Andy Cohen on the Most Iconic ‘Real Housewives’ Trips of All Time and the Housewife That Would Be the Best Travel Buddy
Andy Cohen on the Most Iconic ‘Real Housewives’ Trips of All Time and the Housewife That Would Be the Best Travel Buddy
Meredith LeporeSat, August 1, 2026 at 2:30 PM UTC
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From left: Andy Cohen on The Kelly Clarkson Show; at Fire Island Pines.Credit: From left: Charles Sykes/NBCUniversal; Andy Cohen
The Real Housewives has made an undeniable impact on pop culture with its table flipping, glam teams, reunion meltdowns, and luxury girls trips. As Bravo prepares to celebrate the franchise’s 20th anniversary with The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: Roaring 20th, premiering Aug. 9, TV personality and The Real Housewives executive producer Andy Cohen spoke with Travel + Leisure about the show’s most iconic trips.
Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen.Credit: Charles Sykes/Bravo
In 2006,Cohen—who was then the vice president of original programming and development at Bravo—helped green-light and produce The Real Housewives of Orange County. Since then, Cohen has helped bring dozens of different Real Housewives iterations and spin-offs to life, and he’s been there through it all. Breakout stars of the show include household names such as Bethenny Frankel, Nene Leakes, Kyle Richards, and Lisa Vanderpump, to name a few, and the fashion, lifestyle, and travel adventures continue to draw viewers season after season. And with each season, the cast trips become more glamorous, which is one reason why picking the right locations is so important, Cohen said. “It’s gotta be somewhere you want to be! Aspiration plays a big part, and the women bring the party,” he told T+L.
Andy Cohen
What’s your airport guilty pleasure?
Bagels and lox at the American Flagship Lounge at JFK.
Are you an over-packer or a carry-on traveler?
I am an expert carry-on traveler. Haven’t checked a bag in 20 years.
Do you set an alarm on vacation?
My kids are my alarm.
Favorite hotel amenity?
Curtains that actually close.
Which Housewife would make the best travel buddy?
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Cynthia Bailey [from The Real Housewives of Atlanta].
Which Housewife would absolutely miss the flight?
Definitely Lisa Barlow [from The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City].
Credit: Andy Cohen
Real Housewives trips have spanned Caribbean destinations like St. Barts and Turks and Caicos to London, Paris, Greece, Spain, South Africa, and Tokyo. The women have stayed in some of the most beautiful hotels in the world, including The May Fair Hotel in London, Atlantis, The Palm in Dubai, and Four Seasons Resort Lanai in Hawaii.
And it’s not only luxury hotels. Casts have also stayed at some of the most incredible rental properties ever to be featured on the small screen, such as ÀNI Anguilla in Anguilla, Villa Bibbiani in Italy, Villa La Estancia in Mexico, and Château Ventoux inFrance. No matter where the ladies are in the world, you can be assured that they brought the drama—and so many pairs of shoes.
Looking back at the last two decades of Real Housewives trips, Cohen rated his top three as The Real Housewives of Atlanta in South Africa in 2011, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills in Tokyo in 2018, and The Real Housewives of New York in St. Barts in 2012. He told T+L that these travel episodes were quintessential because they were “everything a trip should be: fun, dramatic, and hilarious.” Usually taking place about halfway through the season, the trips almost always include all the cast members, creating the perfect conditions for friendships to be tested—and providing plenty of fodder for the rest of the season.
He specifically called out The Real Housewives of Atlanta trip to South Africa as upping the ante for the entire franchise. The 2011 trip included cast members Cynthia Bailey, Kandi Burruss, NeNe Leakes, and Shereé Whitfield, among others. During the trip, the women visited a local orphanage where they met the children and donated supplies, bringing a deeper emotional connection to the typical trip itinerary.
From left: Cynthia Bailey, Phaedra Parks, Sheree Whitfield, Kandi Burruss from The Real Housewives of Atlanta in South Africa.Credit: Nadine Hutton/Bravo
As for which trip had the most unexpected drama, Cohen did not hesitate to name the 2010 Real Housewives of New York trip to St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The season three trip quickly became known as “Scary Island” due to the fights that broke out among the women and a not-so-welcome surprise visit from Jill Zarin. Though there was constant turmoil, the incredible luxury villa in the gated Peter Bay community provided the most beautiful backdrop. “Any time the women go to an island, I want to be there,” Cohen said. There’s just something about the isolation of an island that creates the perfect atmosphere for drama, as we also saw with the very tense ending of The Real Housewives of New York’s season 15 in Puerto Rico.
(From left) Jennifer Tilly, Amanda Frances, Sutton Stracke, Erika Jayne, Kyle Richards, Andy Cohen, Dorit Kemsley, Bozoma Saint John, Rachel Zoe, Kathy Hilton at The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Season 15 reunion.Credit: Griffin Nagel/Bravo
Beyond giving viewers eye candy, these trips have also boosted tourism in many locations. “I can’t imagine a spot that we’ve gone to that hasn’t seen a tourism boom after,” said Cohen. And there is some data to back that up: A 2025 trend report from Expedia found that following The Real Housewives of Dubai premiere in 2022, interest in Dubai increased 30 percent year over year. Cohen added that showcasing the local food scene and culture alongside all the drama that unfolds on a trip has become essential to these episodes. Though the women spend plenty of time at their resort or villa, they often take daily excursions, showing off a destination’s offerings, like pub crawling in Dublin, cooking classes in Paris and Amsterdam, and hiking in Arizona, just to name a few.
Nearly 20 years after the first iteration of The Real Housewives premiered, the trip destinations have become just as memorable as cast members’ catchphrases, outfits, and fights—and they’ve given many fans a dose of travel inspiration.
The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: Roaring 20th premieres on Bravo on Aug. 9 ET/PT and streams on Peacock the next day.
on Travel & Leisure
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