Travel is often described as an escape, yet many trips are still packed with schedules and screens. You rush from one thing to the next and come home with more photos than you remember taking and a mind that has not really rested.

To truly step away you need distance from the noise and time for your attention to open up again. You need places where mountain air or warm surf or thick forest can take up more space than your inbox. Far from familiar routines, wonder returns in simple ways – a multi-colored sunset, the darkness of the sky at night, and unhurried conversations that are not interrupted by a phone.

Here are some highly recommended getaways that will help you disconnect on purpose and rediscover how remarkable the world and the people beside you can be.

Six Senses Bhutan • Western and Central Valleys, Bhutan

Stretching across a series of five lodges that are nestled in the western and central valleys of the Himalayan Kingdom, Six Senses Bhutan is in a league of its own. You can choose to stay at all five lodges, or at the same one. Each valley has its own character and together they create a slow-moving journey, not just a single stop. Pine forests lean toward whitewashed monasteries, clouds drag shadows across stepped rice fields, and the lodges rest within this scenery. Local stone and hand-worked timber stitch the buildings into the slope, turning each lodge into a natural extension of the hill. Morning often begins at a prayer pavilion where you enjoy a cup of tea while light moves across distant peaks and strings of prayer flags lift and settle in the wind.

Because the lodges are spread between Thimphu, Punakha, Gangtey, Bumthang, and Paro, you move at an unhurried pace across a variety of terrains. A day may start in crisp mountain air and end beside a warmer river valley. The transfer from one lodge to the next becomes part of the adventure filled with gorgeous settings, chortens, farmhouses, and schoolchildren in national dress. You are free to let your gaze rest on forested slopes instead of on a glowing screen, while your mind slowly follows.

Wellness is central yet never forced. Treatment rooms at Six Senses Bhutan use river stone, warm timber, and the scent of herbs gathered from the hills. After a consultation, therapists might suggest a soak with regional botanicals, a singing bowl meditation, or a sequence of massages that follow energy lines described in Bhutanese and Himalayan traditions. Yoga classes take place on decks that seem to hover above valleys and breathwork sessions are timed with sunrise or sunset. Even the menus lean toward balance with broths, vegetables, and grains prepared in ways that are both nourishing and indulgent.

Disconnection here is less about refusal and more about choice. Wi-fi exists if you need to check in with home, yet the signal is faint next to the call of a forest trail that climbs toward a lookout or a visit to a monastery. Guides share stories of saints, kings, and everyday village life, and you begin to notice small details such as the sound of bells on cattle returning at dusk or the way incense drifts from a temple doorway. At night, suites glow with warm lamplight, while outside, the valleys fall into near silence. It becomes natural to close the laptop, set the phone aside, and fall asleep to the river and the wind.

When you finally leave Bhutan, airports and highways are strangely loud and hurried.

Nekajui Peninsula Papagayo, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve • Guanacaste, Costa Rica

On Costa Rica’s Peninsula Papagayo, Nekajui occupies a forested expanse that looks down over the bays and the Gulf of Papagayo on the Pacific. The peninsula is a protected environment with incredible biodiversity, so the approach already is like passing into a different kind of space. The road winds through dry forest where howler monkeys claim the canopy and flashes of bright birds cross between branches. When you arrive, structures appear to grow from the hillside. Pathways step gently across the slope and every turn reveals another view of water, trees, and sky.

Guest rooms and suites are designed to draw the outside in. Many face the ocean with wide balconies or terraces and some have plunge pools that mirror the color of the bay far below. Sliding doors open so wide that the boundary between room and countryside almost disappears. You wake to filtered light, the sound of birds, and the faint hush of waves. It becomes natural to ignore the television and let the day be guided instead by sun angles and sea breeze. A leisurely breakfast on the terrace, maybe a second cup of coffee while you simply watch the play of clouds overhead, sets the tone.

Nimbu Spa & Wellness anchors the resort’s focus on restoration. Here hydrotherapy pools, relaxation rooms, and treatment spaces tucked among the trees encourage you to let go of tension you may not have realized you were holding. Therapies use botanicals along with modern techniques so that each ritual is specific to Costa Rica. Yoga or movement classes on open decks face the forest or the coast and it is not uncommon to pause mid pose to watch a bird or a drifting patch of light. Time slows and the breath deepens without effort.

Next door, golfers can tee off at the 18-hole par-72 Ocean Course at Peninsula Papagayo, an Arnold Palmer–designed layout with sweeping Pacific views, dramatic elevation changes, and fairways that trace jungle ridgelines.

Dining continues the theme of connection to place. Menus incorporate produce from nearby farms, line caught seafood, and ingredients with deep roots in Central American cooking such as heirloom corn and cacao. At Niri Beach Club or other open-air venues, meals are like extended gatherings not tasks to be completed. Even the bar programs echo the earth with cocktails built around tropical fruit, local coffee, and herbs.

For all its comforts Nekajui is still a gateway rather than a bubble. You might follow a guide into rainforest to learn about conservation, take a boat ride to a hidden cove, or simply float on the water and let your thoughts fall away.

Kimpton Mas Olas Resort and Spa, Todos Santos • El Pescadero, Mexico

The Pacific coast of Baja California Sur is home to Kimpton Mas Olas, set on a long belt of sand near the village of El Pescadero. Behind the property the Sierra de la Laguna Mountains rise in gentle folds and in front the surf rolls in an endless calm rhythm. Desert plants and palms fill carefully tended gardens so that you are always walking through green even though the surrounding backdrop is largely arid. The resort is an adults-only sanctuary and the tone across the grounds supports that promise. Laughter drifts from pools and restaurants, yet there is a notable absence of frenzy.

The architecture persuades you to move between inside and outside throughout the day. Guest rooms and suites open to terraces or balconies, and many include private plunge pools or outdoor showers. Interiors favor tactile materials such as wood, woven textiles, and stone that echo the desert and the shore. You might start the morning with a swim in one of the three pools, then lie out on a lounger and watch the light change over the waves. With your phone tucked in a bag, it becomes easier to notice the arc of pelicans and the shifting color of the water.

Here, wellness is more than an afternoon appointment. The spa offers treatments that draw on herbs, minerals, sea salt, and other ingredients from the region, woven into massages and body rituals that feel both grounding and cleansing. Yoga classes take place on decks that face the ocean, and breath focused sessions give even beginners simple tools to release mental noise. Healthy options have their place on every menu, from fresh ceviche and grilled fish to produce sourced from local growers. There is room for indulgence as well, perhaps a margarita scented with citrus or a dessert built around dark chocolate and chile. The point is not perfection but a sense of ease within your own skin.

Beyond the property, the territory invites slow exploration. Todos Santos has long drawn painters, surfers, and writers who appreciate its mix of colonial architecture and relaxed bohemian culture. You can wander narrow streets, visit small galleries, or laze in a shaded plaza and watch daily life unfold. Excursions to area farms reveal how growers coax abundance from this meeting of desert and ocean, while guided hikes into the foothills of the Sierra de la Laguna provide perspectives on both land and sea.

When evening settles, Mas Olas grows especially calm. Lanterns line the paths, the surf becomes a soft drum, and stars appear in such numbers that tomorrow seems far away.

InterContinental Hayman Great Barrier Reef • Hayman Island, Australia
In the Whitsunday Islands off the coast of Queensland, InterContinental Hayman Island occupies a private island in the heart of the Great Barrier Reef. In fact, the journey getting there sets the tone. Guests usually travel from the nearby airport by launch or by helicopter, trading city streets for shoreline that stretches to every horizon. As the mainland shrinks behind you, worries about work and news begin to fade as well. When you arrive at Hayman Island the first impression is water, from the bright lagoon to the turquoise sea and the long-sculpted pool that runs like a peaceful river through the heart of the resort.

Accommodation is spread across several areas, yet the isle is never crowded. Pool suites are only a few steps from still blue coastline. Beachfront villas place you directly on sand with the Coral Sea only a short stroll from your door. Rooms around the lagoon and within the hillside residences look out over gardens and reef-dotted channels. Wherever you sleep, the soundtrack remains consistent. Palms rustle, birds call, and waves gently reach the shore. It is easy to fall asleep early and wake to first light without any need for an alarm.

Life on Hayman Island quickly shifts into elemental patterns. Morning might begin with a walk along the sand while small crabs trace delicate designs in the wet margin between tide lines. After breakfast you can drift between the huge central pool and the serene hotel pools that are tucked among gardens. Some guests spend entire afternoons reading in the shade of a palm or floating with eyes closed, letting the body remember how to relax without interruption. Phone screens become less interesting when the alternative is a panorama of ocean and sky.

Those who crave activity will find plenty of ways to explore without ever being pressured to do more. Guided snorkeling trips visit coral gardens where clouds of bright fish shift around you. Boat excursions head to the cays, while helicopter flights take you to famous viewpoints over Heart Reef, giving perspective on the scale and fragility of this marine world. On the terrain, trails lead to lookouts with sweeping vistas. Yoga sessions on open decks and treatments in a spa that looks toward the water provide quieter modes of discovery. Each option returns attention to the body and to the present moment.

Even meals become part of the gentle reset. Restaurants range from relaxed poolside spots to candlelit tables near the beach, with menus diverse in local seafood, bright salads, and tropical fruit. Lounging barefoot at the edge of the sand, you may realize you stopped checking the clock hours ago, long ago.