Royal Wedding Break in London: Four Public Holidays in 11 Days

Ever since Kate Middleton said "yes" and the date was set, Englanders have been gearing up for an extended Royal Wedding break in London.

While tourists are expected to rush in for the Royal Wedding weekend, many London locals are actually looking to leave the country and escape the pomp and circumstance of the Royal Wedding.

Break plans begun to unfold once the Royal Wedding was deemed a "bank holiday," meaning it's an official public holiday in the United Kingdom. Since Easter Weekend falls a week before the Royal Wedding and May Day is celebrated the following Monday, the country has been gifted with two consecutive four-day weekends.

Some crafty Brits realized it would be easy to take an extended 11-day holiday if workers simply request three additional days off work. Suddenly, a slew of travel agents started offering special deals, advertising enticing discounts for a long "Royal Wedding Break."

In London, some people aren't celebrating the extended vacation. "This is a real area of concern for many smaller businesses," Stephen Alambritis from the Federation of Small Businesses tells the Telegraph newspaper.

"It'll be a three-day week and it could see many businesses just shut down," worries Alambritis.

One sector that isn't being hurt by the combined Easter / Royal Wedding break is the tourism industry, which has seen a huge jump in travel bookings both in and out of the country. Favored destinations for Englanders looking to avoid the influx of foreign tourists and take advantage of the 11-day holiday are Las Vegas, New York, Paris and Rome.