Throughout the series, The Golden Girls take quite a few road trips together. Many become problematic due to the shortcomings of the person who planned the trip themselves without taking into consideration the needs of the other members of the group. Others are interrupted by natural circumstances, such as inclement weather.
- When Rose is selected to win the St. Olaf Woman of the Year award, the city gifts the whole group with an all expenses paid trip to accompany her to the awards ceremony in person. As Rose's hometown is in a highly remote location, the group must take a rickety propellor plane, a train, and a horse wagon to get there. However, Rose aborts the trip in shame right before they arrive after Dorothy and Blanche admit they forged her accomplishments so she could obtain the prize.
- When the girls fly to Hollywood to appear on a game show, the hotel fails to honor their reservation and they are left sleeping on the couches in the lobby, where they are robbed of their personal belongings.
- When the girls travel to an event to meet Burt Reynolds, Blanche selects a hotel largely patronized by men and is devoid of women except for prostitutes, which results in the protagonists being arrested for suspicion of prostitution during a police raid.
- When Rose is asked to deliver a eulogy for a deceased relative in person, the girls fly to the destination with her to offer their support. The plane turns around midflight due to poor weather conditions, and Rose delivers the Rousing Speech to the other passengers onboard so as not to have wasted her efforts preparing it.note
- In one episode, the girls go on vacation at a tropical location, only for their "hotel" to turn out to be a dingy Single Room Occupancy
that grossly exaggerated their amenities in their advertisements. When they choose to make the most of their situation and accept their neighbors' invitation to go sailing, they end up stranded on what they believe is a Deserted Island. - When the girls end up in a small town that is only accessible by train, they are informed that their train left early with no notice, and that there isn't another one until morning the next day. This results in them sleeping on the benches in the train station.
- Rose books a hotel for one of their vacations without realizing that her resort of choice is a nudist colony. Just as the girls embrace the situation and arrive in the dining room nude after working up the courage to bare themselves, the other guests inform them that dinner just happens to be the one time a day they do get dressed for.
- The girls visit a plantation owned by Blanche's grandmother before it can be torn down. Sophia, who has gone on a "live life to the fullest" kick after a near-death experience, decides to moon a chain gang en-route.
