There are lots of reasons to take a solo trip. Maybe you had a rough year, maybe you need a break from work, or you want to challenge yourself and see who you meet along the way. You can travel solo anywhere, but if you hope to take a breather and find a deeper connection with the natural world and yourself, we have a few suggestions. Whatever has you thinking about flying solo, we’ve got you. Here are eight rejuvenating trips to take in 2026.
Surround yourself with trees and temples in Japan
Japanese trekking system the Kumano Kodo is one of only two UNESCO World Heritage Pilgrimage routes—the other being the Camino de Santiago through Spain and France. There are six main roads in the network—writer Peggy Orenstein tackled the Nakahechi route in 2017—across the mountainous Kii Peninsula, south of Kyoto, and Japanese pilgrims have been walking them for more than a millennium.
You can make the trek a little easier than it was for medieval peasants by booking Oku Japan’s six-day, self-guided tour (from $1,595 or from $2,115 with single supplement), which includes the option of luggage transfers for an additional fee. You’ll enjoy the temples, shrines, and 436-foot-tall Nachi Falls a lot more with that weight off your shoulders.
Related: This Epic Hike in Japan Takes You Through Ancient Shrines, Onsen Towns, and Magical Forests
(Try to) slow your aging in Switzerland
From its tidy green campus on the shores of Switzerland’s Lake Geneva in Montreux, Clinique La Prairie is doing its best to resist Father Time. The “most progressive longevity clinic in the world” offers guests advanced health diagnostics—everything from MRIs and bone-density scans to testing for heavy metals, minerals, and other toxins—from more than 50 specialists.
There are six different one-week longevity retreats, plus a four-day, three-night “Stem Cells Protocol” and a three-day, two-night health diagnostic option. The signature “Revitalization” program, for example, promises a stronger immune system, regenerated cells, and improved sleep. Drinking from the proverbial fountain of youth is eye-watering, priced at approximately $26,000 for a week’s retreat (21,000 CHF).
Participants practice zazen, the form of meditation at the very heart of Zen practice, at Zen Mountain Monastery in the Catskills.
Courtesy of Zen Mountain Monastery; design by Emily Blevins
Meditate across the USA
If you want to dip your toe into quiet contemplation without flying to a long workshop somewhere far away, consider one of the many meditation retreats in the United States. From Maine to California, these domestic meditation centers in generally rural areas run retreats as short as one day and as long as one month, with wholesome vegetarian meals and ample time to rest and read.
New Englanders, for example, can get to Insight Meditation Society, about 90 minutes west of Boston, Rolling Meadows, 90 minutes northeast of Portland, Maine, and Zen Mountain Monastery in New York’s Catskills region without too much trouble. Those in San Francisco can reach Spirit Rock in about an hour by car or two hours by bus.
Take an Ayurvedic retreat in Sri Lanka
Head to Sri Lanka for a stay at Sen Wellness Sanctuary, a yoga retreat on Sri Lanka’s southern coast rooted in Ayurvedic medicine. Founded in 2014 by Sam Kankanamge, who had for years prior run a holistic healthcare clinic in London, the center offers 10-day retreats featuring twice-daily yoga, Ayurvedic consultations and treatments, acupuncture, and a five-hour “heart-opening” ceremony. All of it takes place at an eco-friendly resort in a protected mangrove area, steps from the Indian Ocean.
Join a menopause retreat, from Massachusetts to the Maldives
A small but growing contingency of resorts are hosting retreats and programs for perimenopause or menopausal women during which guests will learn more about navigating the physical and mental changes and challenges that can come with menopause. Act 2 at luxury dude ranch Alisal in Solvang, California, is once a year, while those at Canyon Ranch (in Lenox, Massachusetts, and Fort Worth, Texas) are twice annually. Six Senses now has three-, five-, and seven-day Female Wellness programs for guests at its hotels in Kanuhura (Maldives), Rome, Douro Valley (Portugal) and Crans-Montana (Switzerland). The itineraries vary by retreat but include coaching sessions, health assessments, seminars, and healthy meals.
Afar contributor Blane Bachelor attended a menopause retreat at Canyon Ranch where she took a cold plunge, attended a lecture on lecture on exercise and menopause, participated in a bone-strengthening rowing class, and she wrote “felt seen and supported” during a “a years-long slog of hot flashes, mood swings, and a body that seems to be revolting against me with alarming frequency.”
Hiking alone in the Himalayas, Kate McMahon “felt wholly independent, accountable for every success and every misstep.”
Courtesy of Kate McMahon
Give your mind a break and your legs a workout in Nepal
Afar contributor Kate McMahon spent a month hiking solo in the Himalayas. As McMahon, an experienced trekker, wrote, “As cliché as it sounds, I came to Nepal to find myself in the mountains and then realized I had to lose myself first. There are few better places for an identity crisis than alone in the shadow of giants. . . . With each day on my own, I felt a deepening sense of detachment from society and a growing communion with nature. My anxieties and insecurities faded away into the glacier-scraped valleys.”
If you’re a keen hiker but don’t want to be entirely alone, contact Three Sisters Adventure Trekking, based in Pokhara. Have a look at their group treks so you know what your options are, from an easy one- to three-day trek to long, strenuous hikes up to Mount Manaslu and Everest Base Camp. Once you’ve decided how long you want to hike and at what level of difficulty, you can book a private guide and go for a solo trek, with an experienced guide for support.
Admission to Banff Upper Hot Springs is first-come, first-served, and tickets can only be purchased in person.
Photo by Noel Hendrickson, courtesy of Parks Canada
Take a hot soak in a Canadian national park
There are a handful of places to take a soak in hot springs both in and around Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. Just outside the park, overnight guests and day visitors alike can soothe their muscles in the pools at Fairmont Banff Springs’ spa.
Within Canada’s most-visited national park, guests of Basin Glacial Waters, the new spa at Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, has a thermotherapy circuit of hot and cold pools. Also within the park is 140-year-old Banff Upper Hot Springs, where parkgoers can soak in its mineral-rich waters, heated to between 98 and 104℉. The hot springs are closed until spring, so keep your eye on Parks Canada; admission to these soothing pools is first-come, first-served, and tickets can only be purchased in person, so you’ll want to jump on booking your trip.
Learn while walking in nature in Australia
Put on your walking shoes for a ramble across northeastern Tasmania (Lutruwita) with wukalina Walk, owned and run by Palawa (Tasmanian Aboriginal) guides. Over four days and three nights between September and April or May, guests on this small-group trip will walk about 22 miles across gorgeous nature, including toward the beautiful Larapuna/Bay of Fires, known for its clear water and orange-colored granite rocks.
Throughout the trip, visitors will learn about Palawa history and culture, including information on endemic plants and animals, herbal medicine, and traditional food sources, with the opportunity to sample seasonal bush tucker. During long stretches of walking, guests can choose to chat to each other and guides or get lost in personal reflection. Meals are eaten communally and include traditional fare like mutton and wallaby (dietary requirements are easily accommodated).
Related: How Travel Can Help You Live a Longer, Healthier Life
This article was originally published in January 2021 and was most recently updated on January 23, 2026, with current information. Sophie Friedman and Blane Bachelor contributed to the reporting of this story.
