Health  |  Things to Do  |  Travel

3 Self-Care Getaways to Escape the DC Area

Start the new year with relaxing spas and yoga retreats.

Serene destinations such as Virginia’s Eupepsia Wellness Resort offer an opportunity to decompress. Photograph courtesy of Eupepsia wellness resort.

Need a break from everyday stress? Retreat to these peaceful places for a restorative vacation.

Luxe Resort Spa

1. Lansdowne Resort | Leesburg, VA

Lansdowne Resort’s “wellness ambassador”can help plan a restorative stay. Photograph courtesy of Lansdowne Resort.

Drive time from DC: 40 minutes.

It’s a relatively short drive from downtown DC to Lansdowne Resort, overlooking the Potomac River in Loudoun County. Weekend-long wellness packages bundle a two-night stay with access to a group fitness course, hot-stone massage, nightly herbal foot soaks en suite, and more.

Get pampered: The spacious Spa Minérale is the main draw for a self-care vacation, featuring 14 treatment rooms for facials, body masks, and massages. Add-on services include aromatherapy and CBD-infused creams.

Mindful moments: Customize a restorative itinerary with the hotel’s “wellness ambassador,” who can help guide guests toward acupuncture, lavender-scented massages, and sunrise yoga and meditation. Is a day on the links your relaxation of choice? Three tree-lined golf courses are designed for different skill levels.

 

Farmhouse Refuge

2. Haley Farm Inn and Retreat Center | Oakland, Maryland

Haley Farm Inn and Retreat Center, near Deep Creek Lake in Maryland, hosts wellness retreats with meditation and snowshoeing. Photograph courtesy of Haley Farm Inn & Retreat Center.

Drive time from DC: Three hours.

Hit reset at the family-owned Haley Farm Inn and Retreat Center, outside Deep Creek Lake in Maryland. The cozy inn has ten suites spread across the farmhouse, a converted barn, and a carriage house. Owners Haley and Kam Gillepsie run wellness retreats with morning yoga classes and nature activities such as horseback riding and snowshoeing. Haley, a personal trainer, yoga instructor, and nutrition consultant, also offers attendees an optional one-on-one session to home in on specific wellness goals.

Mindful moments: Kam leads daily meditation sessions, while Haley guides guests through a gentle, hatha-style yoga practice.

Get pampered: Book a massage or reflexology session in advance at the intimate spa. (A reiki program is on the way.) The farm’s sauna provides a space to unwind, especially in colder months when snow blankets the property. Dishes make use of local, seasonal items from nearby farms, with accommodations for dietary preferences such as vegan and Paleo. Guests are invited to pick herbs around the property to create their own teas to bring home.

 

Recharge in the Foothills

3. Eupepsia Wellness Resort | Bland, Virginia

Photograph courtesy of Eupepsia Wellness Resort.

Drive time from DC: Five hours.

Surrounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains, bucolic Eupepsia Wellness Resort in southern Virginia practices Ayurveda, a healing philosophy that focuses on maintaining balance across mind, body, and spirit. The resort offers a variety of retreats to address different needs, from a three-day relaxation program to a two-week detox.

Get pampered: Ayurveda is an ancient practice, but the spa provides modern treatments—sensory-deprivation therapy in a salt pool, aquatic bikes for underwater cycling, and a Himalayan salt chalet designed to help improve breathing. Massages and hot-stone treatments on teakwood beds are on the menu, too.

Mindful moments: Practice your downward dog and meditative chants in the massive Grand Yoga Hall, an 8,000-square-foot space crafted with red cedar, or bundle up for forest bathing in nearby Jefferson National Forest. All meals are vegetarian, and food comes from gardens, a dairy farm, greenhouses, and even an apiary for honey, all on the 256-acre property.



Drive times are measured from the Washington Monument.
This article appears in the January 2023 issue of Washingtonian. 

Daniella Byck
Lifestyle Editor

Daniella Byck joined Washingtonian in 2022. She was previously with Outside Magazine and lives in Northeast DC.