That’s why, whether city life is draining you, or your schedules don’t quite match up, it can be crucial to—even if for a few days—get away, exposing your relationship to exciting activities and challenges, or indulging and just checking out. The perfect opportunity to escape your every day and spend some quality time with your boo? A couple retreat! No, we don’t mean the Vince Vaughn rom-com, we’re talking totally escaping for a peaceful, romantic, and maybe even completely-curated vacation (the less planning stress, the better, right?).
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We’ve rounded up some of the bests spots around the country, and even world, for an incredible getaway. Here, nine couples retreats—from exotic yoga escapes to scenic biking trips to delicious culinary experiences—that will renew and light a flame under your relationship this year.
Location: Barnard, Vermont
Cost: $7,550
Details: Sitting atop 300 acres in Barnard, Vermont, Twin Farms is the state’s only luxury, five-star experience (for adults only). Through the resort and NTSQ Velo, you and your bae can now enjoy a five-day, four-night premium cycling retreat. The “Ride. Stay. Eat.” program combines challenging, but rewarding days on the bike with upscale lodging, service, and incredible meals prepared by world-renowned chefs. Capped at a dozen guests, tours are fully-supported, with ride leaders and all on-road nutrition. The package includes two full-custom cycling kits, massage and daily laundry service, and carbon Cervélo bikes, so you can travel comfortably to and from Vermont, leaving your personal ride at home. Other activities and amenities Twin Farms offers are Japanese-style baths to sooth muscles post-ride, a pond for stand-up paddle boarding and fly fishing, and trails for biking, hiking, and cross country skiing. You can access their website for more information and details on booking.
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Location: Ithaca, New York
Cost: $750 per person
Details: Whether you are an outdoor lover or more of a glamper, Firelight Camps is the place to escape with your S.O. for some QT together in the outdoors. Picture waking to the sounds of birds and the wind rustling through the trees all from the comfort of a plush bed inside your own spacious tent, warmly lit by battery-powered lanterns and equipped with furniture and mesh screens to keep the creepy crawlies out. Although a legitimate campground, you certainly do not need to be a nature scout to enjoy this retreat.
Located in upstate New York, Firelight Camps has a lobby tent that serves as a front desk reception with trail maps, complimentary continental breakfast, and a bar with outdoor lounge areas, where you can play games like bocce ball. There are two restaurants on the grounds that serve lunch and dinner, and also a camp canteen where you can purchase homemade s’more kits and trail snacks. Easily pop into Ithaca, NY to explore farmers markets, wineries and distilleries, and the state parks of the finger lakes. Choose an Adult Day Camp or Retreat through Firelight Camps, or choose from their many activities like yoga classes or a wild foraging hike, a 90-minute guided, yet hands-on, trek through Buttermilk Falls Park identifying wild northeastern plants.
Clean up at the end of the day in their newly renovated bath house, which is a one- to two-minute walk from your tent, where you’ll find hot-water showers (we know what you were thinking) with changing rooms, full-length mirrors, flushing toilets, towels, and eco-friendly products at the ready. Check availability online to book your tent, or contact them through email.
Location: Steamboat Springs, Colorado
Cost: $1,350 to $4,295, per person, depending on time of year
Details: We can’t think of a better way to unwind and indulge, than getting cozy in an authentic, yet luxurious log cabin in the Colorado mountains. When imagining a log cabin in the woods, “roughing it” comes to mind, but that’s definitely not the case with Vista Verde Guest Ranch and its swanky amenities: private cabins, master suites, Italian linens, spa robes, complimentary snacks and beverages, and… wait for it… your own hot tub!
This mountain retreat in Steamboat Springs offers all-inclusive ranch vacays, including meals, lodging, and a whole list of extra perks that you and your S.O. can cash in on together, all while reconnecting with each other. And when they say all-included, they even mean the booze. Where can we book? Depending on the season, you can sign up for rock climbing, rafting, guided fly fishing, backcountry skiing, yoga, horseback riding, and classes like photography and cooking, which are all part of your stay, as well.
The resort is open for the dude ranch season from June through late-October, and as a winter ranch from mid December to early-March. Vista Verde shuts down in the spring and fall, since those are the “mud seasons” in Colorado, but you can find availability on their website.
Location: Los Angeles, California
Cost: $139 to $265 per day, depending on vehicle and season
Details: Hit the open road with your babe in a revived, rented VW camper bus from the ’70 or ’80s courtesy of Vintage Surfari Wagon location in Los Angeles. All campers are decked out and ready to go with renovated interiors, camping equipment, kitchen gear and cooking fuel, flatware and dishes, coffee press, paper towels and toilet paper, cleaning supplies, a full potable water tank, and campground directory and maps.
These unique buses come with standard essentials like a stove, sink, ice box or refrigerator, dining table, and a living room couch that converts into a full-size bed. In addition to private VW rentals, Vintage Surfari Wagons also offers organized camping retreats, where guides will lead you and other VW enthusiasts on California’s less-traveled roads.
Consider this a choose-your-own adventure kind of trip: Rent a classic VW camper bus for five days, and embark on a pre-planned desert tour with your mate. Or, choose to cruise up Highway 1 on a six-day retreat with your own VW Campmobile and your bae right beside you. Communal grills and camp kitchens are available for all participants to use while road-tripping, and most campers enjoy pitching in and sharing meals and clean-up, enhancing the overall group experience.
Send an email through the Vintage Surfari Wagon website, and a guide will follow up with a phone call to discuss their California adventures.
Location: Smoky Mountains, Tennessee
Cost: Call (865) 984-8166
Details: Plan a trip with your partner to family-owned Blackberry Farm, an intimate lush hotel situated on 4,200 serene acres in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains. Named the #1 hotel for food lovers in 2013 by Bon Appetit, this Tennessee hotel features true farm-to-table cuisine, sourcing most of the ingredients for its Southern menu from its own garden and paddocks. And, did we mention that it hosts one of the country’s most impressive wine lists, 160,000 bottles deep? Enjoy an afternoon excursion with the Farmstead Field School, or sign up for one of Blackberry Farm’s events and retreats, consisting of diverse wellness workshops and cooking demonstrations led by renowned culinary guests.
Along with providing healthy nutrition for your body, the farm boasts a Wellhouse, home to an inspiring fitness facility and yoga studio. You can participate in daily yoga, barre, Zumba, or training sessions, and then share a relaxing couples massage or an intoxicating lavender and vanilla bourbon body drench in their spa. Activities like canoeing, kayaking, fly-fishing, hiking, carriage rides, paintball, archery, horseback riding, and biking are all available and are great ways to be active with your boo at the farm and disconnect from your work life, phone, and even, dare we say it, Netflix.
Explore Blackberry Farm’s website, or contact (865) 984-8166 for more information.
Location: Charleston, South Carolina
Cost: Varies
Details: A popular travel spot in the South, Charleston is a modern city with over 300 years of history and culture to witness on a seductive getaway with your bae. Select from an array of romance packages in which you can stay in a boutique hotel or a posh 19th century mansion, and partake in walking tours or private carriage rides through the historic district (don’t miss a photo opportunity at iconic Rainbow Row, a series of brightly painted row houses near the waterfront). Or try out an eco tour which allows you to view Charleston’s islands, salt marshes, marine, and wildlife. Or rent a retro car and visit Boone Hall Plantation with its infamous driveway lined with live oak trees dripping in Spanish moss.
Whether you’re interested in a couples retreat to refresh the relationship or you’re planning to celebrate with your S.O., Charleston has you covered for any occasion—even babymoons! Expecting parents can relish in Wentworth Mansion’s pre-baby “Bundle of Joy” package, which includes an elegant fairytale-like room, couples massage, three-course dinner, and baby gift, a book called Good Night Charleston, which you’ll bring home as a keepsake to remember your time in this enchanting city.
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Location: Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Cost: $1,820 to $2,650
Details: Solely accessible by boat, Xinalani is a yogi couples’ heaven, set at the edge of the ocean and bordered by lush jungle, just 12 miles south of the Puerto Vallarta airport in Mexico. The resort features four spaces to practice: the Jungle Studio—a temple with palapa roofs and bamboo floors 215 feet up in the jungle, the palm-thatched roofed Meditation Cabin, the Sand Terrace for beachfront yoga, and The Greenhouse, an enclosed studio designed for hot yoga, which faces the ocean and has mirrors so you get views of the ocean and green jungle from every angle. To help you and your S.O. get on your way to a sound body and mind, the resort also features unique outdoor dining with a healthy gourmet menu of traditional Mexican recipes.
Perfect for couples, stay in a casita, a 538-square foot space with an amazing ocean view, private terrace with hammock and plunge pool, private bathroom, king-size bed with pillow-top mattress and gorgeous mosquito netting, hot water and A/C. All rooms are secured with a locked door, but only have three walls, with curtains that go out onto the terrace. The terrace is open to the jungle surroundings, so it’s almost like sleeping outdoors for a week. You’ll wake to an ocean breeze each morning, and go to sleep to the sounds of waves crashing on the beach.
Xinalani offers all-inclusive couples retreats for seven nights, including accommodation in an Eco-Chic Suite, food and beverages, yoga classes, complimentary use of kayaks and SUPs, transportation, two massages, and one romantic dinner. Or check out their upcoming retreats, which are guided yoga retreats with slightly more regimented schedules, but still include time carved out to unwind in between meditation and stretching sessions with your bae. Much like being on a remote island, you won’t find a Starbucks or shopping mall, and wifi can be spotty. But, the point is to get away from social media and connect with your loved one, right? Customize your retreat with activities like jungle hikes, canopy zip line tours, swimming with wild dolphins, and surf lessons, all experiences you don’t need an IG photo to capture to memory.
Location: Bancroft, Canada
Cost: Starting at $335 per night, per person
Details: Located in the mineral capital of Canada, Grail Springs is a privately-owned retreat sanctuary, opened in 2001 by founder Madeleine Marentette. A convenient drive from the Toronto International Airport, Grail Springs is set on hundreds of acres of forest, walking trails, crystal outcrop (it sits on the Canadian Rockshield, the oldest exposed rock on the planet), meditation gardens and labyrinth, and an alkaline-based, spring-fed lake. The retreat is remote enough to make you feel like you’ve completely escaped city life, but still luxurious enough to feel like you’re on vacation in a five-star hotel, with spacious, lake-view rooms, balconies, toasty fireplaces, natural linens, and handcrafted all-natural bath amenities.
Choose from their relaxing and revitalizing retreats: Grail Retreat Starter, Cleanse & Organize, and Life Transformation, which include two- to 21-night stays, accommodation, meals, daily yoga and meditation, hikes, swims, canoes, sauna use and spa treatments, and evening workshops on topics of well-being. Whether your relationship with your boo needs healing or you both just wish for a little one-on-one time together, you’ll leave the Canadian hideaway feeling refreshed and reconnected as a pair.
Location: Reykjavik, Iceland
Cost: Starting from $3,495
Details: If you’ve been on Instagram in the last year, then it’s no secret that Iceland has become one of the most visited destinations in the world. So what better destination for a romantic getaway? Midnight Sun Retreat with Yogoscapes gives you and your S.O. the opportunity to discover the country by staying in three different parts, beginning at Glacier Lagoon Hotel, transitioning to private apartments in the city hub of Reykjavik, and finally landing at the ION Adventure Hotel, a retreat into peaceful nature with your bae. Yogascapes’s Midnight Sun incorporates daily yoga into its itinerary, and you can opt for additional activities beyond the included hot springs visits, glacier hikes, and Reykjavik tour, like whale watching, deep sea fishing, and snorkeling and cave tours.
And while the heartland of geothermal energy, double rainbows, and Northern lights may seem with a trek, with the new Icelandair Stopover service, it’s actually pretty easy. The program allows you and your partner to fly across the Atlantic to any of the airline’s destinations, with a pause—if you will—in Iceland for up to seven nights at no extra airfare. So if you’re planning a retreat abroad or honeymoon with your boo, this is the perfect opportunity to make it a multi-country holiday without adding to the price of your ticket.
While in Reykjavik, you’ll have more freedom in your Midnight Sun retreat schedule to explore on your own as a couple and partake in excursions. If you’ve booked through Icelandair’s Stopover program, take advantage of seeing the breathtaking country through the experienced eyes of a local by requesting a Stopover Buddy, an Icelandair employee who acts as a personal host for one day for free. Buddies can show you and your S.O. their favorite eats in the city, arrange for the three of you to go snowmobiling over a glacier, or take you to watch a performance at the National Theatre. Stopover Buddies have even been known to help with proposals *nudge nudge,* in case you want to take your relationship to the next level. Check out the video inspiration below for the most romantic and epic marriage proposal…
Spoiler: it was put on by the girlfriend and involves diving between tectonic plates!
General Health Magazine 