Golf, Relax & De-Stress Holidays

The Art of Slowing Down

The resorts on this page have been chosen for one quality above all others: the ability to make time feel different. The best de-stress destinations change your relationship with the pace of the day — mornings that don't start with a phone, golf that's played for the walk and the view rather than the score, lunches that stretch into the afternoon, spa sessions that nobody hurries you out of. This is what genuine rest looks like, and it's increasingly rare.

The golf is important — not as a competitive endeavour but as a reason to be outside, moving, concentrating on something that crowds out the thoughts that tend to follow you on a standard holiday. The spa provides the counterpart: treatments designed not just for physical recovery but for the kind of mental quietening that's hard to access through exercise alone. Put the two together in a beautiful setting, add a good dinner and some proper sleep, and most people feel meaningfully different by day three.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is golf actually relaxing? I thought it was stressful.

Competitive golf can be stressful. Holiday golf — played at a relaxed pace, on a beautiful course, without a card in hand — is genuinely one of the most effective forms of active relaxation available. You're walking in natural surroundings, concentrating on something that occupies the mind just enough to crowd out work thoughts, and doing it in a place that's usually worth looking at. Add a spa treatment in the afternoon and you have a formula that most people find profoundly restorative, regardless of how many putts they missed.

What kind of spa treatments are best for stress relief?

The most effective for pure de-stressing tend to be the slower, more passive treatments: full-body hot stone massage, aromatherapy massage with lavender or frankincense, hammam rituals (particularly in Morocco), and thermal circuit experiences where you move between heat, steam and cool water at your own pace. Flotation therapy, where available, is exceptionally effective for mental quietening. The key is treatments with low stimulation and high duration — an hour-plus of slow, quiet treatment does more for stress than two shorter sessions.

Which destinations are best for a proper de-stress trip?

Morocco is the answer for many guests — the combination of hammam culture, warm spice-scented surroundings and a slower pace of life is hard to replicate. Michlifen in the Middle Atlas mountains at 1,665m altitude has an almost meditative quality: the air is cooler, the setting is remote and the treehouse spa uses mountain spring water. In Europe, Borgo Egnazia in Puglia has a stillness to it — olive groves, whitewashed walls, the trulli village — that's genuinely calming. Cyprus (Minthis Resort in particular) offers quieter surroundings than the Spanish or Portuguese mainstream.

How do I avoid the golf becoming another source of stress?

Leave the scorecard behind. Don't book a trip with a competitive friend if the point is genuinely to unwind. Choose a course that's enjoyable rather than testing — resort courses with wide fairways and generous greens rather than the most challenging layout at the property. Play 9 holes rather than 18 if that's what the day calls for. The resorts we recommend for de-stress trips all have courses that suit a relaxed, enjoy-the-scenery approach — and spa days built into the itinerary give you natural permission to step off the course entirely.

How long do I need to actually de-stress properly?

Research consistently shows that it takes most people 2–3 days to genuinely decompress from work mode — the first day is still in transit mode mentally. Five nights is the minimum we'd recommend for a genuine de-stress trip: by night three you're usually properly settled, and the final two days are where the real benefit accumulates. Seven nights is ideal if the primary purpose is recovery from burnout or a particularly difficult period.