Painting Retreats

A painting retreat gives you something a weekend workshop or an evening class cannot: sustained days of focused work in a place chosen specifically for its light, its landscape, and its capacity to hold your attention. Whether you paint in oils, watercolour, acrylics, or pastels, the retreats listed here are built around the same premise. You arrive, you set up, and you paint, with skilled instruction close at hand and no competing demands on your time.

The programmes here range from plein air weeks in Provence and the Italian lakes to studio-based intensives in converted barns, coastal villas, and mountain hotels. Some emphasise classical technique and structured demonstrations. Others are looser, built around daily excursions to painting locations with individual feedback as you work. Group sizes tend to be small, typically between six and fourteen, which means genuine one-on-one time with the instructor rather than a brief glance at your easel between twenty others.

Skill levels vary by programme. Several are designed specifically for beginners and will supply materials, easels, and guidance from the first brushstroke. Others assume you have a working practice and are looking to push it further, perhaps into plein air painting for the first time, or into a medium you have not yet tried at scale. Each listing states the expected level clearly, along with duration, group size, what the price covers, and whether accommodation and meals are included.

Browse by discipline or destination below, or head to the full search page to filter by location, duration, skill level, and price.