Day 1: Arrival & Strategy Kickoff
Aligning on goals and priorities
- 14:00–18:00Airport transfers and hotel check-in
- 18:00–19:30Company strategy and retreat objectives session
- 20:00–22:00Welcome dinner in central Lisbon
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1000+
Offsites organized
10
Years of experience
200+
Retreat locations
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Why organize a work retreat?
A work retreat, also known as a work offsite, gives your team dedicated time to focus on important work without the distractions of day-to-day operations. Whether you're planning a strategy workshop, innovation sprint, product roadmap, or cross-functional project, stepping away from the office creates space for deeper thinking, faster decision-making, and meaningful progress.
Unlike company retreats, which focus on team building and company culture, work retreats are designed to achieve specific business goals. By bringing the right people together in one place, teams can collaborate more effectively, solve complex challenges, and accomplish weeks of work in just a few days.
Whether you're planning a retreat for a single department or an entire company, Surf Office takes care of the accommodation, meeting spaces, activities, and logistics - so your team can focus on the work that matters.
What is the purpose of a work retreat?
The activities on a work retreat can range from team bonding to business-oriented goal-setting and presentations. There are many benefits to hosting a retreat, including:
Focus on strategic priorities
Advance key business projects
Solve complex challenges
Strengthen team collaboration
Build stronger working relationships
Boost motivation and engagement
Organize your next work retreat with Surf Office
1000+ retreats organized ● 10 years of experience ● 200+ retreat locations
Get a quoteSample Retreat Itinerary in Lisbon
Work retreats give teams dedicated time to focus on projects, develop new ideas, and work on long-term priorities without the distractions of day-to-day operations. Here's an example of a 5-day work retreat in Lisbon based on a real retreat organized for Elbstack.
Recent retreats organized by Surf Office
Best retreat locations
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Organize your next work retreat with Surf Office
1000+ retreats organized ● 10 years of experience ● 200+ retreat locations
Get a quoteWork retreat activity ideas
A productive work retreat balances focused work sessions with time to unwind together. Shared experiences outside the meeting room help strengthen working relationships, encourage informal conversations, and keep the team energized throughout the retreat.
Here are some of the most popular activities at Surf Office destinations:
Head to the beach
Workday, a people analytics company, hosted its company retreat in Barcelona. The team spent at the beach with activities like stand up paddle, swimming, and a surfing lesson. A beach trip is good for big groups because everyone can do what they want. Some can swim, some can play beach volleyball, and some can veg in the sun.
Take a hike
Get away from the noise and hustle of the city and bring your team for a nature hike. Our destinations in the Catskill Mountains, Zion national park, and Gran Canaria are perfect for bringing your team on a hike for some fresh air.
Treasure hunt
Break up your larger group in small teams and take a walk through the historic streets of Lisbon, for instance. See famous monuments, hidden gems, and learn about the culture of the city on a scavenger hunt. Get to know the city and each other in a fun way.
Host a speaker or Ted Talk
Invite a local expert to speak about something out-of-the-box. Or, have your employees volunteer to give informal Ted Talk-style presentations about something they’re passionate about. This approach leverages internal resources, uplifts individual interests, and shows your support for skills beyond work roles.
Share a meal
EVBox is a company focused on providing charging solutions for electric vehicles. Their group of 200 people joined Surf Office for a company retreat. In the process, we hosted a special dining experience in Lisbon with traditional dishes and drinks. Organizing meals can be a challenge for large groups: read what we’ve learned about making restaurant reservations.
Hackathon
If you want to keep your team bonding business-focused, host a hackathon. Divide the large group up into small teams and work on a project. A traditional hackathon focuses on creative problem-solving – emphasis on “creative.” Don’t be afraid to make the hackathon open-ended to foster innovation.
FAQs about work retreats
What is a work retreat?
A work retreat is an offsite event where employees come together outside the office to focus on strategic planning, collaboration, problem-solving, and project work. Unlike traditional team-building retreats, work retreats are primarily designed to achieve specific business goals.
Why do companies organize work retreats?
Companies organize work retreats to create dedicated time for planning, brainstorming, innovation, and collaboration. By stepping away from daily distractions, teams can focus on important projects and long-term objectives.
How is a work retreat different from a company retreat?
While company retreats often focus on culture, team bonding, and company-wide alignment, work retreats place greater emphasis on productivity, strategic discussions, workshops, and achieving measurable business outcomes.
What should be included in a work retreat agenda?
A successful work retreat agenda typically includes strategy sessions, brainstorming workshops, project planning, collaborative work time, presentations, and team-building activities. The best agendas balance focused work with opportunities to relax and connect.
How long should a work retreat be?
Most work retreats last between 3 and 5 days, although some teams choose longer retreats for larger projects, hackathons, or annual planning sessions.
What are the benefits of a work retreat?
Work retreats can improve collaboration, accelerate decision-making, generate new ideas, strengthen team relationships, and help teams make meaningful progress on important projects.
Are work retreats productive?
Yes. Many companies use work retreats to tackle projects that are difficult to complete during normal work weeks. By reducing interruptions and bringing people together in one place, teams can focus more deeply on their goals.
What activities work best during a work retreat?
Popular work retreat activities include brainstorming workshops, hackathons, design sprints, strategy sessions, team challenges, cooking classes, city tours, and outdoor experiences. The best activities complement the retreat's business objectives.
What are the best locations for a work retreat?
The best work retreat locations combine productive workspaces with inspiring surroundings and convenient travel connections. Popular destinations include Lisbon, Berlin, Amsterdam, Madeira, Boulder, and Singapore.
How do you plan a productive work retreat?
Planning a productive work retreat starts with defining clear goals and outcomes. Once you know what you want to achieve, choose a location that supports focused work, create an agenda that balances collaboration and deep work, and schedule activities that complement your objectives. Many companies work with retreat planning specialists to handle logistics, accommodation, meeting spaces, and team activities.
💛 Wall of love 💛
The entire offsite was very great, very good. Very well organized. I liked the planning process - I didn't have to do it, I just had to approve it. I trusted you completely, with everything... I saw this attention to detail and we really appreciate it.
You were amazing and saved me 90% of the time I would have used... definitely working with Surf Office again, 10/10.
From the very first contact to the last goodbye, Surf Office was an incredible company to work with for our company retreat in Portugal. The customer service was top tier and every single person I interacted with was absolutely lovely, professional and so helpful.
You were unswayable in terms of your positivity, in terms of your proactiveness and cooperation, and just your get it done mentality. So that was really good. Thank you.
Honestly, everything went so smoothly. From Anthony sending us proposals and working hard at finding the right venue, to Romane planning every detail and being so flexible with our requests, to Fernanda being an absolute superstar onsite and being so helpful. Thank you all so much!
I panicked when I learned I had to plan this, I've never done this before. Everything went smoothly for me, I wouldn't have been able to do it without you.
I mean, you guys are magicians. I don't know how you do it... Honestly, it's been great, Jolanda, the support that you've given during the planning stage with all of the prep work that goes into it beforehand. You guys are really, honestly, the best. Thank you so much, you make my life so much easier.
Organize your next work retreat with Surf Office
Get a quoteHow does it work?
1. Tell us more about your plans
We would like to hear more about your plans and how we can make your next work retreat a success.
Do you have an office in one location or is your team distributed? Can employees bring their partners? Is your priority strategic planning, innovation, product development, or cross-functional collaboration?
2. Planning with your dedicated project manager
Even finding and booking one single restaurant for the dinner can be a painful project. Is the food going to be good? Is the price fair? How many of our team members have diet restrictions?
Each retreat is a combination of multiple smaller projects and with a large group the complexity might be scary.
But no worries, we mastered this process and made it fun and easy.
Our experienced project manager dedicated to you will help you with the whole organisation from searching for flights to crafting unique surprise activities for your team.
We will be your one-stop-shop for all of the logistics of your retreat. The Retreat Planner assigned to your group will work with you to book and coordinate everything from A-Z, providing you with peace-of-mind and a guarantee of quality and reliability from our local partners at the best possible prices.
According to our repeat clients and our first-time clients who have previous experience in organizing retreats in-house, this is the greatest value that we bring to them.
3. Detailed plan and schedule of your work retreat
At the end of the planning process you will end up with the bullet-proof schedule. There is no room for improvisation with a large group.
Everything must work perfectly, all the activities and transfers must be just-on-time.
Sounds like a dream end, right? That's how we work.
You are ready for your epic work retreat.
Tips for a great work offsite
There are a few ways to make sure your work offsite is a success.
First, it’s a good idea to take your team to a remote location.
Head to the countryside to decrease the distractions of city life. Surf Office runs work retreats in the charming, remote fishing village of Ericeira. We also recommend the Catskill Mountains, Zion national park, and Gran Canaria, or one of our remote villas close to Barcelona or Valencia. Click here to see all our locations.
After you have your location, work on the agenda ahead of time.
Ask your team members what problems they would like to solve. Brainstorm which areas of the business you would like to improve. Then, organize a hackathon or design sprint to work on your project in groups.
We’ve also found it’s important to balance work and play.
Leave some free time every day for your team; otherwise, people are going to be exhausted.
Prioritize which ideas you want to work on.
Don’t try to do too much in one retreat! Focus on brainstorming ideas, creating quick concepts/prototypes, and feedbacking them. You can test your concepts in the real world once you are back from the retreat.
Not sure where to focus?
Before the retreat, ask your team what projects they would work on with a budget of US$10,000, and what projects they would choose with a budget of US$1 million. We did this exercise during our Surf Office retreat in Prague. Then we brainstormed and worked on the best ideas. You might realize that many “one million dollar ideas” you can actually develop with a much lower budget.
Lastly, make sure you’re equipped with the right environment and tools.
Book an office or workspace and make sure it has enough whiteboards or presentation tools.
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Choose from hundreds of retreat locations in Europe, America, Asia-Pacific, and Africa.
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