10 Wellness Vacations You Need to Take

Make self-care a priority with a getaway designed to better your mind and your body.

By: Erin Gifford

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Go for a Run

Many people look to running to clear their heads and relieve the stresses of daily life, but not everyone can find the time to run on a regular basis. Run Wild Retreats + Wellness offers trail running retreats for women designed to nurture mindful running that fits into a busy lifestyle. The four-day Moab Mindful Running Retreat includes restorative yoga, coaching and scenic, guided runs across the desert landscape. Or, sign up for a running cruise to Iceland, Hawaii, Alaska or the Caribbean for daily runs and hikes at port stops.

Take a Walk

Walk your way to enhanced wellness with a vacation that makes walking and hiking the centerpiece of the experience. Walk Japan offers nearly 20 guided walking tours, including Kumano Kodo Pilgrimage, a walking tour along a sacred pilgrimage route, and Oita Hot Spring Trail, a tour that enables travelers to walk along quiet trails and country roads as they hop from one hot spring to the next. Closer to home, Backroads offers several walking vacations in national parks, including Bryce Canyon, Zion, Glacier and Denali.

Set Sail on a Cruise

Moving beyond spas and walking tracks on the upper decks, cruise lines are taking to the wellness trend with circuit training, yoga, healthy food choices and more active shore excursions. AmaWaterways is currently expanding to six ships a wellness program piloted last year on AmaLyra that includes morning stretches, jogging, hydration stations, breakfast vitamin shots and relaxation exercises. Meantime, Blue World Voyages is preparing to set the bar high when the new cruise line launches itineraries dedicated to active lifestyles and wellness later this year.

Seek Wellness from Your Hotel Room

The current wellness trend among hotels involves making it as simple as possible to get in a workout. No need to take the elevator down to the fitness center. Let the workout equipment come to you at EVEN Hotels, a wellness-focused brand with guest rooms that include yoga mats, balance balls and resistance bands. Scroll through the TV channels for multiple 10- to 20-minute workout videos. Westin Hotels & Resorts is also growing the number of WestinWORKOUT guest rooms at their properties that include a treadmill or stationary bike.

Strike a Pose at a Yoga Retreat

Re-connect with your mind, body and soul on a yoga retreat. You’ll find many yoga retreats in Costa Rica, like those offered at Anamaya Resort & Retreat Center in Montezuma, which offers weekly yoga retreats, as well as three-week training courses for yoga instructors. Or, look to The Travel Yogi, which curates yoga-focused wellness retreats around the world that immerse travelers in the specific culture and practices of each destination, like Bali, Bhutan, Portugal and Peru.

Cycle Your Way to Well-Being

Cycling is a fabulous way to breathe in the fresh air and enjoy the outdoors from two wheels as you bike across gravel trails, pathed paths and country roads. Sojourn Bicycling & Active Vacations offers multiple bike tours, including tours of Coastal California, Northern Arizona and Texas Hill Country. Some tours even offer the option of riding an electric pedal-assist bike (e-bike), which can make climbing elevations less challenging and more comfortable. REI Adventures also offers multiple cycling vacations, including New Zealand Cycling-South Island, an 11-day cycling adventure across the island.

Spend a Weekend on Wellness

If a weekend is all you have or need to enhance your overall wellness, look to a weekend retreat, like the three-day Yosemite Renewal Wellness Retreats offered at Tenaya Lodge in California. Through hiking, spa treatments, guided meditation and sunset yoga, as well as creative pursuits, like a wine and painting class, guests are able to devote themselves to a long weekend of self-care. Select JW Marriott properties, including those in Los Cabos and Scottsdale, also offer four-day well-being retreats that include daily workouts, yoga and healthy, culinary experiences.

Just an Evening of Wellness is Good Too

Self-care should not be confined to a one-week vacation or a long weekend. For those who have just an evening, several hotel properties offer mindfulness programs to help guests manage their overall well-being. Sunrise Springs Spa Resort in Santa Fe offers a turndown service that includes a cup of hot tea and a copy of The Little Book of Mindfulness to help enhance inner peace and wellness. Meantime, 45 Park Lane in London has a Wellbeing Bath Menu of essential bath oils and a butler to draw a bath and light aromatic candles.

Bring the Whole Family

For those eager to make wellness a family affair, look to BodyHoliday, an all-inclusive resort in Saint Lucia. In July and August, BodyHoliday offers a WellFit Families program the enables families to embark on a wellness adventure together complete with beach boot camps, yoga and cooking classes, sailing, scuba diving and rainforest hikes, even fun parent vs. child sporting competitions. Each week is hosted by a different legend of sport, from Olympic Sprinter Marlon Devonish to NFL Wide Receiver Randy Moss.

Seek Out a Location Known for Healing

There are certain destinations, like Ojai, California and Sedona, Arizona that are known for their healing powers and are sought after by those eager to enhance their personal well-being. Sedona has long been considered a sacred spot known for energy-rich vortexes conducive to healing and meditation, including Cathedral Rock and Bell Rock. Amitabha Stupa & Peace Park is a must-go for those seeking inner peace and spiritual renewal. Ojai is another mystical vortex that provides energy and spiritual nourishment from the mountains and natural healing springs.

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10 Wellness Vacations You Need to Take

Related To:

Shop This Look

Go for a Run

Take a Walk

Set Sail on a Cruise

Seek Wellness from Your Hotel Room

Strike a Pose at a Yoga Retreat

Cycle Your Way to Well-Being

Spend a Weekend on Wellness

Just an Evening of Wellness is Good Too

Bring the Whole Family

Seek Out a Location Known for Healing

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