Karnataka Long Weekends 2027: Dates, Bridge Leaves and Where to Go

The catch in 2027 is how many holidays fall on weekends. Independence Day is a Sunday, Gandhi Jayanti, Dussehra and Christmas are Saturdays, and Guru Nanak Jayanti is a Sunday, so five dates on the central list are lost with no substitute day. Karnataka’s own list adds Ganesh Chaturthi and Maha Shivaratri, both reported as Saturdays, to the casualties.

Karnataka notifies its holiday list late in the year. The 2026 list was published on 26 November 2025, and on 30 October 2026 we found no published state list for 2027. This guide therefore labels every date as confirmed, moon-dependent or provisional, and we will update it when the state notification appears. Use it to plan leave and trains, not to pay for non-refundable hotels on a provisional date. For the festivals themselves, see our Karnataka festivals calendar.

These windows assume a Saturday and Sunday off, as most private offices and central government offices have. Weekdays were computed from the calendar and checked against the holiday lists named below. If you work in a state government office or a bank, read the Saturday section further down, because your Saturdays follow a different rule.

Two kinds of source feed any 2027 holiday guide. The central government’s list for Delhi offices was issued on 16 July 2026 under DoPT Office Memorandum 12/2/2023-JCA, and the Department of Posts circular carrying it is public. It sets the national dates for Republic Day, Good Friday, Mahavir Jayanti, Bakrid, Gandhi Jayanti, Dussehra, Diwali and Christmas. Karnataka’s list is separate and is notified by the state government, which is why the aggregator pages we checked disagree on several state dates.

Holi (Tuesday 23 March), Ram Navami (Thursday 15 April), Buddha Purnima (Thursday 20 May) and Janmashtami (Wednesday 25 August) are on the central list, but they do not appear on the Karnataka lists we checked, and the central order itself asks offices outside Delhi to follow a shorter set of 14 compulsory holidays plus three regional picks. Treat them as holidays only if your employer says so. Karnataka’s list has also traditionally given Ugadi, Ambedkar Jayanti and Basava Jayanti, which this year fall mid-week or on a weekend.

One Monday leave turns a Tuesday holiday into four days, and it lands in the best part of the travel year. Hampi’s best months are October to February, Coorg’s October to March, and Mysuru’s October to March in our weekend getaways table. Four days is enough for Hampi at a relaxed pace using our Hampi itinerary with a slower third day, or for the full three-day Coorg loop in our Coorg itinerary. Make it a Saturday 5:30 am departure to avoid Friday-night traffic.

Makar Sankranti, the other January option

If the state confirms Thursday 14 January, a Friday leave gives Thursday to Sunday, four days. If it confirms Friday 15 January, you get a plain Friday to Sunday long weekend. Do not book anything non-refundable until the state list is out. Our Karnataka in winter guide has regional trip ideas for the season.

Good Friday: Fri 26 to Sun 28 March

The most dependable spring long weekend. It needs no leave, and a Monday 29 March leave stretches it to four days. March is the tail end of the Oct to Mar window for Coorg (about 250 km, 5.5 to 6.5 hours from Bengaluru), Sakleshpur (about 220 km, 4 to 5 hours) and Chikkamagaluru (about 240 km, 5 to 6 hours), so favour higher, shadier stays and expect warmer afternoons. See the Sakleshpur guide and Chikmagalur trip guide. For state employees and banks, Saturday 27 March is a fourth Saturday, so the whole Friday to Sunday block is off.

Ugadi: Wednesday 7 April, provisional

Three lists put Ugadi on Wednesday 7 April and one on Thursday 8 April. A mid-week festival is a poor long weekend on its own. Two leave days (Thursday and Friday) would give Wednesday to Sunday if the date is the 7th. Only do this once the state list is out.

Mahavir Jayanti: Sat 17 to Mon 19 April

Another no-leave window and one of the four dependable ones. A Friday 16 April leave makes four days. If your employer also observes Ram Navami on Thursday 15 April, that one leave day becomes a five-day break. April is hot across most of the state, so use our Karnataka in summer guide to choose between forest safaris, hill stations and the coast. A safari trip to Bandipur or Kabini (about 220 km, 4 to 5 hours, best November to May) fits this window well; our safari guide covers booking. State-office staff should note that Saturday 17 April is a third Saturday, which is a working day for them, so their break is Sunday to Monday only.

Bakrid is listed for Monday 17 May, giving Saturday 15 to Monday 17 May. The central order warns that Id-ul-Fitr, Id-ul-Zuha, Muharram and Id-e-Milad can shift with moon sighting, so a one-day move to Tuesday 18 May would make a Saturday to Tuesday break of four days with one Monday leave. Plan with the Monday date but keep your bookings flexible. May is the last month in the November to May safari window for Bandipur and Kabini, so it is also the final comfortable weekend for wildlife before the rains.

Muharram is listed as Wednesday 16 June on the central list, while one aggregator gives Tuesday 15 June. A Tuesday holiday would give Saturday 12 to Tuesday 15 June, four days, with one Monday leave. The monsoon begins around this time, and our Karnataka in monsoon guide shows where the rains help you rather than hurt.

Diwali on Friday 29 October and Kannada Rajyotsava on Monday 1 November sandwich a normal weekend, which is the best arrangement of the year for a five-day-week worker. One leave on Thursday 28 October or Tuesday 2 November makes five days, and taking both makes six. This is also the front edge of the winter travel season, so the destinations that are best from October are all in play: Hampi (about 340 km, 6.5 to 7.5 hours, October to February), Udupi and Malpe (about 400 km, 8 to 9 hours), and Gokarna (about 485 km, 9 to 10 hours, October to March) from the weekend getaways table. Our Hampi trip cost, Gokarna beaches guide and Udupi district guide help you budget each.

Everyone else will have the same idea, so book the train and the stay first. A caveat for state-office staff and bank employees: Saturday 30 October is a fifth Saturday, which is a working day for you, so your block is Friday, then Sunday and Monday, unless the state declares an extra Diwali holiday. One aggregator lists a Deepavali holiday on Saturday 30 October, but we could not find it on any official list.

Valmiki Jayanti: Fri 15 to Sun 17 October, provisional

One state list gives Friday 15 October for Valmiki Jayanti, and the central restricted-holiday list also carries that date. If confirmed, this is a three-day window two weeks before Diwali, good for Chikkamagaluru or Sakleshpur, where the best months start in September and October. See the Chikmagalur guide.

The Dasara question

Dussehra falls on Saturday 9 October on the central list, so it adds no weekday holiday. We have not verified the 2027 Mysuru Dasara schedule, so check the state announcement before planning around it. Our Mysore Dasara guide explains how the festival works.

The central order lists 17 compulsory holidays for Delhi offices, and five of the dates fall on a weekly off: Independence Day and Id-e-Milad on Sunday 15 August, Gandhi Jayanti on Saturday 2 October, Dussehra on Saturday 9 October, Guru Nanak Jayanti on Sunday 14 November and Christmas on Saturday 25 December. The memorandum states that no substitute holiday is allowed in such cases. On Karnataka’s side, Maha Shivaratri (Saturday 6 March), Basava Jayanti (Sunday 9 May) and Ganesh Chaturthi (Saturday 4 September) are reported to fall on weekends as well.

The result is a dry stretch from late May to October. After Muharram in mid-June there is no holiday on a weekday that helps until Valmiki Jayanti, if confirmed. If you want a monsoon trip, plan leave days deliberately. A Friday and Monday leave around any weekend is a cheaper way to see the Western Ghats in the rains than trying to catch a public holiday, and our waterfalls guide shows when the falls peak.