Well these are terms where the usage differs between US and British English. In the UK we would say something like: 'We're going on holiday next week' to describe a recreational trip, which typically are taken during the summer. You would be hard pushed to find any British people using 'vacation' to describe a trip like this. In US English they would say: We're going on vacation next week. I think in US English they distinguish it this way. A vacation is something you decide to do e.g. you decided to take a trip abroad. A holiday exists either way and is planned by someone else e.g. a national holiday, a school holiday. If I'm wrong, please someone from the US correct me. Anyway, we don't really use 'vacation' in the UK, of that I am sure.

Hello, Not being a native English speaker myself, I would simply say I agree that "holiday" is used in the UK in contexts where American English speakers would say "vacation". I'd say the basic meaning for both words is this: time when you are not at work or school/ time spent travelling or resting away from home. Two other things I also found out, though, are these: - "Vacation" does seem to exist in British English: used to refer to a period when (mainly) universities are closed. - "Holiday" does seem to exist in American English: used to refer to (1) ‘(public) holiday’; or (2) ‘the holidays’: time in late December and early January. I hope that information is accurate... As Paul suggested, contributions from American English speakers would indeed be welcome! Best

For me, I use the word "Holiday" when I'm referring day offs and certain event of festivity. While "Vacation" relates to leisure time activities or having a relaxing experience and the likes. Usually these words are used interchangeably depending on the context the of the sentence.