Christmas abroad comes with something no other trip has: a day when the city you are visiting switches itself off. Shops close, trains stop, restaurants are either shut or booked solid, and the phone shop you were counting on for a local SIM card does not open. On the one day you most need to find a taxi, a pharmacy or somewhere serving lunch, the phone in your pocket is how you do it. In 2026 the calendar stretches the shutdown further than usual. Christmas Day falls on a Friday, so in Germany the shops close at two in the afternoon on Thursday 24 December and do not reopen until Monday 28 December. In the UK, Boxing Day lands on a Saturday and the bank holiday moves to that Monday. This guide goes country by country: what shuts and for how long, what keeps running, where the 25th is an ordinary working day, how to call home across the time zones without burning through your data, and what to buy before you fly.
Christmas Day is a Friday, and that stretches every closure
Most advice about Christmas abroad treats the 25th as one closed day. In 2026 it sits in the middle of a closed stretch: Christmas Eve is a Thursday, Christmas Day a Friday, the 26th a Saturday and the 27th a Sunday, and in several countries the law keeps the shops shut for most of it.
Germany is the clearest case. Its shop-hours law closes shops on Sundays and public holidays, and on 24 December, when that falls on a weekday, they must shut by two in the afternoon. The 25th and 26th are national public holidays and the 27th is a Sunday, so a visitor who misses Thursday morning faces nearly four days of closed shops. The exceptions are the shops that serve travellers, at stations and airports, and petrol stations.
Czechia and Poland go further on the 24th itself. Czech law stops large shops, anything over 200 square metres, from selling from midday on Christmas Eve and all day on the 25th and 26th. Poland made 24 December a statutory day off from 2025, and shops now close that day as well as on the two Christmas holidays, with exceptions such as small shops served by their owners and petrol stations.
The UK works differently. Large shops, over 280 square metres, may not open on Christmas Day at all, under a 2004 law for England and Wales and a 2007 law for Scotland. Boxing Day carries no such ban, and in 2026 it is a Saturday, with the bank holiday moved to Monday 28 December.
- Germany: shops close at 2 pm on Thursday 24 December and stay shut until Monday 28 December, apart from those at stations, airports and petrol stations
- Czechia: large shops stop selling at midday on the 24th and stay closed on the 25th and 26th
- Poland: the 24th has been a day off by law since 2025, so shops close on the 24th, 25th and 26th
- UK: big shops cannot open on Christmas Day, and the Boxing Day bank holiday is Monday 28 December
- These are legal limits rather than opening hours, and many shops close earlier, so check the one you need
London on the 25th: no Tube, no buses, no trains
If you are spending Christmas in London, plan the day around one fact: the public transport stops. For Christmas 2025, Transport for London said there would be no service across most of its network on Christmas Day. Taxis, private hire cars, the hire bikes and rental e-scooters kept running, and very little else did. No National Rail trains run on Christmas Day either, so the airport trains are not running.
Boxing Day is only partly better. TfL's plan for Boxing Day 2025 was a reduced service with parts of the network closed and no Elizabeth line at all, and most train companies ran no trains, with a handful offering limited ones. TfL publishes each year's plan in early December, and the 2025 announcement came on 2 December, so check it before you book a flight that lands on the 25th or the 26th.
Dublin is the same on Christmas Day: in recent years there have been no Dublin Bus services, no Luas trams and no DART trains. New York is the opposite. On Christmas Day 2025 the subway and the buses ran on a Sunday schedule, so getting around was slower but entirely possible.
In practice, on the 25th in London or Dublin every journey is a taxi, a private hire booking or a walk. Booking the car and finding your way on foot both need data, so make sure it works before the day rather than discovering on the day that it does not.
- London, Christmas Day: no Tube, buses or trains, only taxis, private hire, hire bikes and e-scooters (the 2025 arrangements)
- London, Boxing Day: a reduced service in 2025, with no Elizabeth line
- UK rail: no trains anywhere on Christmas Day, and very few on Boxing Day
- Dublin, Christmas Day: no buses, trams or DART trains in recent years
- New York, Christmas Day: subway and buses on a Sunday schedule
The phone shop is closed as well
The usual fallback for travellers, picking up a local SIM card in town, is exactly what the Christmas closures take away. Big UK shops are shut by law on the 25th. German shops are shut from Thursday afternoon until Monday. Large Czech shops stop selling at midday on Christmas Eve, and Polish shops do not open on the 24th, 25th or 26th. Shops at airports and stations are exempt in England and Wales and in Czechia, so a kiosk might be open when you land, but you cannot plan a trip around whether it will be.
An eSIM bought online does not depend on any of that. You buy it when it suits you, install it at home over your own Wi-Fi, and it connects when you land. The days on it only begin counting once it connects at your destination, the window for that first connection runs for 180 days after you buy it, and if your plans change before you install it, it can be refunded. Buying in November for a Christmas trip costs nothing extra and takes one job off the list in the busiest month of the year.
It also suits the quietest days to fly. In the US airline industry's own forecast for last winter, the five busiest days were the Friday to Sunday before Christmas and the Friday and Sunday after it. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were not among them. Flying on the 25th can mean a quieter journey and closed shops at the other end, which is exactly when arriving with your data already working matters most.
Christmas Eve is the big night in much of Europe
Visitors from the UK, Ireland, the US or Australia expect the main event on the 25th. In much of continental Europe it comes a day earlier. In Germany, Austria, Poland, Czechia and the Nordic countries, the family celebration is the evening of the 24th, and in Spain and Italy the 24th brings the big family dinner, with the 25th a public holiday after it.
For a visitor, that changes the shape of the trip. Cities go quiet from mid-afternoon on Christmas Eve as the shops close and people head home. Many restaurants close that evening and the ones that open can fill up early, so if you want a table on the 24th, book it before you travel rather than hoping to find one on the night.
In Czechia, Christmas Eve is itself a public holiday, and in Poland it has been a day off by law since 2025. In Germany it is not a holiday at all, which is why the shops trade until two in the afternoon and then close.
- The evening of the 24th: Germany, Austria, Poland, Czechia and the Nordic countries
- A family dinner on the 24th and a public holiday on the 25th: Spain and Italy
- The 25th: the UK, Ireland, the US and Australia
- Book a Christmas Eve dinner before you travel, because many restaurants close and the open ones fill up
Where the 25th is an ordinary day, and where it is summer
In some of the most popular winter destinations, Christmas closes nothing at all. In the United Arab Emirates the official list of public holidays includes New Year's Day, National Day on 2 and 3 December and the Islamic holidays, but not Christmas, so the 25th is a normal working day in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. In Japan, 25 December is not a national holiday either. The country's long break comes a week later, at New Year.
That makes both easy places to spend the day if you would rather the city stayed open. The data side differs, though. Our Japan plans cost exactly what our plans for Germany, France or Spain cost at every size from 1 to 20 GB, while in the UAE only the one-gigabyte week matches the European price. The 3 GB month there costs twice as much, and the larger plans more than that.
In Australia, Christmas falls in summer and closes things much as it does in the UK. Christmas Day and Boxing Day are public holidays, and because Boxing Day falls on a Saturday in 2026, New South Wales adds an extra public holiday on Monday 28 December. Our Australia plans cost the same as those European ones at every size from 1 to 20 GB too.
- UAE: Christmas is not a public holiday, so the 25th is a working day
- Japan: 25 December is not a national holiday, and the long break is at New Year
- Australia: public holidays on the 25th and 26th, plus Monday 28 December in New South Wales
- Data: Japan and Australia cost what Germany, France or Spain cost from 1 to 20 GB, and the UAE costs more from 3 GB up
Calling home on Christmas Day, across the time zones
For many people abroad, the one fixed appointment on the 25th is the call home, and time zones decide when it happens. In December, London is on GMT, Paris and Berlin are an hour ahead, Dubai is four hours ahead, Tokyo nine and Sydney eleven, while New York is five hours behind.
So a family in London sitting down to lunch at 1 pm is calling Sydney at midnight, just as Christmas Day ends there, and New York at 8 in the morning. A call from Dubai at 7 in the evening reaches London at 3 in the afternoon, New York at 10 in the morning and Sydney at 2 in the morning on the 26th.
Video is what eats the data. Our data guide puts a video call at around 300 MB an hour, so one long family call on the day is about a third of a gigabyte, and an hour-long call every day for a week comes to about 2 GB before you have opened a map. Make the long calls on the hotel Wi-Fi when you can, and keep your own data for the calls that happen while you are out.
- London 1 pm: Paris and Berlin 2 pm, Dubai 5 pm, Tokyo 10 pm, Sydney midnight, New York 8 am
- New York noon: London 5 pm, Dubai 9 pm, then Tokyo 2 am and Sydney 4 am on the 26th
- Dubai 7 pm: London 3 pm, New York 10 am, Sydney 2 am on the 26th
- A video call: around 300 MB an hour, so a week of daily hour-long calls is about 2 GB
Pharmacies and emergencies over the holiday
Illness does not follow the calendar, and over Christmas the nearest open pharmacy may not be the nearest pharmacy. In Germany, pharmacies take turns covering nights, Sundays and holidays, every pharmacy shows the current duty pharmacy in its window, and the same rota can be searched online, which is quicker at night in a city you do not know.
For emergencies, 112 reaches the emergency services free of charge from any mobile phone anywhere in the EU, and the UK accepts it alongside 999. That call does not need data. Almost everything around it does: finding the open pharmacy, getting directions to a hospital, or booking a taxi to one when the buses are not running.
Bring enough of any regular medicine to cover the closed days, and keep it in your hand luggage in case a bag goes astray at the busiest time of year.
- 112: free from any mobile anywhere in the EU, and accepted in the UK alongside 999
- Germany: the duty pharmacy is shown in every pharmacy window and can be searched online
- Pack regular medicine for the closed days, in your hand luggage
Who does not need to buy anything
If your phone contract comes from an EU country, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Norway, you already pay home prices for roaming across the EU, and that covers Christmas in Vienna, Prague or Copenhagen. We would rather you knew that than bought something you do not need.
UK contracts vary by network. O2 describes itself as the one major UK network that has not reintroduced EU roaming charges, with up to 25 GB included. On Three, using your allowance in Europe costs a fee for each day, with a 12 GB monthly limit there on pay monthly plans, and seven of those daily fees add up to more than our 5 GB Europe month.
From the US, a single day of Verizon's or AT&T's daily international pass costs about twice what our 5 GB month costs in most European countries, for the whole thirty days. And for Christmas outside the EU, in the UAE, Japan or Australia, the EU roaming rule does not apply at all.
- Contract from the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Norway: nothing to buy for Christmas in the EU
- UK on O2: Europe included up to 25 GB; on Three, a daily fee and a 12 GB monthly cap
- US: one day of a carrier's international pass costs about twice our 5 GB Europe month
Which plan fits which Christmas
Most Christmas trips fall into a few shapes, and the arithmetic is simple once you put a number on an ordinary day. Our data guide puts normal use, with maps, messages and some social media, at around 700 MB a day, and a video call at around 300 MB an hour.
Four days in one European city at that rate come to just under 3 GB, so the 3 GB month fits and the 5 GB month leaves room for the call home. A week with an hour-long video call every day adds up to about 7 GB, which is the 10 GB month, and that costs one and a half times the 5 GB. Christmas through to New Year, two weeks with calls, comes to around 14 GB, which is the 20 GB month, at less than twice the price of the 10 GB.
If the trip crosses a border, Christmas in Vienna and New Year in Prague for example, one Europe plan costs exactly what a single country costs at 1, 3 and 5 GB, and between a fifth and a third more at 10 GB. Further afield, the US 5 GB month costs about a sixth more than the European one, Japan, Thailand and Australia cost the same as Germany, France or Spain at every size from 1 to 20 GB, and the UAE costs twice as much at 3 GB and more above that.
Unlimited earns a look in two places. In the UK a week of unlimited, with a full-speed allowance of 3 GB a day, costs exactly what the 20 GB month costs, and in France it costs slightly less. In Germany, Austria, Italy or Spain the unlimited week costs over a third more than the 20 GB month, so there it only pays if you would really use more than 20 GB in seven days.
- Four days in one country, normal use: the 3 GB month, or the 5 GB with calls home
- A week with a daily video call: the 10 GB month
- Christmas to New Year, two weeks with calls: the 20 GB month
- Two or more European countries: one Europe plan, at the single-country price up to 5 GB
- A heavy week in the UK or France: unlimited costs no more than the 20 GB month
- Long-haul: Japan, Thailand and Australia cost what Germany, France or Spain cost up to 20 GB, and the UAE costs more from 3 GB up
Frequently asked questions
Is there any public transport in London on Christmas Day 2026?
Expect none. For Christmas 2025, Transport for London ran no service across most of its network on the 25th, and no National Rail trains run that day. Taxis, private hire cars, hire bikes and rental e-scooters kept going. TfL publishes the 2026 arrangements in early December, so check them before you plan the day.
Are shops open in Germany on Christmas Eve 2026?
Until 2 pm. German law lets shops open on 24 December when it falls on a weekday, but not after two in the afternoon. In 2026 the 25th and 26th are public holidays and the 27th is a Sunday, so most shops stay closed until Monday 28 December. Shops at stations and airports, and petrol stations, are the usual exceptions.
When is the Boxing Day bank holiday in 2026?
Monday 28 December, in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Boxing Day itself falls on Saturday 26 December, so the bank holiday moves to the Monday as a substitute day. Christmas Day is Friday 25 December.
Can I buy a SIM card on Christmas Day?
Do not count on it. Large shops in the UK may not open on Christmas Day, German shops are closed from 2 pm on the 24th until the 28th, and Polish shops and large Czech ones are shut too. Airport and station shops are exempt in some countries, so a kiosk may be open, but it may not. An eSIM bought online before you travel installs at home and connects when you land, whatever the shops are doing.
Is Christmas a public holiday in Dubai?
No. The UAE's official public holidays are New Year's Day, National Day on 2 and 3 December and the Islamic holidays, so 25 December is a normal working day in Dubai. That makes it an easy place to spend Christmas if you want everything open. For data, the 1 GB week costs the same as in Europe, but the 3 GB month costs twice as much and the bigger plans more again.
Is Christmas Day a holiday in Japan?
No. 25 December is not one of Japan's national holidays, so it is a normal working day. Japan's long break comes at New Year instead: New Year's Day is a national holiday, and government offices close from 29 December to 3 January. Our Japan plans cost the same as our plans for Germany, France or Spain at every size from 1 to 20 GB.
Are shops open in Poland on Christmas Eve?
Mostly not. Since 2025, 24 December has been a statutory day off in Poland, and shops close on the 24th as well as on the Christmas holidays of the 25th and 26th. Exceptions include small shops where the owner serves behind the counter and petrol stations, so do your shopping by the 23rd.
How much data does a Christmas video call home use?
Around 300 MB an hour, the figure our data guide uses. One long call on the day is about a third of a gigabyte. An hour-long call every day for a week is about 2 GB, which is the part of a Christmas trip actually worth budgeting for. Voice calls use a small fraction of that.
Is Christmas Day a quiet day to fly?
In the US it has been one of the quieter days. In the airline industry's forecast for last winter, the busiest days were 19, 20 and 21 December and 26 and 28 December, and neither Christmas Eve nor Christmas Day was on the list. If you fly on the 25th, remember that shops and transport at the other end may be closed, so land with your data already set up.
Do I need an eSIM for Christmas in Europe if I have an EU phone contract?
No. A contract from an EU country, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Norway already roams at home prices across the EU. An eSIM is worth it if your contract comes from outside that area, such as a UK network that charges for Europe, the US or the Gulf, or if your Christmas is outside the EU, in the UAE or Japan for example.
I am spending Christmas in Vienna and New Year in Prague: one plan or two?
One. Austria and Czechia are both covered by our cheapest Europe plans, and at 1, 3 and 5 GB those cost no more than one country's plan. Pick a size for the whole trip, and remember the validity starts at the first connection, so a 30-day plan bought for Christmas still has days left over New Year.
Does the Tube run on Boxing Day 2026?
Expect a reduced service. TfL's plan for Boxing Day 2025 ran part of the network with some lines closed and no Elizabeth line, and most train companies ran no trains. In 2026 Boxing Day is a Saturday and the bank holiday is Monday 28 December, and TfL publishes the exact plan in early December.