The Best Vacations for Women Over 40
Travel in your 40s and beyond hits a little differently. You may have more confidence, a clearer sense of what you actually enjoy, and a lot less interest in spending precious vacation days doing things just because Instagram says you should.
The best vacations for women over 40 reflect that. Whether you're craving complete relaxation, a bucket-list adventure or the chance to explore somewhere new with a group of women, these are some of the best vacation types to consider for your next trip.
If You're Craving Culture: Choose One Place and Stay Awhile
If museums, architecture, food, history, markets, and simply wandering unfamiliar streets are your idea of a great vacation, resist the temptation to turn your trip into a seven-cities-in-ten-days marathon.
Instead, pick a destination and give yourself enough time to actually experience it.
Spend three hours at lunch. Go back to the neighborhood you loved yesterday. Wander through a bookstore. Sit in a square and people-watch. Take a food tour. Visit the big attractions, but leave enough room for the things you didn't know existed before you arrived.
If You Need to Relax: Take a Reading Retreat
If waking up without an alarm sounds like a luxury, or the idea of reading for hours without interruption feels like your perfect afternoon, a reading retreat might be exactly the kind of vacation you need.
A reading retreat can be particularly appealing if you're accustomed to vacations that leave you more exhausted than when you started. There is still plenty to experience, but the goal isn't to squeeze as much as humanly possible into five days.
At Slow Travel Co., our Reading Retreats combine intentional reading and relaxation time with a few regional experiences. There is no assigned reading, nor do you need to spend the entire retreat with your nose in a book. The point is to permit yourself to slow down and dig into that TBR pile.
Where we'd go: The English countryside, the Scottish Highlands, Vermont, Bar Harbor, or the South of France.
If You Want a Big Adventure: Go on Safari
There are some trips that deserve their spot on the bucket list, and an African safari is one of them.
If you're looking for something adventurous without necessarily wanting a physically demanding vacation, a safari offers an incredible combination of wildlife, landscapes, culture, and amazing experiences.
Kenya is particularly good for combining several kinds of travel into one trip. Spend a few days exploring Nairobi and the Masai Mara, then head to the Indian Ocean coast for a few days on the beach.
It's adventure followed by rest, which might just be our favorite combination.
Where we'd go: Kenya's Masai Mara, followed by Diani Beach.
If You Want Something Completely Different: Spend a Week on the Water
You're either a cruise person or you're not. Personally, I'm not. But that doesn't mean I don't love the idea of spending a vacation on the water.
Small-boat and yacht travel can offer a completely different experience, particularly if you're drawn to the water but don't want thousands of other passengers traveling with you.
Wake up somewhere new. Swim or snorkel directly from the boat. Explore an island. Read on deck. Eat dinner overlooking the water. And because your accommodations travel with you, you get to experience multiple destinations without repeatedly packing your suitcase.
Where we'd go: Island hopping in Croatia or sailing through the Maldives.
If You Want to Challenge Yourself: Plan an Active Adventure
Being over 40 doesn't mean adventure suddenly needs to disappear from the itinerary.
Quite the opposite. Maybe this is finally the trip where you tackle the hike you've always wanted to do, try zip lining, snorkel in the Indian Ocean, or spend a day hiking through the mountains.
For one person, adventure might mean climbing a volcano. For someone else, it might mean taking her first international trip alone. The important thing is choosing your version of adventure. You don't have to prove anything to anyone.
Where we'd go: Hike Acatenango Volcano in Guatemala, explore the Italian Dolomites, zip line in Costa Rica, or hike through the landscapes surrounding Dubrovnik.
If You Want to Travel Solo, But Not Alone: Join a Women's Group Trip
One of the biggest misconceptions about solo travel is that you have to actually spend the entire trip alone. You don't.
Joining a small group trip on your own gives you much of the independence of solo travel without having to plan every hotel, transfer, activity, and meal yourself. You also arrive with a built-in group of people to explore with.
This style of travel is becoming increasingly popular. At Slow Travel Co., around half of our travelers typically arrive solo. That means showing up without knowing anyone isn't unusual. It's normal.
Where we'd go: Honestly? Anywhere you've been waiting for someone else to agree to visit.
If You Want to Feel Like You've Stepped Into a Storybook: Head to Europe
If your idea of a perfect vacation involves wandering cobblestone streets, stopping at tiny cafés, browsing old bookstores, exploring castles, and stumbling across villages that look like they belong in Beauty and the Beast, Europe is hard to beat. There are so many places where simply wandering around with nowhere in particular to be can feel like an experience in itself.
Part of the fun is choosing a destination where the setting itself is a reason to visit. Christmas markets in Germany, rolling green hills and centuries-old villages in the English countryside, or a château tucked into the landscape of southern France. These are the kinds of places where you don't need a long list of attractions to feel like you've gone somewhere truly special.
Where we'd go: The Cotswolds, Scottish Highlands, South of France, Vienna, Nuremberg, Croatia, or Portugal.
If You're Completely Burned Out: Don't Plan Much at All
If you're feeling completely burned out, the best vacation might be one that asks very little of you. By our 40s, many of us have spent decades juggling careers, families, relationships, responsibilities, and an endless stream of decisions. Even when we finally take time off, it's tempting to fill every day with activities and sightseeing. But sometimes what your brain really needs isn't a list of things to see, it's a break from having to think about what comes next.
Give yourself at least one full day with absolutely nothing planned, then wake up and decide what you actually feel like doing. Maybe you'll wander into town for coffee, spend four hours reading, find a trail you didn't know existed, sit by the pool, or take a nap at 2:00 in the afternoon. The point isn't to do nothing. It's to give yourself the freedom to decide in the moment, without another schedule telling you where you need to be.
We have become so accustomed to trying to "make the most" of our vacations that we sometimes forget we're allowed to simply enjoy them.
Where we'd go: A villa in Costa Rica, the mountains of Vermont, a countryside property in France, or just about anywhere with a comfortable chair and a good view.
If You've Been Waiting for Someone to Travel With: Stop Waiting
Perhaps the best vacation for a woman over 40 is simply the one she's been putting off.
You don't need to wait until your friends' schedules align. You don't need a partner who wants to visit the same places you do. And you don't have to choose between traveling alone and staying home.
If traveling completely solo doesn't appeal to you, there are more options than ever for joining a group on your own. A small-group trip or women's retreat gives you people to share the experience with while still giving you the independence to book the trip because you want to go. At Slow Travel Co., around half of our travelers arrive solo, so showing up without knowing anyone is completely normal.
That place you've been talking about visiting for years? Go. Your friends can join you on the next one.
So, What Is the Best Vacation for Women Over 40?
The best vacation is less about your age and more about what you want from the experience. If you're exhausted, maybe you need rest. If you're bored, you might be ready for an adventure. If you're craving independence, take the solo trip. And if you want to see the world but don't necessarily want to do it alone, find a group of women who want to go, too.
One of the best things about traveling in your 40s and beyond is that you've had plenty of time to figure out what you like, what you don't, and how you actually want to spend your time. So instead of planning the vacation you think you're supposed to take, ask yourself a much simpler question: Where do I want to go? Then start there.
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