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Top 10 painting holidays for solo travellers
Pablo Picasso once said, “Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” If your soul feels laden and in need of a spring clean, you’ll find artistic inspiration here, in holidays in France, Morocco, Greece, Spain and more.
What medium to choose? Our painting holidays don’t just go all over the world, but use all manner of media too, from chalks to acrylics. Watercolours do well on holiday – portable, fast-drying, great for dreamy landscape sketches and instant impact – and a relaxing holiday is a great way to apply their sometimes mercurial and fiddly application without distraction.
Add in experienced tutors, plus the chance to meet other artists in a supportive environment: these holidays offer me-time that you, and your soul, will appreciate.
Keep reading to discover our best painting holidays for solo travellers.
What medium to choose? Our painting holidays don’t just go all over the world, but use all manner of media too, from chalks to acrylics. Watercolours do well on holiday – portable, fast-drying, great for dreamy landscape sketches and instant impact – and a relaxing holiday is a great way to apply their sometimes mercurial and fiddly application without distraction.
Add in experienced tutors, plus the chance to meet other artists in a supportive environment: these holidays offer me-time that you, and your soul, will appreciate.
Keep reading to discover our best painting holidays for solo travellers.
1. Wonderful watercolours in France
“We had some great picnics,” says our traveller Sue Sheppard, who went on our watercolour painting holiday. Indeed, al fresco’s the word on this wonderful week in France, the home of plein air painting – for both the art and the dining. Spend the days painting by the pool, and taking sketches of local gardens and charming streets in nearby towns accompanied by your art tutor. Down palettes and pick up charcuterie platters at mealtime at the family-run chateau. The vast majority of our travellers on this trip join solo – you can, too.
Best time to go: April to July
Our top selling trip: Watercolour painting holiday in France
Best time to go: April to July
Our top selling trip: Watercolour painting holiday in France
2. Kasbahs, ksours & creativity: painting in Morocco
Morocco’s earthen clay architecture is a fantastic subject for painting: sketch these sun-scorched organic forms as they rise in dramatic hilltop ksours (fortified villages) like Ait Benhaddou, which lies on the former caravan route linking Marrakech with the desert. Morocco isn’t short of subjects: paint in the Sahara, paint in the Valley of the Roses, paint in the tiled courtyards of shady riads – all with the chance for one to one mentoring with your experienced tutor. Best of all, there’s no single supplement on this trip.Best time to go: March and October
Our top selling trip: Painting holiday in Morocco
3. Connect with nature in Crete
It’s not just the art that will nourish the soul in Crete – you’ll be painting in a landscape so pristine that it’s part of the Europe-wide programme, Natura 2000, to keep it that way. “You can paint en plein air in a diverse range of settings,” says Dafni Triantafyllou, who runs our Crete painting holidays, “Byzantine churches, Roman ruins, beaches and traditional cafes.” Share the wild coastline and tiny tavernas with a small group of new friends, relaxing and sharing insights to make connections both to the landscape through art, and to each other.Best time to go: May to September
Our top trip: Painting holiday in Crete
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4. Sketch & sail: art cruise in Scotland
Not many people venture to the Hebrides with their sketchpads, but those that do rarely forget it, so captivating is the atmosphere here. Sketching and painting will capture vast natural landscapes: remote lochs and fishing villages under wonderfully moody skies. “People often leave little sketches and homemade thank you cards,” says Julie Dubois Marshall, managing director from our small ship cruising partner. They don’t charge a single supplement, depending on availability, and the cruise is really popular, especially with solo female travellers.
When to go: April and September
Our top trip: Scotland art cruise
When to go: April and September
Our top trip: Scotland art cruise
5. Learn how to paint sunsets in Andalucia
Pack your artists’ stools, your tools and your sketchpad into saddlebags and they’ll be carried up the hill on horseback. At the top, learn landscape painting from a tutor with 30 years of experience in the area, who knows all the best spots for plein air painting. In autumn, Andalucia experiences beautiful sunsets – by mid-September, the sun sets around 8.30pm and in the hours prior, the clear skies bathe Moorish mountain villages and the forested hillsides in a golden glow – and you can get a front-row seat. Your trusty steed will hang out nearby: you can lead a horse to a mirador, but you probably can’t make them paint.Best time to go: May to September
Our top trip: Painting holiday in Andalucia
6. Watercolours & waterlilies at Lake Skadar, Montenegro
Monet would have loved Lake Skadar. Its carpets of waterlilies provide perfect inspiration for landscape painters. Sit in the shade on the bank, your easel dug into the grass, putting on the finishing touches on the paper, ahead of downing tools and going for a swim. Tomorrow you’re off to Budva’s old town to sketch out the texture of its city walls. There’s time afterwards for wine tasting, too. Your arts tutor’s main discipline is watercolour – surely the perfect medium for capturing waterlilies, but you can also learn about inks, acrylics, pastels and other media.Best time to go: May and September
Our top trip: Painting holiday in Montenegro
7. Join an artistic community painting in Cyprus
“We have a personal goal to have five full-time artists in the village over the next years,” says Tim Price, director of our Cyprus art holidays partner. Together with his business partner, Francis, they invite artists to come for community, creativity and more. “I’m a wood sculptor, and he’s an artist and movie maker,” explains Tim. You might be travelling solo, but you’ll not be alone – you’ll be meeting artists in the community: icon painters, spoon carvers and weavers. Plus, spend time working in the medium of your choice in shady, forested mountain slopes, rural villages and olive groves.
Best time to go: All year round
Our top trips: Cyprus painting holidays
Best time to go: All year round
Our top trips: Cyprus painting holidays
8. Yoga & painting in Portugal
Even on solo holidays, good things come in pairs: that’s the idea behind this yoga and painting holiday. The two practices complement each other well; they’re all about observing the moment, and both are very enjoyable when you do them under the shade of the local carob trees, admiring the view. Work in acrylics, chalk, ink and more, learning about everything from landscape painting to mastering the art of sketching animals. “Guests often joke that the hardest decision of the day is choosing which view to paint!” says our painting partner in Portugal.Best time to go: May and September
Our top trip: Painting and yoga holiday in Portugal
9. Catalonia Spain
Miro, Dali, Gaudi – Catalonia seems to punch above its weight in terms of its contributions to the art and architecture world of the 20th century. What better place to seek inspiration? Based in an off-grid hotel with a pool, you’ll explore Girona’s towns and cities for inspiration, growing in confidence thanks to expert tuition. “Art tutor Dominika created an encouraging atmosphere that allowed me to progress with my art in new ways,” says our traveller Caroline Hoy. Who knows, maybe we have the next Catalan sensation on our hands.Best time to go: October
Our top trip: Art holiday in Girona, Spain
10. Beautiful botanical art in Greece
September brings the flowering of sea squills and cyclamen to the Pelion peninsula – the perfect plants to study on a botanical painting holiday in Greece. This country has some of the most diverse flora on the continent. On our trip, take specimen walks along the paths outside the village to (literally) pick your subjects, then return to the studio to learn how to capture them on paper. Naturally, your painting space is surrounded by gardens – supplying not just your inspiration, but your dinner ingredients, too.
Best time to go: September
Our top trip: Botanical painting holiday in Greece
Best time to go: September
Our top trip: Botanical painting holiday in Greece
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