On your wellness vacation, do you want to find yourself in meditation? Or lose yourself in indulgence?

Detox with a juice cleanse? Or sip organic cocktails?

Adhere to a strict schedule? Or happily wander on your own?

There are no wrong answers here. Every resort has its own approach to wellness, so you want to make sure it aligns with your goal, whether that’s total relaxation, improved mental health, or just a fresh start. You also need to align your experience with your budget! You can easily spend $1,000 per night for a super-luxurious retreat, but it’s not hard to find affordable wellness resorts that offer natural beauty and memorable experiences for less than $200 per night. Below, we suggest six great picks in the United States.

One more thing: No matter how much you spend, it’s wise to insure your wellness retreat. Why? One, you need trip cancellation benefits, so you don’t lose your money if you have to cancel last-minute for a covered reason. Two, if you miss some of your scheduled trip because of a covered travel delay or trip interruption, you want to be reimbursed for the part you missed. And three, wellness vacations are all about peace of mind — and the best way to achieve it is with travel insurance. Get a quote for your upcoming vacation.

Three of the Best Luxury Wellness Resorts

“The Golden Door pampers and challenges you, and it’s up to you to decide how you want to use the experience,” actress Susan Sarandon says of this luxurious retreat in San Marcos, California. The Golden Door, a Japanese-inspired resort on 600 acres, isn’t the kind of place you go to just for a weekend. It offers all-inclusive, week-long programs of fitness classes, sessions with a personal trainer, a daily in-room massage, skin-care sessions, and meals centered on produce from the resort’s own bio-intensive farm. A seven-night stay is $8,850.ⁱ

No TV. No cell service. Limited Wi-Fi. Instead, The Ranch Malibu gives you a full daily schedule of healthy activities. A Tibetan chime wakes you at 5:30 for breakfast and a four-hour group hike, followed by nap time, strength conditioning, yoga, a daily massage and an 8:30 p.m. bedtime. By the end of a week, the resort promises, you’ll be “emanating a vibrant, healthy glow and regaining mental clarity and peace of mind.”ⁱⁱ One week costs around $7,800.

In Sedona, Arizona, a town famed for its healing energy vortexes, the Mii amo resort offers guests an otherworldly experience. “You can breathe ancient, powerful energy,” the resort says. “You can seek the blessings of the sun and let the earth speak to your heart.” You can also enjoy luxurious massages, savor chef-created meals or enjoy a Prickly Pear Margarita at the bar. But Mii amo is about more than creature comforts; what sets it apart from other wellness resorts are its mystical, New Age encounters. You can do chanting, psychic readings, aura photography, energy work, astrology or a past-life regression. Seven-night Journey packages cost around $1,000 per night.

Three of the Best Affordable Wellness Resorts

People have been coming to Sycamore Springs Resort & Spa in San Luis Obispo, California, since the late 1800s. The draw is its naturally heated mineral springs that energize and heal guests. The resort is peppered with hillside hot tubs, and every room has its own tub on the deck. Groups can also rent the private waterfall lagoon. Rooms start at $170 per night. An additional resort fee gives you access to yoga, Pilates, and tai chi classes, as well as the resort’s sister property, Avila Hot Springs.

At the Art of Living Retreat Center, you can choose your own adventure. For mental and physical rejuvenation or pain relief, there’s the Panchakarma Retreat. To erase stress and negativity, there’s the Happiness Retreat. For spiritual renewal, try a guided silent retreat. And for pure relaxation, Art of Living offers Ayurvedic spa retreats. This serene wellness resort is perched high in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Boone, North Carolina. Alcohol and meat are forbidden in public spaces, although guests are permitted to indulge in their rooms (if your idea of wellness includes champagne and cheeseburgers). Daily room rates start around $150, with extra fees for meals and activities, or you can choose an all-inclusive retreat package.

Maybe your ideal wellness vacation is about inner peace, not pricey pampering. Consider the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Ranch in New York, where you can spend a weekend or longer doing detox, meditation and yoga. At this supremely affordable wellness resort, daily rates for a shared room or apartment range from about $80 to $110 per person, or a little more for a single room. If that’s too much, you can pay as little as $60 per person to camp on the property. The daily rate includes workshops, classes and organic, vegetarian meals.ⁱⁱⁱ

Related Articles

• Planning An Adults Only Vacation For Kid Free Fun
• How to Eat Healthy While Taking a Road Trip
• What is Ecotourism All About