Best Grief Retreats in the World for Grief & Loss 2026/2027

Type “best grief retreats in the world” into Google and you'll find plenty of lists telling you exactly where you should go. But after running divorce and grief retreats for more than five years, I think there is a problem with calling any one retreat the best.

Best for whom?

Someone whose husband or wife has died after 40 years of marriage may need something completely different from somebody whose marriage has suddenly ended. A parent grieving the loss of a son or daughter may want to be surrounded by other bereaved parents, while somebody in their twenties who has lost a parent may desperately need to meet people their own age who understand what they're going through. Another person may want qualified therapy and a structured programme, while somebody else may be looking for something spiritual, creative or simply a safe place to stop for a while.

There are now grief retreats around the world offering very different experiences, and I think that's a good thing. Grief is personal, so the support we choose should be personal too.

I founded Mending Hearts Retreat after going through my own divorce and experiencing grief first-hand. Since then I've spent more than five years running retreats and watching people arrive feeling nervous, exhausted and unsure of what to expect. I've also seen what can happen when you take somebody away from their everyday environment, give them proper professional support and put them around other people who understand.

So rather than giving you another list of retreats I've never attended and declaring which ones are the “best”, I want to explain what I think you should actually look for when choosing a grief and loss retreat, what you should expect to pay, why one retreat can cost considerably more than another and which questions you should ask before handing over your money.

Because the best grief retreat in the world isn't necessarily the most expensive, the most luxurious or the one sitting at number one on somebody else's list. It's the one that's right for you.

What is a grief retreat?

A grief retreat gives you dedicated time away from everyday life to process loss or a major life change in a supportive environment. Some bereavement retreats concentrate specifically on the death of a loved one, while others take a much broader view of grief and support people experiencing divorce, separation, heartbreak, loss of identity and other significant life changes.

I think this distinction is important because grief doesn't only arrive when somebody dies. I experienced enormous grief when my own marriage ended. I wasn't only grieving my relationship; I was grieving the future I thought I had, the family unit I had known for years and, for a while, the person I thought I was.

Sometimes an hour of therapy once a week is exactly what somebody needs, but sometimes you need more than an hour. You need to remove yourself from your normal surroundings and give yourself time to work out what has happened and, importantly, what happens next. When you're at home, life doesn't stop because you're grieving. There are still emails to answer, food to buy, work to do, kids to think about and people asking if you're okay. Going away can remove some of that noise and give you time to concentrate on yourself.

That doesn't mean every grief retreat offers therapy. Some use qualified therapists or psychotherapists, while others concentrate on spirituality, meditation, yoga, nature, creativity, physical activity or peer support. None of those approaches automatically makes a retreat better or worse, but they are very different experiences, and you need to understand exactly what you're booking.

Can you really call something the best grief retreat in the world?

Personally, I don't think you can.

I could quite easily write an article called “The 10 Best Grief Retreats in the World”, find ten beautiful websites, read their reviews and rank them from one to ten. It might make a great headline, but unless I had actually attended those retreats, how could I genuinely tell you which was best?

Even if I had attended every one of them, I would still only be telling you which was best for me.

A three-night spiritual bereavement retreat in the English countryside can't really be compared with a seven-night therapist-led grief retreat in Thailand. A retreat for bereaved parents is serving a very different need from a retreat supporting somebody through divorce. A £500 community retreat and a £4,000 luxury grief retreat might both be excellent at what they do while offering completely different levels of accommodation, professional support and inclusions.

Rather than asking which grief retreat somebody else has decided is the best, I think the better question is: which grief retreat is best for what I am going through?

Start with the type of grief you're experiencing.

Before you start looking at destinations, swimming pools or bedrooms, think about why you're going.

If your partner has died, you may want a bereavement retreat for widows and widowers, where the people around you understand the particular loneliness that comes with losing somebody you shared your everyday life with. If you have lost a child, being around other bereaved parents may be far more important than whether the retreat takes place in Devon, Spain or Bali.

Age can matter too. Somebody experiencing bereavement at 25 can feel completely out of step with friends who are travelling, dating, starting careers and planning their futures. A grief retreat or bereavement programme specifically for younger adults may provide a peer group they simply wouldn't find at a general retreat.

Divorce brings another type of grief altogether. You're grieving somebody who is still alive, and quite often you're also dealing with family changes, confidence, anger, guilt, identity, finances and the frightening question of what you're supposed to do with the rest of your life.

There is overlap between all of these experiences, but they aren't identical. A retreat doesn't necessarily have to specialise exclusively in your particular type of loss, but you should feel confident that the people running it understand what you're experiencing.

How long has the grief retreat been running?

This is something I would look at very carefully.

The retreat industry has grown enormously, and a beautiful website can be created overnight. That doesn't mean a new retreat can't be excellent, because every retreat has to start somewhere, but longevity gives you something valuable to assess.

If a grief retreat has been operating successfully for five years or more, I would personally find that reassuring. It means the organisers have had time to run multiple retreats, refine the programme, work with different groups and personalities and build up a genuine history of guest feedback. In an emotionally sensitive area such as grief, experience matters.

Don't just read the sentence on the homepage telling you that the retreat is “life-changing” or “transformational”. Find out how long it has actually existed. How many retreats have they run? Can you see photographs and videos from different years? Are there previous guests talking about their experiences? Do guests ever return? Does the retreat have a visible history rather than appearing online six months ago?

Five years isn't some magic number that guarantees a good retreat, and I wouldn't automatically dismiss a newer one. But a proven track record gives you another layer of reassurance when you're trusting somebody with both your money and your emotional wellbeing.

Check the reviews, but don't just count the stars.

Reviews are probably one of the most useful things you have when researching a retreat you've never experienced yourself, but I wouldn't make a decision based purely on whether something has 4.8 or 4.9 stars.

Read what people actually say.

I'm far more interested in a detailed review explaining how somebody felt before they arrived, what they experienced during the retreat and what changed afterwards than twenty reviews saying “amazing retreat, five stars”.

Look for patterns. Do people repeatedly mention feeling safe and supported? Do they talk about the quality of the therapy or other support? Do they mention the host or facilitators? Do they talk about friendships they made? Are there video testimonials where you can actually see and hear previous guests talking about their experience rather than just anonymous quotes on a website?

Also look beyond the retreat's own website. Independent reviews, press coverage and other third-party recognition can give you another layer of confidence.

And use your common sense. If something doesn't feel right when you're researching it, keep looking. There are enough grief retreats available now that you don't need to convince yourself to book one you're unsure about.

Find out who is actually providing the emotional support

This is probably one of the most important questions you can ask, particularly if you're dealing with significant grief, trauma or a major life change.

Words such as healing, therapy, wellness and trauma are used very freely online. Before booking, find out exactly who will be supporting you and what their qualifications are.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with attending a retreat run by yoga teachers, meditation practitioners or spiritual facilitators if that's what you're looking for. But don't assume you're receiving professional therapy unless appropriately qualified professionals are actually involved.

At Mending Hearts, our group therapy is led by a qualified psychotherapist. I founded and host the retreats and bring my own lived experience of divorce, grief and rebuilding my life, but I don't pretend to be the therapist. I think that distinction is incredibly important.

When people are coming to you following bereavement, divorce or another major loss, there is a responsibility to understand where your own expertise begins and ends.

Speak to the retreat organiser before you book

If you're about to spend several thousand pounds and potentially travel to another country at one of the most vulnerable points in your life, you should be able to speak to somebody before making that decision.

I like speaking to prospective Mending Hearts guests because it gives me an opportunity to understand a little about what they're going through and it gives them the chance to ask questions that can't always be answered properly on a website. I can explain what a typical day looks like, how the therapy works, what sort of people usually attend and what they can realistically expect from the experience.

You should never feel pressured into booking during that conversation. In fact, I think a responsible retreat organiser should be prepared to tell somebody when their retreat isn't the right fit.

Ask how many guests will be there, how much free time you'll have, who leads the sessions, whether you'll be expected to talk, what happens if you become overwhelmed and what support is available afterwards. You can learn an enormous amount about a retreat from one conversation.

Why privacy can matter on a grief retreat

This is something I feel particularly strongly about.

If you've spent the morning talking about the death of your partner, the collapse of your marriage or something else deeply personal, you may not want to go back to a bedroom you're sharing with somebody you've only just met.

That is why our Mending Hearts guests have their own bedroom and private bathroom.

Of course, shared accommodation can make retreats considerably cheaper and some people are perfectly happy with it. But when comparing prices, check exactly what you're getting. A retreat costing £1,500 with shared accommodation isn't directly comparable with one costing £3,000 or £4,000 where every guest has private accommodation, meals, activities and professional therapeutic support included.

For me, having your own space isn't simply about luxury. Sometimes privacy is part of the experience because you need somewhere to decompress after doing difficult emotional work.

How much does a grief retreat cost?

There isn't a standard price because the term grief retreat covers an enormous range of experiences.

You can find shorter bereavement retreats run by charities, religious organisations and community groups for a few hundred pounds. At the other end of the market, luxury grief retreats offering qualified therapists, private accommodation, full board, transfers, activities and small group sizes can cost several thousand pounds.

This is also why comparing a grief retreat with a yoga retreat can be misleading.

A yoga retreat is usually primarily a wellness experience. You might have one or two yoga sessions each day, meditation, meals and plenty of free time. There are inexpensive yoga retreats and extraordinarily luxurious ones, so this isn't about suggesting yoga retreats are cheap. The difference is what you're actually paying for.

A specialist therapist-led grief retreat may have considerably higher costs because you're not simply paying for a bedroom, meals and activities. You're also paying for qualified professional support, smaller groups, greater levels of care and sometimes preparation and assessments before guests even arrive.

At Mending Hearts Retreat, for example, the therapeutic programme sits alongside the wellness and travel experience. Guests receive daily group therapy led by a qualified psychotherapist as well as yoga, meditation, meals, experiences and time to enjoy the destination. We deliberately choose beautiful properties because I don't believe doing serious emotional work means you need to be somewhere clinical or miserable.

When comparing grief retreat prices, look at the entire package. How many nights are included? Is your room private? Are meals and transfers included? How much professional therapy will you receive? Is individual support available? How many people will be in the group? What qualifications do the facilitators have? Is there support after you leave?

Only then can you make a sensible comparison.

What makes Mending Hearts Retreat different?

I created Mending Hearts Retreat because I wanted something that sat somewhere between a traditional therapy environment and a luxury wellness retreat.

When my own marriage ended, I understood what it felt like to lose not only a relationship but the future you thought you were going to have. I also knew that eventually I wanted more than simply learning how to cope with what had happened. I wanted to feel excited about my life again.

That philosophy has shaped Mending Hearts. Our retreats support people experiencing divorce, bereavement, heartbreak, grief and major life change, combining daily group therapy led by a qualified psychotherapist with yoga, meditation, beautiful accommodation, good food, cultural experiences and, perhaps most importantly, connection with other people going through their own version of loss.

We do serious emotional work, but grief doesn't have to occupy every minute of every day. People laugh, make friends, go out for dinner, explore somewhere new and gradually start talking about what they might want from their future rather than only talking about what they have lost.

Mending Hearts has now been running for more than six years, and one of the things I'm proudest of is how many guests stay connected afterwards and how many return. Some of the friendships formed on our retreats have continued long after everyone has gone home, which is why Mending Hearts has become much more of a community than I ever imagined when I started it.

In 2026, National Geographic Traveller included Mending Hearts in its feature on grief getaways around the world, featuring our retreat at five-star Santiburi Koh Samui in Thailand and describing Mending Hearts as “Best for: The broken-hearted.”

For a retreat that began from my own experience of divorce and grief, being recognised by National Geographic alongside grief experiences from around the world was a pretty special moment. It also reflected something I've believed from the beginning: grief isn't only about death. The end of a marriage, the loss of a relationship, the family you thought you would always have or simply the life you expected to be living can create very real grief.

Today we run Mending Hearts retreats in Marrakech and Thailand, and although the locations and accommodation are beautiful, that isn't the reason I believe the retreats work. It's the combination of professional therapeutic support, small groups, private accommodation, wellness, travel and connection that creates the experience.

Would I tell you Mending Hearts is the best grief retreat in the world? No, because after more than five years of running retreats I don't believe there is one retreat that can possibly be the best for everybody.

But if you're looking for a luxury grief retreat where you can do meaningful therapeutic work without feeling as though grief has to define every moment of your week, then Mending Hearts may be exactly what you're looking for.

Are grief retreats only for bereavement?

Definitely not, although this is probably one of the biggest misconceptions around grief.

We tend to associate grief with death because that is where the word is used most often, but humans grieve loss. That can include the death of somebody we love, but it can also include divorce, separation, infertility, redundancy, retirement, losing a home, illness, kids leaving home or a complete change in the life we thought we were going to have.

Divorce is a particularly complicated form of grief because the person you're grieving is often still very much alive. You may still have to communicate with them, share parenting responsibilities or watch them move on with somebody else while you're trying to understand what happened to the life you built together.

That's why I think people searching for a divorce retreat and people searching for a grief retreat often have far more in common than they realise.

The circumstances may be different, but underneath them can be the same questions: Who am I now? What happens next? And how do I build a life I actually want from here?

Are grief retreats worth the money?

For the right person, at the right time, I believe a grief retreat can offer something that is very difficult to recreate at home. That doesn't mean seven days will magically remove grief, because it won't, and I would be wary of anybody promising that it will.

What a retreat can give you is uninterrupted time to concentrate on yourself.

When you're grieving at home, life doesn't politely stop while you work through it. There are bills, work, family responsibilities, shopping, phones, emails and people needing things from you. Even therapy often has to fit into an hour before you rush back into normal life.

Going away removes some of that noise. It gives you time to talk properly, sleep, move your body, meet people who understand, experience something different and begin thinking about what life might look like from here.

Sometimes the biggest change isn't that the grief disappears. It's that you suddenly realise you can still laugh, make a new friend, travel somewhere new or become excited about something again without betraying what you've lost.

That can be a very important moment.

So how do you find the best grief retreat in the world?

Don't search for the retreat somebody else has decided is number one. Search for the retreat that makes sense for you.

Look at how long it has been running and whether there is a genuine track record behind it. Read the reviews rather than simply counting the stars. Find out who is responsible for the therapeutic or emotional work and check their qualifications. Look carefully at what's included in the price, whether you'll have your own room and how many people will be attending. Speak to the organiser and ask as many questions as you need to before booking.

Most importantly, think about the people you'll be surrounded by. One of the most powerful parts of a retreat isn't always what happens during the scheduled sessions; sometimes it's sitting beside somebody at breakfast who understands something you haven't been able to explain to your friends or family.

A good grief retreat shouldn't promise to remove your grief in a week because nobody can do that. What it can do is give you somewhere safe to put some of it down, understand what you're going through and begin working out how you're going to carry it differently when you go home.

And perhaps that's a much better definition of the best grief retreat in the world.

Not the one with the highest price, the most beautiful swimming pool or the number-one position on somebody else's list, but the one that feels right for you.

If you're reading this because you're looking for more than a wellness holiday and feel ready to properly work through divorce, grief, heartbreak or loss, you can find out more about our upcoming Mending Hearts Retreats and decide whether we're the right fit for you.

Our Women's Divorce & Grief Retreat in Koh Samui, Thailand takes place from 4th–11th May 2027, staying at the beautiful five-star Santiburi Koh Samui. The week combines daily group therapy led by a qualified psychotherapist with yoga, meditation, time to relax and the chance to experience Thailand alongside a small group of women going through their own life changes.

Our first Men's Divorce & Grief Retreat in Marrakech takes place from 5th–11th June 2027. This is a private, non-judgemental space for men dealing with divorce, grief, loss, guilt, changes within the family, confidence or simply trying to work out what comes next. Again, professional group therapy is at the heart of the retreat, alongside time away from everyday life to reset and start looking forward. www.mendingheartsretreat.com