Girls Trips for 2027: The 35–55 Version — Women-Only Departures, Reading Retreats, and the Trip With One Skeptic

Why 2027

The 2027 trend that matters for this age group: women-only small-group tours became a real category. Companies like Tauck and Insight Vacations run 12-to-16-person, women-only departures to places (Morocco, Peru, the Amalfi) where going as a solo woman or organizing a group of friends is hard. The reason it's on this list: it removes the one thing that sinks 35–55 girls trips — the planning load falling on one woman. The trip is planned; the group just shows up.

Works best for groups where…

The group of friends who want to travel together but have stopped volunteering to plan — the women-only tour is the no-one-carries-it trip.

Breaks down when…

One woman in the group can't let go of control. The women-only tour has a guide and a schedule; the friend who needs to plan the trip herself will spend the week resenting the guide.

Why 2027

The default 35–55 girls trip, still booking because it works. Napa is the trip where the plan is simple (winery, lunch, winery, dinner), the lodging is good (a 4-bedroom house in Yountville or Calistoga runs $600–$900/night split four ways), and the pace is slow by design. The 2027 reason it's here: it's the baseline against which every other girls trip is measured — and the trip that reveals whether the group actually wants a wine trip or wants a trip that sounds like one.

Works best for groups where…

The 4-person group that genuinely wants wine, long lunches, and an early bedtime — Napa is the trip that delivers exactly that.

Breaks down when…

Half the group doesn't drink. A Napa trip with a non-drinking contingent is the trip where the non-drinkers spend four days as the audience for the drinkers, and that's a long four days.

Why 2027

Nashville for the 40-something girls trip, not the bachelorette. The version that works skips Broadway for East Nashville (the group that wants record shops, Margot, and a slow morning at the coffee shop) or 12South (the shopping-and-brunch group). A 4-bedroom house in East Nashville runs $350/night. The 2027 reason: Nashville is the rare city that does the bachelorette and the 40-something trip equally well, and the difference is the neighborhood, not the city.

Works best for groups where…

The group that wants a city trip with music, food, and no pressure — East Nashville is the low-key version of a city that's usually high-key.

Breaks down when…

The group expected the Broadway version. The 40-something group that accidentally booked the bachelorette version of Nashville is a group in a loud bar on a Tuesday wondering how they got there.

Why 2027

The reading-retreat girls trip: four women, a rented cottage in Sconset, a stack of books, and a beach. Nantucket in shoulder season (May, September — not July, which is weddings and $1,000/night) is quiet, 70°, and a 3-bedroom cottage runs $500/night split four ways. The 2027 reason: the 'trip where we do nothing' became a real category for this age group, and Nantucket is its capital.

Works best for groups where…

The group that's overt about the intention to rest — a Nantucket reading retreat is the trip where 'I'm reading on the porch' is the plan and no one apologizes for it.

Breaks down when…

One member of the group needs a plan. The reading retreat with a 'what are we doing today' person is a week of that person generating activities no one asked for.

Why 2027

The 35–55 girls trip that hits every dimension — food (FIG, The Ordinary), walkability (the historic district), and pace (porch drinks to high-end dinners). A 4-bedroom house on the Charleston peninsula runs $450/night. The 2027 reason: Charleston is the trip that works for a mixed group because it doesn't force a pace — the planners can tour, the chillers can porch, and they meet at dinner.

Works best for groups where…

The 4–6 person group with a pace split — Charleston is the rare city where the planner and the chiller both have a good trip.

Breaks down when…

The group goes in summer. Charleston in July is 95° and humid; the walking city becomes an air-conditioned-restaurant city, and the pace everyone agreed on collapses into 'wherever the AC is.'

Why 2027

The culture-and-wellness girls trip that's half the price of Sedona and the same vibe. Santa Fe is galleries, the Meow Wolf, and the Ten Thousand Waves spa outside town; a 4-bedroom adobe in the historic district runs $400/night. The 2027 reason: it's the high-altitude, dry-air, art-and-spa trip that appeals to the group split between a culture person and a wellness person.

Works best for groups where…

The group with one art-and-culture person and one spa-and-rest person — Santa Fe is the rare trip where both get their version.

Breaks down when…

The group is there for the altitude (7,200 ft) and didn't prepare. Santa Fe is high and dry; the member who didn't drink water is the day-two headache, and that's the trip's friction.

Why 2027

The active girls trip that isn't a beach or a spa. Scotland (Edinburgh for 3 nights, the Highlands for 4) is walking, distilleries, and castles, and it's the trip for the group that wants to move without it being a 'hiking trip.' A 4-bedroom flat in Edinburgh runs $300/night; the Highland portion is B&Bs. The 2027 reason: it's the girls trip for the group that's done Napa and wants something with weather and a narrative.

Works best for groups where…

The group that wants a trip with a story (we went to Scotland) and is okay with rain — Scotland rewards the group that doesn't mind weather.

Breaks down when…

The group expected sun. Scotland in any season is 50/50 rain; the group that packed for Spain is the group that's wet and grumpy by day two.

Why 2027

The wellness girls trip that's the test of the group. Bali (Ubud for yoga and spas, Seminyak for the beach) is the 8–10 day trip that requires the longest flight and the most commitment, and it's on this list because of what it reveals: every friend group has one skeptic, and a Bali wellness retreat is the trip that finds her. The 2027 reason: the wellness-retreat girls trip became a real category, and Bali is its center — and it's the trip that works only if the skeptic is genuinely onboard.

Works best for groups where…

The group that's all-in on wellness — the trip where 6 a.m. yoga is the plan and everyone means it.

Breaks down when…

The skeptic was talked into it. The friend who 'came along' to the Bali wellness retreat is the one on her phone during the 7 a.m. meditation, and her resentment is the trip's by-product.