Like all consumer products and services, holidays require energy. The aim of this study is to map the energy requirement for holidays of Dutch households and to suggest options to reduce this energy requirement. To examine the energy requirement for holidays, nine holiday packages are composed, each representing a large group of Dutch vacationers. The packages describe the destination, means of transport, duration, accommodation and number of vacationers. The average energy requirement for the accommodation and transport for long summer holidays is 12.5 GJ per Dutch household, excluding the energy requirement for food and activities. About 10% of the Dutch households, the ones that travel by plane to their holiday destination, consume 70% of the total amount of energy all households require for holiday purposes. This is mainly due to the distance travelled, rather than to the chosen means of transport. If the travelled distances will be reduced by 50% and all nights are spend in a tent, the average household energy requirement would be 6.1 GJ, a reduction of more than 50%.