Treat your mom to a special getaway this Mother’s Day
Have you already figured out how to surprise your mom this Mother’s Day?
Flowers, baking a cake, arrange a Mother’s Day brunch, inviting her to a restaurant?
Well, maybe the latter. But only when it’s part of a Mother’s Day getaway trip taking your mom, you and perhaps other family members to a special place for the weekend (or longer).
If you are looking to surprise your mom with a gateway on Mother’s Day, the list of travel destinations and adventures is nearly unlimited. The trip you will chose will be down to your mom’s preferences and could be anything between a city break, wellness retreat, outdoor adventure, culture, or culinary trip.
The list below does not focus on specific destinations but rather different types of getaways that will work perfectly for a trip to take together with your mom on Mother’s Day, or any other day by the way.
With Mother’s Day just around the corner – at least in the UK where it’s celebrated on March 10th this year – do not waste any time to book an unforgettable getaway to spoil your mom.
If you live somewhere else, you still have a bit more time. In most countries in Europe as well as the United States Mother’s Day is celebrated on May 12th while it’s already on May 5th in Spain, Portugal, Hungary, Romania, and a few other countries in Europe. But with spring travel in full swing by then, don’t wait until the last moment.
8 fantastic Mother’s Day getaway ideas to spoil your mom
Below I have listed eight different types of trips that would make for a fantastic Mother’s Day getaway. Think of your mom’s preferences and start planning right away.
Take a wellness trip
Spa days are perfect for anyone to relax and recharge, and it’s the most perfect way to treat you mom on Mother’s Day.
Think of feel-good massages, energetic treatments, an Ayurvedic therapy, yoga classes, steam baths, sauna, and just floating around in a large pool.
There are plenty of fantastic wellness retreats or hotels with huge spa areas offering every and any treatment you could think of. Based on your mom’s preferences, you will find the right destination either in a city or the countryside. The latter offers additional opportunities of relaxed nature walks and beautiful scenery.
Just google ‘wellness retreat near (insert place where your mom lives)’ and you will get a huge list of destinations to seek out for a stay.
Visit a wine region
Wine regions are fantastic places if you are looking to spoil someone. Beautiful landscape, good wine and good food, and increasingly accommodation directly at a winery or nearby wine-inspired hotels, excursions into the vineyards, and winery tours are only few examples.
Wine travel has come a long way and with the geography of wine regions now including destinations you might never have guessed the next vineyard area should not be too far from where your mom lives.
Even the UK now boasts fantastic wine destinations, mostly across Kent, Surrey and Sussex, the Southwest and Hampshire. Elsewhere in Europe, stunning wine regions are found in nearly any region. Think of Germany’s Mosel Valley, Loire Valley, Alsace, or Champagne in France, Italy’s Tuscany or Piemonte, Rioja in Spain, the Douro Vally, Alentejo, or lately even the Algarve in Portugal, and so many more across the rest of Europe. In the U.S. the most travelled wine region remains Napa Valley, but there is plenty more to explore from vineyards in Virginia to Oregon’s Willamette Valley, and even Arizona and Texas. Or venture further south to Baja California.
Book accommodation directly at a winery or a local hotel offering wine related activities like wine tasting, taking a wine masterclass, make your own wine, or simply go on an excursion through the vineyards. Then end your day (or days) with a wine tasting menu.
Arrange a culinary adventure trip
For the foodie mom, find a place offering great food and perhaps more activities around food, such as cooking classes, excursions to farmer markets, local food farms and food producers.
This could be a particular hotel offering food-related activities, cooking classes with famous local chefs, and an on-site Michelin-starred restaurant. There are many hotels and resorts offering full culinary adventure packages even taking away any worries to arrange every activity separately yourself.
Spring is also the time where the first food festivals of the year will start to take place. Just seek out the nearest events near your mom’s home or look for a particular food festival (celebrating asparagus season, seafood, you name it) celebrating the food your mom loves.
Go to see spring blossoms, a botanical garden or a flower show
Your mother loves gardening? Then book a trip to a destination offering stunning spring blossoms, visit a botanical garden or garden/flower show.
The timing is perfect as the first flower shows are starting to kick-off around mid-March. Expositions of beautiful flower arrangements, highlighting sustainable gardening practices, and what to harvest in the garden, a trip to a flower show is always highly inspirational.
From Chealsy Flower Show to the first cherry blossoms at Kew Gardens, Harrogate, Cumbria or Cornwell, there are plenty of beautiful destinations for garden enthusiasts across the UK.
Elsewhere in Europe, with Mother’s Day taking place in May, the opportunities are even vaster. From seeing cherry blossoms to poppy fields in Tuscany, Tulips in the Netherlands, the International Garden Festival in the Loire Valley in France, opportunities abound.
In the United States, the famous Portland Rose Festival, Rochester Lilac Festival, The California Poppy Festival (a bit early but why not), the International Flower and Garden Festival in Orlando are just few examples. Or head of to visit one of many botanical gardens across the country, from Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix to the United States Botanic Garden in Washington D.C. and anywhere between just find the nearest to your mom’s home and treat her to a wonderful blossoming time.
Book a city trip
City trips are perfect for any occasion and offer a vastly diverse range of activities to find something to please anyone, so why not take your mom on a city trip.
It does not even have to be a hug city like London or Paris. There are many smaller cities allowing for a more leisurely pace of exploring but are still packed full of beautiful sights, museums, shops, cafes, and restaurants.
Across the UK, think of places like Edinburgh (OK, not the smallest), Bath, Brighton, Cambridge, Dundee, or York amongst others.
As for the rest of Europe, Delft (Netherlands), Bruges (Belgium), Bamberg, Heidelberg, Rothenburg, or Würzburg (Germany), Verona (Italy), Trondheim (Norway), Caseres (Spain), and Salzburg (Austria) are only few that would spring to mind.
For more ideas across Europe or the United States, simply google ‘small city trip’ or ‘best small cities’ and you will get a nearly unlimited list of awesome destinations.
Book a stay at a castle
Challenge your mom’s inner princess and head of for a weekend spend in a splendid castle hotel.
From Thornbury Castle to Amberly Castle, Cliveden House, Appleby Castle, Coombe Abbey, Swinton Estate, and so many more, the UK is awash with stunning castle hotels from north to south and east to west.
Elsewhere in Europe, places like Ashford Castle or Kilkea Castle in Ireland, the many stunning castle hotels in Germany (Schlosshotel), Spain (Parador), Portugal (Pousada), and almost every other country offer a nearly unlimited choice. And chances are high you do not need to travel far from your mom’s place.
Even the United States has its fair share of stunning castle hotels. Just think of Highlands Castle ( New York), the Kentucky Castle (Kentucky), Thornewood Castle (Washington) and Ravenwood Castle (Ohio) are just few examples.
Booking a stay at a castle hotel for Mother’s Day, your mom will feel like royalty, and really that’s the way it should be.
Travel to see a sporting event
Your mom loves sport, and there is a particular sport she loves and never misses watching a competition on TV?
OK, not too many moms’ might be raving soccer fans (though some might be), but what about tennis, horse racing, car racing, golf, badminton, you name it.
Though chances are limited one of these events will take place on Mother’s Day, your mom won’t certainly mind travelling on any other date.
Check out the nearest event that you know would knock your mom off her feet attending in person.
The Wimbledon tennis tournament or Royal Ascot would be just awesome, wouldn’t they? Or perhaps the Formular 1 race at Silverstone?
Outside the UK, just think of similarly spectacular (or less spectacular) events your mom would love.
A lot of these events even offer packages including entry to the competition along with accommodation worth to check out.
Go to the outdoors
Your mom loves hiking or biking? Or just a leisurely walk along the coast or through the woods?
The list of exciting outdoor adventures is nearly unlimited.
If your mom lives in the city, simply think of a nice place not too far away that offers plenty of nature.
Whether that’s going to the Lake District or Yorkshire Dales when living in London (or another larger city in the UK), escaping to the beach in Normandy from Paris, driving into the Spreewald from Berlin, and all the other places offering beautiful landscapes across Europe and the United States, it’s only your imagination that will limit your choice.
Surprising your mom with a joint getaway for Mother’s Day is the ultimate gift. With Mother’s Day just around the corner don’t waste time start planning your trip right away.
Carrots and Tigers 