The Best Wellness Retreats for Solo Women Travelers in 2026

There is something deeply transformative about combining solo travel with a wellness retreat. When you step away from your daily routine, your relationships, your responsibilities, and place yourself in an environment designed entirely for healing and growth, something shifts. You stop performing wellness and start actually experiencing it. And when you do it alone, without the social dynamics of traveling with friends or a partner, the transformation goes deeper.

Wellness retreats for women have exploded in popularity over the past few years. The market has responded with offerings that range from budget-friendly yoga weeks in Southeast Asia to luxury Ayurvedic immersions in India to transformational coaching retreats in the south of France. The challenge is no longer finding a retreat but finding the right one for your specific needs, budget, and comfort level as a solo traveler.

This guide breaks down the best wellness retreats for solo women in 2026, organized by what you are actually looking for: physical restoration, mental clarity, spiritual exploration, or social connection through shared healing experiences.

Why Wellness Retreats Are Perfect for Solo Women

Retreats solve the two biggest anxieties solo women travelers face: safety and loneliness. A well-run retreat provides structured accommodation in a vetted, secure environment. It provides instant community through shared meals, group activities, and facilitated connection. And it provides a built-in daily schedule, which means you spend less time making decisions alone and more time actually experiencing your destination. Women’s-only retreats add an additional layer of comfort. There is a qualitative difference in how women relax, share, and open up when they are in an exclusively female space. Conversations go deeper faster. Vulnerability feels safer. The competitive and performative dynamics that sometimes emerge in mixed groups tend to dissolve.

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Yoga and Movement Retreats

Goddess Retreats — Bali, Indonesia

Duration: 5 to 7 days Price Range: $1,200 to $2,800 Best For: Women seeking a classic Bali retreat with a strong community element

Goddess Retreats is Bali’s original women’s wellness retreat and they have earned that reputation through years of consistent quality. The programs combine daily yoga, meditation, spa treatments, and cultural excursions into a balanced week that feels indulgent without being aimless. Their Seminyak location puts you close to rice terraces, temples, and world-class restaurants.

What makes Goddess Retreats particularly good for solo travelers is their approach to community building. They cap group sizes at 12 to 15 women and facilitate connection through shared meals, group discussions, and partner activities. By the second day, most women report feeling like they have known their fellow retreaters for years. Bali has long been known for its warmth and safety, making it an ideal choice for women traveling alone.

Blooming Lotus Yoga — Bali, Indonesia

Duration: 7 to 28 days Price Range: $800 to $3,500 Best For: Serious yoga practitioners looking for depth, not just relaxation

If you want a retreat that will genuinely advance your yoga practice rather than simply provide pleasant classes in a beautiful setting, Blooming Lotus delivers. Their teachers come from diverse lineages including Hatha, Vinyasa, Yin, and Kundalini. The longer-format retreats allow for genuine progression and transformation. Their location in the rice fields of northern Bali offers the kind of stillness that urban retreats cannot replicate.

Solo women make up roughly 70 percent of their guests, so the entire operation is calibrated for independent travelers. Rooms range from shared dormitories to private bungalows, allowing you to choose your budget and privacy level.

Surf and Yoga Retreat — Nosara, Costa Rica

Duration: 7 days Price Range: $1,500 to $3,200 Best For: Women who want physical adventure alongside their wellness practice

Costa Rica combines yoga and meditation with activities like surfing, hiking, and zip-lining in a way that feels energizing rather than exhausting. Nosara, on the Nicoya Peninsula, is one of the world’s five Blue Zones, regions where people live measurably longer and healthier lives. The combination of consistent surf, warm water, lush jungle, and a health-conscious local community makes it a natural fit for active wellness retreats.

Several women-focused retreat operators run programs here, with packages typically including daily yoga, surf lessons, organic meals, and optional excursions. The town is small enough that solo women can walk everywhere safely, and the community of expats and long-term travelers is welcoming.

Meditation and Mindfulness Retreats

Vipassana Meditation Centers — Worldwide

Duration: 10 days (standard course) Price Range: Free (donation-based) Best For: Women seeking deep, transformative meditation practice on any budget

Vipassana ten-day silent retreats are available at centers on every continent and operate entirely on donations. You pay nothing upfront and contribute what you can afford at the end. The practice involves ten days of noble silence, roughly ten hours of meditation daily, and simple vegetarian meals. It is not a vacation. It is one of the most intense personal experiences you can have.

For solo women, Vipassana centers offer exceptional safety. Men and women are completely separated for the duration of the retreat, with separate dormitories, dining areas, and meditation halls. The schedule is strictly structured, eliminating any uncertainty about what to do or where to be. If you have never done a silent retreat, this will likely be the most challenging and rewarding thing you do all year.

Spirit Rock Meditation Center — Woodacre, California, USA

Duration: 2 to 9 days Price Range: $400 to $2,500 Best For: Women who want guided mindfulness retreats in a supportive, well-established community

Spirit Rock sits on 412 acres of rolling hills in Marin County, California. They offer themed retreats throughout the year including women’s retreats, self-compassion retreats, and nature-based mindfulness programs. The teaching faculty includes some of the most respected mindfulness teachers in the West. Accommodations are simple but comfortable, and the setting is genuinely beautiful. Their women’s retreats specifically address the patterns, pressures, and joys unique to women’s lives. Teachers draw on Buddhist psychology, somatic practices, and contemplative arts to create programs that feel both ancient and immediately relevant.

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Luxury and Spa Retreats

SHA Wellness Clinic — Alicante, Spain

Duration: 4 to 21 days Price Range: $3,000 to $20,000+ Best For: Women who want a medically supervised, high-end wellness transformation

SHA is not a typical retreat. It is a medical wellness clinic disguised as a five-star resort. Programs combine Western medicine with traditional healing modalities including Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine, genetic testing, advanced diagnostics, and personalized nutrition. You leave with a detailed health protocol tailored to your body’s specific needs. The setting is stunning: a sleek, modern complex overlooking the Mediterranean on Spain’s Costa Blanca. Solo travelers are common here, and the atmosphere is quiet and private rather than communal. If you want transformation through science and luxury rather than group bonding and yoga, SHA is the place.

Kamalaya Koh Samui — Thailand

Duration: 3 to 14 days Price Range: $2,000 to $12,000 Best For: Women seeking holistic wellness in a spectacular tropical setting

Kamalaya consistently ranks among the best wellness resorts in the world. Set into the hillside of Koh Samui overlooking the Gulf of Thailand, it offers programs in stress and burnout, detox, weight management, yoga, and emotional balance. The therapists and practitioners are exceptional, and the program design ensures that each day builds on the last. Solo female travelers make up a significant portion of Kamalaya’s guests, and the resort is designed with their comfort in mind. The grounds are safe for walking at any hour, the staff are attentive without being intrusive, and the dining options accommodate every dietary need.

Retreat in the Pines — Prescott, Arizona, USA

Duration: 3 to 5 days Price Range: $800 to $1,800 Best For: Women who want an intimate, domestic retreat without international travel

If you want the retreat experience without the complexity of international travel, Retreat in the Pines offers women-only wellness weekends in the pine forests of northern Arizona. Programs typically include yoga, hiking, meditation, breathwork, and creative workshops. The small group sizes (usually 8 to 12 women) create an intimate atmosphere where genuine connections form quickly. The location is about 90 minutes from Phoenix, making it accessible for a long weekend. The altitude and pine forests provide a dramatic change of environment from the typical American urban or suburban routine.

Transformational and Coaching Retreats

Advivum “Joie de Vivre” Retreat — Provence, France

Duration: 5 days (May 2026) Price Range: $3,500 to $5,500 Best For: Women seeking personal transformation in a stunning European setting

Advivum’s annual retreat at Mas Edem Vineyard in Provence combines life coaching, mindfulness, culinary experiences, and cultural immersion. The program is designed for women at a crossroads, whether you are navigating a career change, a relationship transition, or simply a desire to redefine what “living well” means to you. Vibrant markets and rolling vineyards provide the backdrop for deep personal work.

The retreat includes guided meditation, journaling workshops, wine tasting, visits to local markets, and small-group coaching sessions. Provence in May is at its most beautiful, with lavender beginning to bloom and warm sunshine that invites long walks and outdoor reflection.

Women’s Safari Retreat — Kruger National Park, South Africa

Duration: 5 days (November 2026) Price Range: $2,800 to $4,500 Best For: Women who want to combine wildlife adventure with inner exploration

This is a genuinely unique offering: guided game drives and bush walks combined with yoga, meditation, and facilitated reflection around evening campfires. The raw beauty of the African bush has a way of stripping away pretense and reconnecting you with something primal and essential. Seeing elephants at sunrise and then sitting in silent meditation creates a juxtaposition that stays with you long after you return home.

The retreat takes place at a private lodge within the Kruger ecosystem, so wildlife encounters are virtually guaranteed. Safety is managed by experienced rangers, and the all-inclusive format means you arrive and simply let the experience unfold.

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Budget-Friendly Wellness Options

Not every transformative wellness experience requires a four-figure investment. Here are options for women traveling on a tighter budget.

Volunteer-Based Retreat Centers

Many meditation and yoga centers around the world offer work-exchange programs where you contribute 4 to 6 hours of daily work (cooking, cleaning, gardening) in exchange for free accommodation, meals, and access to all classes and workshops. WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) and Workaway list hundreds of wellness-focused properties worldwide.

Self-Guided Retreat in Ubud, Bali

Ubud is so saturated with yoga studios, meditation centers, healers, and healthy restaurants that you can construct your own DIY retreat for a fraction of the cost of an organized program. A private room runs $15 to $40 per night, drop-in yoga classes cost $5 to $15, and a full-body Balinese massage is around $15 to $25. Spend a week here designing your own daily schedule and you will spend less than $500 total while having an experience comparable to a $2,000 organized retreat.

Online-to-In-Person Hybrid Retreats

A growing trend in 2026 is the hybrid retreat, where you complete preparatory work online (meditation training, journaling prompts, dietary adjustments) in the weeks before a shorter in-person gathering. This reduces the cost of the in-person component while deepening the overall experience. Several organizations now offer 2-to-3-day in-person retreats preceded by 4 weeks of online programming, with total costs between $500 and $1,200.

How to Choose the Right Retreat

With so many options available, choosing can feel overwhelming. Here is a framework for narrowing your decision.

Define your primary intention. Are you seeking physical rest, emotional healing, spiritual depth, social connection, or adventure? Your answer determines the type of retreat that will actually serve you.

Be honest about your comfort level. If you have never meditated before, a ten-day silent Vipassana retreat will likely be miserable rather than transformative. Start where you actually are, not where you think you should be.

Research the facilitators. The quality of a retreat is determined primarily by the people leading it. Look for teachers and facilitators with established reputations, real training, and authentic personal practice. Read reviews specifically from solo women.

Consider the group size. Smaller groups (8 to 15 people) create more intimate connections. Larger groups (20 to 40) offer more diversity and social options. Neither is better; it depends on what you need.

Check the solo traveler percentage. Ask the organizer what percentage of past guests were solo travelers. If the answer is above 50 percent, the retreat is likely well-calibrated for independent women. If most guests come in pairs or groups, you may feel like an outsider.

Read the cancellation policy. Solo travelers are making booking decisions independently, which means you need flexible cancellation terms. Life changes, and a non-refundable $3,000 deposit creates unnecessary stress.

Questions to Ask Before Booking Any Retreat

Before committing to a retreat, send these questions to the organizer. The answers will tell you whether the program is right for you.

1. What percentage of your guests are solo travelers? Retreats where more than 50 percent of guests come alone are better calibrated for independent women.

2. What is the daily schedule? A well-designed retreat balances structure with free time. If every minute is programmed, you may feel rushed. If the schedule is too loose, you may feel aimless.

3. What happens if I need to leave early? Understand the refund policy and whether partial credits are available. Life is unpredictable, and rigid no-refund policies create unnecessary financial stress.

4. What are the facilitators’ credentials? Yoga teachers should have recognized certifications (200-hour or 500-hour YTT minimum). Meditation guides should have established personal practices and teaching experience. Coaches should have relevant certifications and training.

5. Is there cell phone service and Wi-Fi? Some retreats intentionally limit connectivity. If you need to check in with work or family, confirm that this is possible.

6. What dietary needs can you accommodate? Vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, and allergy-specific diets should be accommodated without difficulty. Ask about the specific options rather than accepting a general “yes, we accommodate dietary needs.”

7. What is the cancellation policy? Get this in writing before making any payment.

What to Know Before You Go

Arrive a day early. Give yourself a buffer day before the retreat begins to adjust to the time zone, settle into your accommodation, and decompress from travel. Arriving the same day the retreat starts means you begin your wellness experience already stressed.

Set digital boundaries. Most retreats encourage or require limited phone use. Honor that. The constant checking of email and social media is precisely the pattern you are there to break.

Bring a journal. Our travel journaling guide can help you make the most of the insights that arise. Whatever insights, emotions, and realizations arise during the retreat, write them down. These experiences are vivid in the moment but fade quickly once you return to daily life.

Plan your re-entry. The biggest mistake solo retreat travelers make is scheduling a packed day immediately after the retreat ends. Give yourself at least one transition day before flights, meetings, or social obligations. The contrast between retreat space and regular life can be jarring, and a buffer day makes the integration smoother.

The right wellness retreat can be one of the most powerful experiences of your life. It can shift your relationship with your body, your mind, your patterns, and your sense of what is possible. And doing it solo ensures that every insight, every breakthrough, and every moment of peace is entirely yours. Bali is one of the best destinations for combining wellness retreats with solo exploration.

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