France, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Greece are five of Europe’s most popular destinations in the spring and summer. With the wellness traveller in mind we’ve shared our top 15 healing yoga retreats for a relaxing break.
Italy
Yoga and Photography Retreat on the Isle of Ponza, Italy 8th – 15th June
Have you ever wondered if there is a still a pocket of Italy as yet undiscovered by travellers? A pocket, moreover, that encloses dramatic mountain scenery and golden beaches? A protected place that has kept the coast pristine and the hills a reserve for rare plants and birds? And all an easy two hour train and boat ride from Rome? Well wonder no more – we will take you to a place where legends are made on this yoga and photography retreat.
Mythology meets nature on the mythical island of Ponza. Famed for its role in Homer’s Greek epic – The Odyssey, this jagged gem is where Ulysses and his men, returning from Troy, are lured by the enchanting sorceress Circe to her palace for a year-long stay of luxury and leisure. Circe continues to cast her intoxicating spell drawing us to her opulent shores for an indulgent week of yoga and personal discovery.
In the verdant heart of the Ponte Islands is the pretty pastel coloured waterfront town of Ponza. Up a winding road we find our picturesque Boutique Hotel – Chiaia di Luna – where we nestle in for our relaxing week. Here we breath in the fresh sea air and soak up the sunshine while gazing over the volcanic sister islands. Nestled in a mountainous embrace, few hotels can better this magical setting —- the meditative sound of the sea lapping up the rocks below.
YOGA, FORM+FLAVORS Tuscany Retreat, 16th – 22nd June
This magnificent yoga retreat will take place in the picturesque Italian countryside, along the border of Tuscany and Umbria. A beautifully restored farmhouse awaits your arrival, complete with sprawling vistas over the rolling hills in all directions.
Besides a daily yoga class, we will also enjoy walks around the scenic Tuscan hills and a meditation walk will be included in the week as well. “FLAVORS”.
We’ll not only balance the week with the healthy “form” part of the retreat, but also with learning about and experiencing firsthand the amazing flavors of this region. Each day we’ll be able to enjoy mouth-watering cuisine, as well as take part in tastings from wine and olive oil, to cheeses, gelato, and of course the Italian espresso.
From award-winning restaurants to family farms and kitchens, learning and enjoying the food will be an added bonus to working up an appetite during our classes and walks!.
Trips include visits to small villages, large cities, and outdoor activities, even a day at a unique “Sensorial” thermal spa where guests will enjoy a treatment “circuit” through thermal waters, aromatherapy, chromotherapy, and relaxation pods.
Julian and Erin will be your guides around the city, museums, and outlying walks. Enjoy seeing world famous works of art, as well as monuments, one-of-a-kind lookouts, and feeling the modern bustle of this compact city.
Discover our full guide to the best yoga & wellness retreats in Italy
Portugal
Vale de Moses Yoga Retreat in the Portuguese Mountains, open March to October
Vale de Moses is a family run healing yoga retreat in the heart of the Portuguese mountains. Spend a week or more practicing yoga, receiving massage and acupuncture treatments, walking in forests, swimming in natural river pools and eating delicious nutritious food.
Stay in one of the beautifully restored stone cottages, Soulpads or in a Tipi. Our retreat home is perfect for those in need of a break, rest and relaxation. We are surrounded by nature and forests, peace and tranquility – the perfect ingredients to restore your body and mind.
The combination of good food and sleep, clean mountain air and water, therapeutic massage and acupuncture, hill walking and river swimming, all create a highly restorative context in which to begin, or to deepen, your yoga practice. Retreat weeks run from April to October.
A variety of styles of yoga are taught at Vale de Moses through the year by some delightful and inspiring teachers who will take care of you on your mat. Please do not worry about being “good” enough, or flexible or thin enough. We prefer to think you are perfect just as you are. Whatever your capability or experience may be, you are truly welcome. It might be your first yoga retreat, perhaps your first yoga class, or maybe you’ve been practicing regularly for decades.
Escape everyday life and treat yourself to an indulgent 5 night stay at Boutique Hotel Vivenda Miranda with maximum pampering and minimum stress. This is the perfect spa getaway experience just for you with your partner or a friend guaranteed to rejuvenate, relax and de-stress.
Boost your energy levels and establish new healthy habits with our selection of spa treatments and restaurant menu. This Relax & Revive offering includes 5 nights in a room with a beautiful sea or garden view, a welcome smoothie or juice on the hotel’s panoramic terrace with stunning views of the sparkling ocean and endless sky, super-food breakfasts with dairy free alternatives, fresh fruit, vegetable juices and smoothies. A two course lunch is included on two days of this relaxing break, to be taken on days of your choice as well as one evening four course dinner with vegetarian, vegan and raw food options.
As part of the retreat you can enjoy four organic treatments in the hotel’s Neal’s Yard Remedies of Covent Garden London Spa the first overseas spa of its kind. This includes Indian Head Massage, Body Harmony Treatment, Relaxing Back Massage and a Facial. Morning yoga sessions are included every other day and you will also enjoy unlimited access to the wellness pool, sauna and steam room.
So relax and completely unwind with us, it will make a world of difference to your health and wellbeing and see you returning home completely renewed.
Raw Food Summer Yoga Retreats in Portugal, 3 – 10 & 10 – 17 August
Are you ready to retreat to a place where you can completely rest, reset and let go and enjoy chef prepared plant based cuisine at its finest with a splash of yoga, and more? These raw food summer yoga retreats in Portugal are located on the edge of the Sao Bartolomeu de Messines/Silves nature reserve in the Algarve.
Expect a nourishing, exclusive, intimate and unique week of restful bliss. With my experienced team of yogis and therapists, I will guide you through a beautiful week. This is the perfect chance for you to relax into nature, unplug from the world, restore and reset.
We’ll create some wonderful dishes together and indulge in the preparation of incredible foods. Being an experienced yogi is not a prerequisite, all you will need for this stunning week of yoga is the will to explore and embrace a high vibrational flow.
There will be daily kitchen classes on raw food, yoga and holistic sessions. They are completely at your leisure, so if you just want to relax by the plunge pool and wait to be fed, that’s ok too. It’s your holiday!
Dine al fresco by the river each night and be ready for spectacular sunsets, evening workshops, meditation sessions, incredible food, cacao ceremonies and much more. Leave feeling rested, rebooted and filled with a new zest for life!
We like to consider that while on ‘retreat’ we are withdrawing from the everyday world. We like to consider our retreat as a world in itself – where we provide the space and opportunity for you to take all the time you need to reflect on your world, your wellbeing and your self.
We embrace those from all walks of life to our space and welcome everyone, as we are passionate about the spirit of inclusivity. We ask that you be mindful of the space we have created, work with that vibration, be yourself and be in joy with what resonates, and be tolerant of that (and those) that does not.
We ask you to trust us to do our work well and provide our expertise for you. You will get to spend one to one time (and retreat space) with me where I will share with you my healing journey with raw foods (I am still journeying!) and enjoy daily food preparation classes together.
DETAILS & BOOKING
Discover our full guide to the best yoga & wellness retreats in Portugal
France
Yoga, Spa & Culture Retreat in the South of France, 9th – 15th June
Join us in the chic south of France during lavender season. Enjoy daily healing yoga, day trips, amazing tastings, and scenes of the beautiful Cote d’Azur! Bastide Avellanne is the ideal location to visit Provence.
Situated only 30 minutes from the sea and from the Cote D’Azur between Cannes, St Tropez and Hyeres, with its hundreds of kilometers of white beaches, rocky capes and wild bays is considered the most beautiful coastline of France – 300 kilometers of coast accompanying the Mediterranean Sea, white sandy beaches, a preserved landscape, protected islands and famous locations renowned worldwide.
It looks just as you see in postcards, fields of lavender, medieval villages, chateaux, markets full of colours where you can find local products and exotic spices, lively small towns with a slow way of life.
Day trips will allow guests to add arts, culture, adventure, and natural beauty to their retreat experience. Trips may include visits to small villages, large cities, and outdoor activities, even a gorgeous spa day in near the Cote D’Azur where guests can swim, enjoy a healthy lunch, schedule spa treatments, or simply enjoy the sun. See smaller villages that few tourists go, and get a true education and taste of France with various tastings of regional wines, aperitifs and cheese.
A 5 day Yoga, Meditation & Clean Living Retreat at the award winning Yobaba Lounge to re-establish a rich, soulful connection to your yoga and meditation practice. Located in a picturesque medieval village in the southern French Pyrenees, the house feels like a temple, the rooms are large and stylish.
This retreat is intended for all those in need of rejuvenation, rest and relaxation, and those who are seeking a more mystical connection to their existing yoga and meditation practice.
Retreat facilitator Gertrud shares her practice of Embodied Meditation, which is the yoga of breath, mindfulness and movement. Without excessive effort, the practice strengthens your core, legs and hips, tones your parasympathetic nervous system and sets alight your inner space.
The gourmet vegan food has been described as sensational, outrageous, alchemical, the best ever, and more. It is often raw, always free from dairy, meats, gluten, and sugar.
There will be periods of free time each day, which gives you opportunity to just relax in the walled garden, pamper yourself or explore wild swimming in nearby lakes and rivers. You will be held within a clear daily structure. You are welcome to add additional nights to the end of your stay.
Alpine Yoga and Hiking Retreat in the French Alps, 31 July – 7 August, 7 – 14 August
Join us in the beautiful French Alps for an alpine yoga and hiking holiday adventure. After touring around the French Alps, we love hiking in this area. With so many routes to choose from and breathtaking views, you won’t want to go home!
If you are a lover of the mountains and enjoy being in the great outdoors this is the hiking yoga holiday for you. An exciting week of adventure activities during the day beginning with yoga and then a choice of hiking, white water rafting, paragliding or wild swimming.
The hiking yoga experience is unrivalled here. After touring around the French Alps, we love hiking in this area. With so many routes to choose from and breathtaking views, you won’t want to go home! There’s nothing like a hiking yoga holiday to exhilarate and enliven body and mind.
Stay in our beautiful rustic Chalet style accommodation nestled on the mountainside surrounded by alpine pastures. Start and end the day with yoga to stretch out your hiking limbs, and soothe them with a sauna and hot tub, or treat yourself to a massage.
Greece
Greek Islands Sailing Yoga Retreat, 6 – 13 July / 3 – 10 August / 24 -31 August
Sailing the Greek Islands is a lifetime bucket list item that is every part as rewarding as you’d imagine it is. Our Greek Islands yoga sailing is based out of the Ionian Islands, which is located on the west coast of Greece, which is the protected part, creating the perfect environment for flat seas, mild winds and the best leisure cruising areas.
Our Greek Islands yoga sailing holiday starts off with a hour-long yoga class in a new secret location each day, whether it’s overlooking the bay, the beach or the harbour, but rest assured you wont have done a yoga class in a location like this before.
We set sail for your daily beach stop, which includes some of the bluest, clearest water you’ve even seen with magical white cliffs towering over the beach. It truly is a bucket list trip.
Nourishing Luxury Retreat for Women in Mykonos, 13th – 20th May
Luxuriate for eight days and seven nights on this unforgettable nourishing luxury retreat for women in Mykonos, the Greek Islands of the Gods!
Nourish your body, mind, and soul surrounded by the Aegean blue, learn how to embody your dreams with playfulness and manifest miracles in your life! Relax by the swimming pool of a serene eco-luxury villa as you indulge your senses with a Fresh Greek mountain tea during the sunset hour, gazing endlessly the union of the golden sky with the crystal clear sea at the cosmopolitan Mykonos island.
Experience a nourishing blend of mindful practices and rituals in Delos island, one of the most uplifting energy sites in the world. And there is more bliss to follow as your inspiring teachers, Apostolia and Toby are preparing a Full Moon Ceremony especially for you and your new amazing friends that bring energy to your soul!
This life-changing journey is for those of yu longing to set your soul free and embody your dreams through breathwork, meditation, yoga, dance, chanting and dream journeying!
This unmissable retreat experience is meticulously designed for you, as a gift to yourself to receive transformative guidance and invoke your untapped source of creativity, wisdom and to become a Dreamer of Dreams, ready to weave your own pathway to happiness when you go back home.
Euphoria Emotional and Physical Transformation Retreat, Greece 5th – 12th July
The Euphoria Emotional and Physical Transformation Retreat is our signature intensive retreat and aims to improve your overall state of emotional wellbeing and bring harmony to your life.
By addressing all levels – physical, emotional and spiritual – it assists your self-reflection and contemplation and enhances your evolutionary journey towards self-awareness and illumination.
The Ancient Hellenic and Chinese civilisations observed the cosmos and human organisms and developed philosophies that in detail describe both. Most of the principles of these philosophies have been confirmed by today’s science.
Euphoria Retreat’s concept stands on these two pillars of ancient wisdom, which describe how energy flows in our body and how the body is influenced by the cosmos, giving guidance that derives from thousands of years of experiences on how to live a euphoric and healthy life.
Modern evidence-based science provides clear answers on whether something is valuable or not, and gives information on a biochemical level regarding what is needed to support wellbeing – vitamins, minerals etc – and uses medicine to cure and set a safe basis for complementary and alternative medicine.
In this way, Euphoria Retreat has developed wellbeing programmes that centre around the five elements of earth, fire, water, wood and metal and their related energies and emotions, with treatments designed to bring balance by addressing the three levels of existence (emotional, physical and spiritual).
A variety of individually designed programmes includes signature retreats, mini retreats, wellness consultations and mental coaching, as well as a wide range of massage therapies, signature bodywork experiences, holistic healing practices, pampering face and body treatments, wellness coaching, and body and movement fitness activities that focus on bringing enduring harmony.
On a daily basis, you will explore your relationship to each element (water, wood, fire, earth, metal), with physical/energy treatments as well as in intimate group sessions. The program also includes nutritional assessment through innovative technologies.
7 night Summer Beach Yoga Holiday in Corfu, open May – October
Join us for a 7 night summer beach yoga holiday on the beach in Corfu! Offering a beautiful yet tranquil alternative to the bustling, cosmopolitan beach of Acharavi, Almyros is a peaceful paradise escape, perfect for those looking to take a relaxing break from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Just Relax is a Greek yoga retreat, which allows guests to unwind in its tranquil environment. We welcome couples; solo travellers and friends who’d like to combine their love of yoga with a sunshine holiday.
Located within the stunning Greek island of Corfu, our experienced and inspiring yoga teachers will challenge your mind and body, encouraging you to enhance your overall wellbeing through daily practice of yoga techniques.
With its rich, mountainous landscape, Corfu offers a beautiful view to its visitors. The Northern area of the island has preserved its natural and architectural environment, making it popular with visitors and locals alike. Dominated by mountains, the island has a never ending expanse of rolling hills and blossoming trees, bursting with lush vegetation. Coastal areas offer tranquil white sandy beaches, while the shimmering blue sea provides a perfect backdrop to the green Corfiot countryside.
Corfu’s climate is another endearing feature of the island. Warm summers are relatively dry, with blue skies and a tranquil sea breeze, while winters remain mild with little rainfall. On average there are 3000 hours of sun per year on the island of Corfu, with an average daily sunshine amount of 8.5 hours.
The house is located right on the beach where you can spend your days chilling out in between the meals and yoga. The walk to the nearest town is about 1/2hr away, or an easy 10min cycle with the bikes we provide for free. In the town there is a supermarket, cafes and restaurants.
Four & Five Night Yoga and Hiking Retreat in Altea, Spain 17th – 22nd October
Escape to Spain for a five night yoga and hiking retreat, and immerse yourself in warm sunshine, ‘drink’ fresh clean sea air, feast on delicious tasty food, open your body in twice daily amazing yoga and hike in stunning natural scenery.
And, if you fancy exploring further, you can go biking and horse trekking, cook up a delicious paella lunch or simply chill in the sun. Our yoga and hiking retreats in Spain are the perfect blend of two complementing exercises.
Whilst hiking is great for the heart and lungs it can create tight leg muscles and an aching back but, with the addition of delicious yoga to lengthen, open and strengthen your posture, you’ll loosen your hamstrings, build strength, mobilise joints and deepen your breathing. The simple fusion of yoga and hiking on one retreat means you receive a complete boost to your health and fitness.
Our yoga and hiking retreat takes place in the coastal town of Altea, an hour north of Alicante. Altea is surrounded by coast hugging mountains that tumble to the sea and is considered to be one of the prettiest towns in this area with little white washed houses lining narrow cobbled streets, interesting artisan shops a stunning blue domed church and a gorgeous coastline. According to the World Health Organisation this is one of the healthiest places to on Earth.
Yoga and Pilates Retreat by the Sea, Spain 19th – 24th September
Join us for a 5 night Yoga and Pilates retreat by the sea and immerse yourself in gorgeous sunshine, big open blue skies, fresh sea air, beach time and feast on delicious healthy food. Plus, super experienced yoga and pilates teachers will help you open, lengthen, quieten and strengthen your body with two classes a day with time in between to explore this stunningly beautiful area with the optional biking, hiking, horse trekking or simply relax by the pool with a great book and soak up the sun’s rays.
Based at a 300 year old olive farm – now a 4* country house hotel – set in acres of orange & olive groves near the sea. This peaceful setting is the perfect base to get away from your normal routine and get a fresh perspective on life.
Whether you’re a keen beginner or have a regular yoga or Pilates practice, this retreat will meet you where you are with small groups of 12 and classes for beginners and intermediates/advanced plus workshops to help progress & deepen your practice. There’ll be plenty of opportunity to get outside and be in nature too with a guided hike, bike ride, horse trek, visits to the beach, take part in a Spanish cookery workshop, rest by the pool or enjoy pampering therapies.
And don’t worry, these retreats are super relaxed. So if there is a morning where you want to sleep in, please do. If there’s an afternoon you would stay longer by the pool and skip class, that’s ok! Whatever you feel you need, please do.
Boutique beach yoga holiday in Fuerteventura. Open all year
Discover flow as the sun rises over white sand beaches. Delight in nourishing restorative yoga, and fun and flowing Pilates classes to connect you to your core on this relaxing boutique beach yoga holiday.
Our beautiful, cosy Yoga Beach Lodge in Corralejo, is the perfect place to leave the worries of city life behind. You can expect beautiful beaches on your doorstep, daily classes at the beach to inspire and challenge you, warm and experienced staff and teachers, indulgent massages, delicious wholesome brunches and a wholesome inclusive welcome meal and vibrant, healthy cafes and restaurants nearby.
The Yoga Beach Lodge is perfectly placed for our retreat, and just one line of houses away from the beach. Cafes, shops and the beautiful Flag Beach / national Park Sand dunes are all within walking distance from the lodge.
Together we’ll salute to the sun as it rises over the ocean. In your free time you can go off exploring, learn to surf, walk along the coastline to the stunning Corralejo Dunes National Park, visit the local markets, enjoy a seafood lunch at the harbour, climb a volcano, or visit the beautiful lagoons of El Cotillo.
Discover our full guide to the best yoga & wellness retreats in Spain and the Canary Islands
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