Painting Holidays

Why go

Painting slows you down and makes you look. With a good tutor, a week is enough to make real progress, whether you are picking up a brush for the first time or returning after years. The best painting holidays balance teaching with painting outdoors, good food and company, in places where the light itself is a reason to go.

How to choose

Choose your medium first: watercolour, oils, acrylics, pastels or drawing. Then look at the tutor's own work and teaching style, since that shapes the week more than the venue. Check how much painting is done outdoors, en plein air, and how much in the studio; whether materials are included; and the group size, ideally no more than about twelve. Many courses say whether they suit beginners or more experienced painters.

Our picks

Our picks include historic art schools at home and painting holidays in the landscapes that made the great painters. Price bands are a typical cost per person for the holiday or course described, excluding flights.

• St Ives School of Painting

  St Ives, Cornwall

  £

  • Art school
  • 1 to 5 days
  • All year

  Best for Light and sea in an artists' town

  Teaching art since 1938 in the historic Porthmeor Studios above the beach, with courses for every level and the Tate St Ives a short walk away.

• Dedham Hall

  Dedham, Essex

  ££

  • Residential art courses
  • 3 to 6 nights
  • Spring to autumn

  Best for Painting in Constable Country

  A 15th-century manor house in the Dedham Vale, hosting residential courses led by respected tutors for more than 35 years.

• West Dean College

  West Sussex

  ££

  • Arts college
  • 2 to 6 days
  • All year; summer schools July to August

  Best for Watercolour in famous gardens

  Drawing and painting courses, from botanical watercolour in the gardens to oils, with rooms in West Dean House.

• The Watermill at Posara

  Lunigiana, Tuscany

  ££

  • Painting holidays
  • 7 nights
  • April to October

  Best for A house-party week in Italy

  A restored 17th-century mill beside a river, hosting week-long painting holidays with visiting tutors, full board and painting trips to hill villages.

• Provence

  France

  ££

  • Destination
  • 5 to 7 nights
  • May to June, September

  Best for Cézanne and Van Gogh country

  Paint lavender fields, the Luberon villages and Mont Sainte-Victoire, with visits to Cézanne's studio in Aix and Van Gogh's Saint-Rémy.

• Venice

  Italy

  £££

  • Destination
  • 4 to 5 nights
  • March to May, October to November

  Best for Architecture, water and reflections

  Canals and palazzi have drawn painters for centuries; a tutor-led week out of season is the way to see it calmly.

• Isle of Skye

  Scotland

  ££

  • Destination
  • 5 to 7 nights
  • May to September

  Best for Dramatic landscape painting

  Mountains, sea lochs and ever-changing light; ideal for bold watercolour and oils, with cosy evenings in between.

• Giverny and Normandy

  France

  £££

  • Destination
  • 4 to 5 nights
  • April to October

  Best for Impressionist gardens and coast

  Paint in Monet's garden at Giverny, the cliffs of Étretat and the harbour at Honfleur, where the Impressionists began.

Price guide: £ Under £1,000 per person · ££ £1,000–2,500 per person · £££ £2,500–5,000 per person · ££££ £5,000+ per person

When to go

In the UK, May to September gives the best chance of painting outdoors, though St Ives and West Dean run all year. Italy and Provence are best in late spring and early autumn, when the light is soft and the heat manageable.

Going solo or with a partner

Painting holidays are very sociable and suit solo travellers; many offer single rooms. Some, like the Watermill, welcome non-painting partners at a lower price, with excursions while you paint.

How to book

Our advisors can find the right course or retreat, check the teacher and dates, and wrap it into a complete trip with flights, transfers and a few extra nights somewhere lovely before or after. Speak to an advisor.