle counts from it:

• Green Monday is 48 days before Easter Sunday: 15 March 2027. Our Green Monday 2027 guide covers picnics, kites and crowds.
• Good Friday is two days before: 30 April.
• Easter Monday is the day after: 3 May. Easter Tuesday, 4 May, is a bank holiday.
• Kataklysmos (Pentecost Monday, the Festival of the Flood) is 50 days after Easter Sunday: 21 June 2027. See our Kataklysmos guide for the seaside fairs.

For what happens during Holy Week and on Easter Sunday itself, read Easter in Cyprus; here we stick to the practical side.

What happens when 1 May falls on Easter Saturday?

In 2027 Labour Day falls on Saturday 1 May, the day before Easter Sunday. The Central Bank's calendar simply records that 1 May, 15 August, 25 December and 26 December fall at the weekend, and it adds no replacement weekday for any of them.

This has happened before. In 2021 Easter was also on 2 May, and supermarket owners asked to open on Labour Day because Holy Saturday is normally one of the busiest shopping days of the year. The Labour Ministry refused, and general retail shops stayed closed, with kiosks and bakeries exempt. In April 2024 the Labour Minister again said all shops should stay closed on 1 May, wherever it falls in relation to Easter, and that shop staff called in to work must be paid twice their hourly rate.

As of October 2026 no decision had been announced for 2027. If the 2021 approach is repeated, plan your Easter food shopping for Thursday 29 April, or Good Friday until the early evening: Visit Cyprus says shops must close by 18:00 on Good Friday.

Which days are bank holidays only?

Two days differ between the public holiday list and the bank holiday list:

• Easter Tuesday (4 May 2027): not a general public holiday, but every bank is closed. In 2026 banks closed on Good Friday, Easter Monday and Easter Tuesday, a three-day closure the Central Bank announced in advance. Many private businesses reopen that day; public schools are still on their Easter break.
• Christmas Eve (Friday 24 December 2027): a public holiday on the official list, but banks are open.

If you need to sign a property contract, transfer a deposit or collect a card around Easter, avoid Thursday 29 April to Tuesday 4 May. Card payments and online banking keep working; it is branch services and some transfers that wait for the next working day.

Do private-sector employees get public holidays off?

Public servants get the full list. In the private sector there is no blanket legal rule that every public holiday is a paid day off: as of February 2026, it depends mainly on your employment contract, workplace practice or any collective agreement that covers your sector, and many employers give most holidays as a matter of practice. Annual leave is a separate entitlement under the Annual Leave with Pay Law, with a minimum of four weeks a year (20 working days on a five-day week, 24 on a six-day week).

Retail is regulated more tightly. Shop staff who work on a public holiday must be paid at double their hourly rate for those hours, the Labour Ministry has repeatedly said. In 2023 the ministry allowed most shops to open on 25 March but required general retail shops to close on 1 April, with kiosks, bakeries, restaurants and cafés exempt. Rules for individual holidays can change from year to year, so watch for the ministry's announcements in the week before.

Check your contract for three things: which holidays are paid days off, what happens when a holiday falls on your day off or at the weekend, and the overtime rate if you work on one.

What closes on public holidays in Cyprus?

According to the Deputy Ministry of Tourism, public services, private businesses, banks and shops close on public holidays, while plenty of shops and services in tourist areas open. Shops must close by 18:00 on Good Friday, Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.

For museums, the main archaeological sites and museums close only on Easter Sunday during Holy Week, which in 2027 is 2 May. Opening hours vary by site and season, so check before you drive.

On buses, Pafos Buses runs its Sunday timetable on public holidays: routes with no Sunday service do not run, and only airport lines 612 and 613 keep their normal schedule all year. Other district networks generally work in a similar way; check routes on Cyprus by Bus before you travel.

What are the long weekends in Cyprus in 2027?

Two Thursday holidays in a row (25 March and 1 April) mean that just two days of annual leave give you two four-day weekends a week apart. If you want a proper spring trip, taking Monday 29 to Wednesday 31 March as well turns it into eleven days off, 25 March to 4 April, for five days of leave.

Expect busy airports and full flights over Easter and Kataklysmos, and book ferries, hotels and car hire early, as Cypriot families travel too.

What about the 2026–27 Christmas holidays?

If you are planning the turn of the year, Christmas Day 2026 is a Friday, Boxing Day a Saturday and Christmas Eve a Thursday. Public schools break up on 24 December 2026 and go back on Thursday 7 January 2027, the day after Epiphany. Banks close on Friday 25 December 2026, Friday 1 January and Wednesday 6 January 2027.

What to do next

Save the dates to your calendar now and check your employment contract for holiday pay. For daily opening hours, siesta times and the clock change, read time, working hours and national holidays in Cyprus. Parents can match these dates with the 2026–27 school holidays, and if Easter is your first in Cyprus, our Easter in Cyprus guide explains what to expect from Holy Week.