Weekend getaway ideas for women over 60

The best weekend away with friends at 60 is a small walkable town, two nights, with the plan already made. Everything below follows from that, and from one thing most travel writing gets wrong about this age: the constraint is not mobility or energy. It is that everyone's calendar is full and nobody wants to be the one organising it.

What actually gets in the way

Not stairs. Not stamina. Three other things:

Nobody wants to be the planner. In most groups the same woman has organised every birthday and every holiday for thirty years, and she would like one trip she did not arrange.

Getting everyone to commit. The trip dies in the group chat, usually in the stage where people are waiting to see what everyone else says.

Flights. They add a day at each end and a reason for somebody to drop out.

What to look for in a destination

A town you can walk end to end. Park once. This is the single thing that changes how a weekend feels, because it means the wine at dinner is not a problem.

Rooms with character, in the middle of town. Not a chain by the highway with a shuttle.

One dinner worth dressing for. The trip needs a centrepiece and it is almost always a meal.

A plan that already exists. Somebody has to decide what happens Saturday afternoon. It should not be a group of six standing on a pavement at two o'clock.

Drive, do not fly

Four hours in a car with friends is part of the trip. Two flights and a connection is not.

There are 80 towns on the Feels Like Europe list across 33 states, which is enough that most groups have one within a comfortable drive.

Every decision, already made for you

Where to stay, where to eat, what to do, and a ready made 48 hour plan for every town. Pick one, send it to the group, go.

See the handbookOne time payment. Love it or full refund.

Two nights is the right length

Friday to Sunday. One long dinner, one full day, home in time to unpack before Monday.

How to get the group to say yes

Do not ask where everyone wants to go. That question has no answer and the thread dies.

Pick two towns and two sets of dates. Send both. Ask people to vote. A choice between four things gets answered; an open question does not.

Every town comes with a full weekend plan, hour by hour, in The Girls' Trip Handbook.

Frequently asked questions