“The whole point of the week is the weekend”, declares famous fictional character Angela Montenegro in the television serial ‘Bones’.

A nice weekend getaway after a hectic everyday routine is rejuvenating and much desired by all. For those who are planning their holidays in 2013, here is the good news! ‘Year 2013’ is a treasure cove of holidays, a fantastic year with around 11 extended weekends (including restricted holidays). Also, you can enjoy at least two five-day extended weekends, if you can take a day off mid-week.

Happy Holidays. Happy Families

Year 2013-Long Weekends and Holidays

Gazetted (Official/Common) Holidays

Three gazetted holidays – Milad-un-Nabi (January 25), Good Friday (March 29), and Id-ul-Fitr (August 9) of the year 2013, fall on Fridays. So short weekend trips can be planned for three days during these months.

In addition to that, there is one gazetted holiday, Independence Day – August 15 falling on Thursday. If you can take a day-off on the immediate Friday, you can enjoy a four day break.

Restricted Holidays

Another delight is in this year, some restricted holidays like Dussehra, Chhat Puja, Onam, and Ganesh Chaturthi are falling either on Fridays or Mondays. So those who can avail these restricted holidays can have a minimum of 4 extended weekends.

Best Month of the year – August

August has a three-day assured weekend and another three-day weekend provided you avail the restricted holiday option. August is the only month where all the holidays fall on week days.

There is a flip side to 2013; five gazetted holidays are either on Saturday or Sunday. So we are losing them. But on the whole, 2013 is a bonanza for us to enjoy both short trips and long trips. So folks, plan ahead and enjoy the well-deserved breaks.