Portugal is packed with striking landscapes, exceptional beaches and surfing, vibrant culture and some wonderful yoga retreats and wellness resorts.
The great thing about going on a retreat in Portugal is that you can first spend a few days in one of the cities. Take some time to immerse yourself in the local culture, explore the historical sights, meander the cobbled streets and enjoy the mediterranean cuisine. Then get ready to head off to a popular yoga & surf retreat on the coast or meditation escape in the mountains.
In this guide we will cover a selection of retreats that are easily accessible from the cities of Lisbon, Porto and Faro. Read our Lisbon Wellbeing Guide here.
Retreats
Vale De Moses
Location: Vale de Moses is located in the heart of the Portuguese mountains.
Mood: A tranquil, serene, family run yoga retreat perfect for those in need of a break, rest and relaxation.
Vale de Moses is a family run 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.
Soulfully reconnect with our planet and with your own body. This warm invitation to deepen your love affair with yoga, is open for everyone, travelling alone or with friends, new to yoga or practicing for decades. Most of our retreats at Vale de Moses include morning and afternoon classes, a health consultation, massage/acupuncture treatment, 3 nourishing daily meals and a trip to the nearby Rio Zêzere. Read more.
Digital Detox Retreat
Location: Located just outside of Lisbon Cascais may be the most charming beach town in Portugal.
Mood: Get ready to unwind, recharge and reconnect with yourself and the world without any devices, in order to invigorate, repurpose and balance your personal and professional life.
Feeling overwhelmed, looking for a break from always being on the go, and glued to the digital world? The key to living well in a high tech world is to use much less technology.
Our retreat in Cascais, Portugal provides a solution for busy change makers, decision makers and action takers who seek balance, clarity and peace in their daily life.
We offer an opportunity to unwind, relax in a 5 star environment offering privacy ( max 8 per retreat), an individual approach with daily yoga classes and skill development workshops to nourish body and mind. Our team of experts will lead your digital detox journey for a completely unique and truly holistic wellness experience.
The immersive 4-day experience can be life-changing! If you are into yoga, self- development, enjoy comfortable and relaxing settings, want to develop yourself, and regain inner balance in a company of mindful entrepreneurs this might be the best retreat investment you have ever done.
Get ready to unwind, recharge and reconnect with yourself and the world without any devices, in order to invigorate, repurpose and balance your personal and professional life, all whilst spending quality time in a secluded, luxurious environment in the Portuguese Riviera. Read more.
Yoga, Meditation and Relaxation Retreat
Location: The Azores … an archipelago in the middle of the Atlantic, consisting of 9 volcanic islands.
Mood: Spend time healing the body, mind and soul with meditation, nature and yoga
Join us on this special retreat in Azorean nature. This all-inclusive vacation at São Miguel Island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean will bring your body, mind and soul into peace and harmony. With daily yoga, different kinds of meditation, energetic treatments, coaching, awareness, personal growth and delicious meals.
The retreat are led in small groups of a maximum of 7 people. During the week you will stay in a private house with ocean views and a large garden where the yoga and meditation classes take place and delicious meals. Our private driver will bring you to the most beautiful nature spots of the island where meditations will be offered along with several walks and trails in silence.
During the week there will be enough time for yourself: to go for whale and dolphin spotting, to visit the capital Ponta Delgada, to take a swim in the ocean, to go to the beautiful beach or to do whatever you like to do. Read more.
Yoga Surf Holidays
Location: Aqua Ventura, a calm, beautiful, secluded off the grid retreat centre near the West Coast in the South of Portugal
Mood: For those who want to express this joy through their relationship to nature, open spaces, wind and yes, a surfboard!
This retreat will offer you the opportunity to combine the wonderful surf of the Portuguese South West coast with a healing and insightful yoga practice.
Surfing is awesome, everyone will tell you that, whether you are a beginner or a seasoned surfer, the ocean doesn’t care; it will play with you and remind you of the child inside.
The famous surfer Clay Marzo says it very beautifully: ‘Waves are toys from God’. What not so many people will tell you is that it is also a hard art. The ocean is extremely powerful and we are small creatures, so we do take a bit of a beating every time we get out there. A small price to pay, but a price non-the less.
Yoga will give you the opportunity to enjoy this week without breaking your body. We’ll stretch and warm you up for the ride in the mornings and take care of your happily exhausted bodies at the end of the day with a wonderful restorative and relaxing session. You’ll come back home with a giant smile, a tan and a new understanding of how amazing this yoga stuff really can be. Read more.
Raw Food Detox & Fitness Bootcamp
Location: Set in the beachy hills of Portugal’s gorgeous Vale do Lobo with its green and lush landscapes
Mood: Run on the beach. Rest by the pool. Dine in style. Discover clean eating and learn how to prepare some of the finest raw foods dishes available.
Join a well-known raw food chef on this Algarve raw food detox and fitness retreat in Portugal. This is an incredible beach-side experience that will quite literally take your breath away. Set in the beachy hills of Portugal’s gorgeous Vale do Lobo with its green and lush landscapes.
With an experienced team of experts and therapists, you will be guided through a full raw food detox. This is the perfect chance for you to relax into nature, unplug from the world, restore and reset.
Feeling fit and bendy is no entry qualification here. In fact we encourage those with a range of fitness levels. Haven’t seen your toes in years? Welcome. Preparing for your next marathon? No problem. We encourage inclusivity and our training style means that we ALL finish the program together.
Run on the beach. Rest by the pool. Dine in style. Discover clean eating and learn how to prepare some of the finest raw foods dishes available.
Picture yourself exploring raw foods while staying in a wonderful villa in the sunshine of Portugal, safe in the knowledge that your fitness is in the hands of experts as they challenge you to move towards your own personal goals. Read more.
Yoga & Beaches in the Algarve
Location: Welcome to Algarve. The name comes from the Arabic ‘El Gharb’ which means the West. The region is protected by mountains to the North and bordered by the sea to the South offering 125 miles of coastline carved with cliffs, long sandy beaches and spectacular views.
Mood: Start your day with yoga by the beach then explore the capital and the West Algarve with a culture packed guided tour
Start your day with yoga by the beach and a leisurely breakfast at the Cascade Wellness Resort that overlooks the Atlantic Ocean and the nearby Porto de Mós Beach. The hotel features a full spa with beauty and massage treatments, hot tub and sauna.
Join this elevating Yoga Meditation Fusion retreat and experience profound healing, bliss, balance, flexibility, relaxation, chakra activation, clarity, inner peace, and deep love, connection and joy.
Participate in yoga and meditation that go beyond the postures to bring yoga, the “union” of your true Self, into every aspect of your being.
Allow your body, mind and Soul to flow in harmony. Dive into the wealth of knowledge of Ayurvedic Yoga and Pranayama preparing your body for deeper spiritual practices and meditation. You will learn specific techniques that make meditation much easier and you will learn how to use meditation to transform your life and deepen your connection with your Higher Self.
Day trips will take you to Faro, Santa Luzia, Tavira, Portimao, Lagos and a sailing cruise around the bay of Lagos to explore some of the most impressive caves and rock formations in Southern Portugal. Read more.
Open Mind Yoga & Mindfulness Retreat
Location: The retreat centre is located in the midst of Portugal’s most beautiful nature, within the Natural Reservation Park of Costa Vicentin
Mood: A mindfulness-based retreat integrating heart and compassion practices
You may know the feeling of your mind being open, fully present, and full of possibilities while letting life flow through you…those moments of fun, succeeding in something, or being on vacation.
But what about the other moments? The ones in which life doesn’t go as planned or in which you get caught up in an automatic doing mode, thoughts, or feelings? How do you tune in on a space of openness and clarity, watching the waves of life, without being thrown in the sea? This is what the Open Mind Retreat is all about.
Opening to an observational space that doesn’t try to change stories, opinions, judgments, and feelings, but simply – and more profoundly – cuts through it.
During this retreat you will also learn to unravel the mechanisms of your subconscious, so that you can gain a deeper insight into the true causes of suffering and happiness instead of combatting symptoms or search for quick fixes.
This retreat is not just a vacation. It’s also not a yoga vacation in which you will have two hours of yoga and some occasional meditation, it’s a journey within yourself with meditations, different practices, context theory, sharings and reflections. This allows you to get in touch with an open awareness for all layers: brain, mind, body, and heart. Read more.
Mindfulness and Yin Yoga Retreats
Location: Aqua Ventura, a calm, beautiful, secluded off the grid retreat centre near the West Coast in the South of Portugal
Mood: For those going through a stressful life period or work situations who need to rest, heal and recharge their batteries.
Living in the world, balancing love, work, family, finances and health is not an easy feat. There are always incredible moments to be enjoyed but they are usually sustained and financed by long days of hard work. To maintain our health in such busy rhythm is often challenging and there are moments when one needs to take a break, a wholesome break, both for the body and the mind.
This retreat offers exactly that, quality yoga and mindfulness teachings, therapeutically holistic treatments, healthy food and lots of time and space for you to disconnect and reconnect.
A way that includes words like forgiveness, compassion, acceptance or empathy and at the same time the capacity to decline other people’s abusive behaviour.
Welcome to this unique opportunity to heal and open your heart, supported by the softest side of yoga and the loving guidance of Jenny and Igor. Read more.
Hotels and Resorts
Alamos Retreat – Wellness & Yoga Boutique Hotel
Alamos Retreat is a small luxury bed & breakfast hotel with a wellbeing concept located in Guia, Albufeira. You will find weekly Yoga, meditation and running activities during the week. You can also book one of the wellness programs.
There is a restaurant (offering low in sugar, with gluten-free and lactose-free options), a seasonal outdoor swimming pool, garden views, a shared lounge, a garden and a terrace.
All amenities are organic, the bed linen is 100% cotton and you can sleep in one of the most comfortable bed in the region.
Breakfast is a mini buffet served at the table, where you can choose healthy, sweet or savoury options. Lots of fruits, always vegetarian/vegan, low in sugar, with gluten-free and lactose-free options. Dinner is also available on request.
Personal Yoga Retreat at a four star boutique hotel
Spend a week in tranquil surroundings to recharge and reconnect with your true self. Immerse into daily, instructor lead yoga sessions (all abilities welcome) before breakfast or towards sunset in the hotel’s mature Mediterranean cliff top gardens above Porto de Mós beach. The week’s focus being on meditation, breathing, purification, relaxation and study.
Experience the pleasures of the organic spa and enjoy complete relaxation with a Royal Ayurveda massage (90 min). In the evening enjoy tempting food choices that include vegan and raw options with sunset views. Re-balance mind, body and spirit, at the edge of Atlantic Ocean and return home feeling reconnected and totally relaxed.
Algarve Spa and Health Club, Quinta do Lago
Located in the stylish Quinta do Lago, set within two thousand acres of the Ria Formosa National Park and just five minutes from the unspoilt beaches of the Algarve coastline, the Conrad Algarve Spa & Health Club is one of the most luxurious and desirable spas in Portugal, if not Europe.
A haven providing holistic therapies, combining meditation and relaxation, as well as special body treatments. This oasis of calm adopts a contemporary approach to rekindling your energy and rediscovering your spirit.
Forward-thinking and seductively opulent, the Conrad Spa is all about you, embracing and blending a holistic approach to your wellbeing using cutting-edge treatments and personalised treatment programs, delivered by intuitive therapists with expert hands.
Treating each individual as a whole; the treatment menu uniquely combines high touch and high tech disciplines that specifically target each guest’s individual needs and goals. Their Australian Intraceuticals brand is fantastic, try out on their oxygen-infused facials or uplifting Aromatherapy Associate oil massages.Outside the treatment rooms lie cabanas, ice fountains, experience showers, infinity pools and a world of natural sunshine.
Quinta Colina Flora, Sintra
Offering ocean views, Quinta Colina flora is located in the hills of Sintra National Park, 1.9 miles from the coast and beaches. This sustainable property features a seasonal swimming pool, an organic garden and free WiFi.
Each unit features a private bathroom and tea facilities. Some units have a private terrace. Linen, towels, bathrobes and slippers are made with organic cotton.
The bed and breakfast offers an organic vegan/vegetarian breakfast. The location is a paradise for walkers/hikers, cyclists, history buffs, and a variety of diverse outdoor activities. A bicycle rental service is available, and cycling can be enjoyed nearby.
It is a perfect place to unwind, regain equilibrium of mind, heart and spirit, be inspired, and breathe the exhilarating seaside country air.
Longevity Luxury Spa and Wellness Resort, Armação de Pêra
Located on cliffs overlooking Praia das Gaivotas and the Atlantic Ocean, with direct access to a golden sand Algarvian beach, Vilalara Thalassa Resort features a luxurious spa, 6 outdoor pools and 2 restaurants. Spacious suites are surrounded by extensive landscaped gardens and 4 tennis courts.
Vilalara Longevity Thalassa & Medical Spa is a unique fusion of Thalassa, Spa and state of the art wellness and anti-ageing solutions. An integrated experience to help you relax, revitalise, reenergise and rejuvenate.
The resort has one of the best thalassotherapy centres in the world and offers a roster of fitness, detox, stress-management and weight-loss programmes. There are group-friendly boot camps and a hardcore 15-day Fast Slimming and Detox plan. A fleet of doctors, nutritionists and fitness trainers is at your disposal.
Four Seasons Spa Hotel Ritz, Lisbon
The Four Seasons Hotel Ritz Lisbon is one of the most regal hotels in the city with private terraces, elegant restaurants and a giant gym on the roof with a wraparound view. It was built in 1959 by the dictator Salazar to prove that Lisbon could do luxury as well as any other European capital. More than half a century later it is still setting the bar.
The spa is undoubtedly the best in Lisbon, with an 18-metre lap pool as its centre piece. Products are from Sodashi, Swiss Perfection and ESPA; manicures use Spa Ritual’s vegan nail care products. Four treatments rooms offer treatments such as honey and almond scrub, the four handed “Symphony massage” and facials from Swiss Perfection, which deliver effective anti-ageing treatments.
The 11th floor fitness area features an outdoor running track overlooking Lisbon and the indoor swimming pool overlooks the hotel gardens and Lisbon’s Eduardo VII Park. Not a bad place to work out from and be inspired and motivated by the views! Highly qualified trainers are available to help guests explore the latest trends in exercise.
Featuring three floor-to-ceiling glass walls, the exercise room has a total area of 157 square metres (1,690 square feet), and offers up-to-the-minute equipment including treadmills, bicycles and elliptical machines. With an area of 52 square meters (560 square feet) each, one of the studios is a fully-equipped Pilates room, and the other provides stands for resistance training.
Altis Belém Hotel & Spa, Lisbon
Altis Belém Hotel & Spa is a 5 star design hotel in Lisbon, located in Belém overlooking the Tagus River, representing a contemporary view of the Golden Ages of Portugal during the discoveries in the 15th and 16th centuries. The hotel wows you with its striking architecture
The theme of the discoveries is intricately threaded throughout all of the hotel’s 50 luxury rooms (including 5 suites) absorbing and tempting you to embark on an exotic journey displayed in a series of illustrated wall panels, giving each room a bespoke atmosphere. A design hotel in Lisbon that allows you to go on a journey from Mauritania on the West coast of Africa, through Arabia, India, Siam, Osaka and across to the tropics via Brazil.
Here you can also find the Spa by Karin Herzog, an awarded signature spa that is unique in Portugal and where oxygen therapy and ancient oriental traditions of relaxation ensure the ultimate wellness for body and mind. As you dive into the rooftop pool with amazing views of the white city, feel the chilled out Iberian vibe drive out every last trace of worry.
Casa Fortunato, Lisbon
Hear the city-sounds of Lisbon from this eclectic and trendy building made for large groups. Start your morning with a yoga class. Then, a delicious breakfast. The dedicated villa staff will take care of everything.
At dinner, there’s formal seating for 20, and the option to bring in a private chef. Rather dine out? Head to the waterfront, Cais do Sodre, one of the best neighbourhoods for seafood.
Balancing contemporary with the traditional, Casa Fortunato shows off Lisbon’s rich history and cutting-edge style with its impressive versatility. Handwoven carpets from the markets of Morocco add pops of colour to the hardwood floors. Vibrantly textured walls make sure every room is exciting and unique. The property is decorated with original furnishings; some pieces are even family heirlooms. Read more.
Wellness Travel Tips & Resources
- Happy Cow have an extensive list of vegan and vegetarian restaurants in Portugal.
- Read Timeout’s article on the healthy restaurants in Lisbon and for those visiting Porto, the best Vegetarian and Vegan restaurants from the Culture Trip.
- Get yourself a Lonely Planet Guide!.
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