The December long weekend.
Five days. Make them count.
Eid Al Etihad 2026 falls on a Wednesday and a Thursday. Bridge the Friday and one day of leave becomes five days away: long enough for a real journey, short enough that the office barely notices. We author the whole thing, flights timed to the holiday, so none of the five days is spent on logistics.
Every year the UAE empties in the same directions for National Day, and every year the good rooms go first. The escapes below are built for the exact dates, Wednesday 2 to Sunday 6 December, and carried by one concierge from door to door. We look after travellers in the UAE and around the world, and settle in AED or USD.
Built around the dates, with nothing wasted.
Sri Lanka, right as the season turns
The southwest coast turns dry in early December, exactly when the break lands. Two nights on the south coast, two in the green hush of tea country, a private car and driver between them. Four and a half hours from Dubai, and one of the easiest five-day journeys we make. The Sri Lanka journey.
The Maldives, by speedboat
Choose an island within reach of Male and the transfer is a speedboat rather than a seaplane, which puts you on your island the same evening you leave Dubai. Four nights of the Indian Ocean at the start of its best season, a 30-day visa on arrival for every nationality, and nothing to arrange but the leaving. The Maldives journey.
Thailand, in the cool season
Every National Day, Thailand fills with travellers out of the UAE, and December is the reason: the rains have gone, Bangkok is at its kindest, and the Andaman coast is calm. A night in the capital, then Phuket or Khao Lak for the rest, with every connection already thought through. The Thailand journey.
Not every National Day
needs an airport.
Some of the best Decembers never leave the country: the right suite on the right coast, dinners booked before the crowds think of it, and the fireworks watched from somewhere quiet. We plan UAE stays with the same authorship we bring to a journey abroad.
The National Day break, in practice
When is Eid Al Etihad in 2026?
The UAE National Day holiday, Eid Al Etihad, falls on Wednesday 2 and Thursday 3 December 2026. With the weekend that follows, most residents treat it as the longest easy break of the winter.
How many days off does the 2026 National Day break give?
Two public holidays, midweek. Take Friday 4 December as leave and you have Wednesday to Sunday: five days away for a single day of leave.
Where can we go from Dubai for five days?
Anywhere four to six hours away works beautifully. Sri Lanka is just entering its dry season, the Maldives is a speedboat transfer from the airport, and Thailand is in its cool season. We build each journey around the fixed dates so none of the five days is lost to logistics.
Do we need visas?
It depends on the passports in your party. The Maldives grants a 30-day visa on arrival to every nationality; elsewhere we check each passport individually and handle whatever paperwork follows, well before the dates arrive.
Can you plan somewhere closer, like Georgia or Baku?
Yes. The Caucasus has become a favourite short hop from the UAE, and we arrange it on request: Tbilisi and the mountains, or Baku for the long weekend, with the same care we bring to the Indian Ocean.
When should we book a National Day escape?
By mid October, ideally. National Day travel is booked late and all at once, which is exactly why December availability at the good hotels disappears weeks earlier. Fixed dates reward the early.