Corporate Retreats vs Away Days: Which Does Your Team Need?
Introduction
When teams search for time together outside the office, two terms often come up: corporate retreats and away days. They sound similar, and sometimes they overlap, but in reality they serve very different purposes.
Choosing the right format isn’t just about budgets or logistics — it’s about matching the experience to your team’s needs. A strategy session squeezed into a one-day agenda won’t deliver the same impact as a multi-day retreat. And a retreat-style escape might not be the right fit if all your team needs is a quick energy boost.
So, how do you know what’s right for your team? Let’s break it down.
What Is a Corporate Retreat?
A corporate retreat is an immersive, multi-day experience designed to take your team out of routine and into a space where they can reset, align, and reconnect.
Key features of a retreat:
Timeframe: Typically 2–3 days, often with overnight stays.
Environment: Unique venues away from the office — countryside estates, creative clubhouses, or even tidal islands.
Purpose: Strategic alignment, leadership clarity, cultural resets, and deeper relationship building.
Activities: A mix of strategy workshops, facilitated sessions, team challenges, shared meals, and restorative downtime.
Impact: Teams leave with more than just ideas. They leave with renewed energy, trust, and momentum.
👉 Retreats are about transformation — creating space for big conversations and lasting cultural shifts.
What Is an Away Day?
An away day is shorter and more tactical: a focused burst of activity to refresh energy, celebrate success, or solve a specific challenge.
Key features of an away day:
Timeframe: One day, no overnight stay.
Environment: Often within easy reach of the office — unique city venues, countryside hotels, or purpose-built event spaces.
Purpose: Boost morale, build connections, spark creativity, or tackle a defined goal.
Activities: Team-building challenges, brainstorming workshops, guest speakers, sports, or social experiences.
Impact: Teams return refreshed, with a morale lift and shared memories.
👉 Away days are about energy — a reset button that keeps teams motivated in the short term.
Retreats vs Away Days: The Core Differences
The easiest way to understand the difference is to think about depth versus speed.
A retreat gives you time and space. Teams step outside daily noise for 2–3 days, often in secluded venues. That time allows for strategy, alignment, and cultural reset. It’s about transformation — leaving with new clarity, trust, and momentum.
An away day, on the other hand, is short and sharp. One day, no overnights, usually close to the office. It’s high-energy, focused on morale, creativity, or a tactical challenge. It’s about a reset — the lift you need to keep going.
👉 Retreats = depth. Away days = speed. Both matter, but they work in different ways.
When to Choose a Retreat
A retreat is the right choice if your team needs:
Strategic clarity → Time to step back from day-to-day firefighting and align on the big picture.
Cultural reset → A fresh environment to reconnect as humans, not just job titles.
Leadership alignment → Multi-day depth for boards or exec teams.
Trust building → Time to lower barriers and create genuine connection.
Momentum for growth → Scale-ups or teams preparing for a new phase.
👉 Retreats are most powerful when your team needs to shift, not just recharge.
When to Choose an Away Day
An away day is the right choice if your team needs:
Quick energy injection → A morale boost after a tough quarter.
Celebration → Marking wins, launches, or milestones.
Tactical collaboration → Solving a problem or designing a project together.
Connection without complexity → Shorter formats for busy teams.
Accessibility → Something simple, fun, and easy to organise.
👉 Away days shine when you want to recharge, reward, and reconnect — fast.
The Elsewhere Approach
At Elsewhere, we specialise in both formats — but we design them with a critical difference:
Our retreats → Hill House, Amersham Campus, Osea Island → immersive, curated, designed for clarity and cultural reset.
Our away days → built around bespoke challenges like The Tea Heist, Spraycans at Dawn, or Farmyard Edition → high-energy, creative, and memorable.
Whether it’s two hours outside London for an away day or two nights at a retreat venue, the common thread is this: we design for resonance, not just logistics.
How to Decide
Ask yourself three simple questions:
Why now? → Is the goal energy, clarity, or connection?
How deep? → Do you need a quick lift or a transformational reset?
How much time? → Do you have a single day, or can you step away for longer?
👉 If you’re still unsure, talk to us. We’ll help you work out whether your team needs a retreat, an away day, or a blend of both.
Closing: The Right Format Creates the Right Outcomes
Both retreats and away days have their place. The difference is in their depth:
Away days = energy and fun.
Retreats = clarity and transformation.
When chosen intentionally, the right format becomes more than an event — it becomes a catalyst for change.
At Elsewhere, we design both to resonate. Because whether it’s one day or three, the experience is everything.