Discover luxurious wellness retreats in Europe for some relaxing 'me-time'

In need of a wellness reset? Perhaps you want a mind and body detox, some transformative tweakments, or simply a spa hotel hideaway to indulge in a little pampering. Whatever you’re looking for in a retreat, there’s something out there for you.

Whether you’re looking close to home or further afield, venture far from the madding crowd at one of the world’s most renowned wellness retreats, which promise a mix of meditative moments and hi-tech treatments.

Below, find 15 of Europe’s best wellness retreats for body, mind, and spirit renewal.

Daios Cove, Crete: Best for head-to-toe transformation

Taking a tech-focused approach to wellness, Daios Cove is decidedly more concerned with health optimisation than relaxation—although the views over the private Cretian Cove will certainly induce feelings of calm.

Kepos by Goco, the resort’s holistic health destination, takes a head-to-toe approach to wellness. Those after a full body reset can begin with one of the team’s diagnostic consultations, where a practitioner will measure your biological age, metabolism, or nutrition levels before prescribing a personalised course of treatments to undertake throughout your stay.

For working up a sweat, London’s BXR offers intensive personal training sessions and full courses in the indoor and outdoor gyms, while IV drips and colonic hydrotherapy are available on request.

Try the cryotherapy chamber for a major energy boost post-workout, or opt for something a little less bracing in the surprisingly calming hyperbaric oxygen chamber, which is said to improve cognitive function.

Once you’re ready to recline (an aerial yoga class will get you there) there’s a full menu of acclaimed 111 Skin facial treatments to dive into, from the cult Cryotherapy Toning Facial to the intensely rejuvenating dermapen needling.

Daylesford Organic, England

From the masters of organic farming and luxury living in the Cotswolds, Daylesford Organic’s wellness retreats go beyond your average well-being escape. Taking place a few times a year and usually as a mid-week break (providing the perfect excuse to use up your annual leave), these mini-breaks combine nutrition in an indulgent way, pampering that leaves you feeling fully restored and nurtured, and healing for a restful mind and body. This is a wellness retreat for those who like to eat and invites you to live and breathe the lifestyle brand that was founded in a bucolic corner of Gloucestershire.

Distinctly different from a wellness retreat at a hotel, here you’ll stay in one of Daylesford’s rustic cottages, just metres from the estate’s renowned Farm Shop in Kingham. Expect to feast on the most delectable seasonal dishes in the Trough restaurant (where the ingredients are plucked from the estate’s farm, we might add) and the nearby Wild Rabbit. De-stressing facials and massages using Bamford products are also part of the menu, as are crystal sound healing and yoga, alongside the most calming floristry, or cooking classes.

A highlight is the market garden tour with brilliant head gardener Jez for a look behind the scenes at the incredible produce grown on-site. There is also time with nutritionist Rhaya Jordan, who shares her tips for eating well, whether you have a busy lifestyle or would like to introduce more fibre to your diet.

Six Senses Ibiza: Best for longevity

This recently opened hotel reveals a different side of the party island, with a programme that focuses on slowing down and promoting longevity through both ancient traditions and cutting-edge science.

The setting might be signature Ibizian style—wooden terraces and crisp white linen—but for your biohacking programme, it’s pure high-tech. Expect hyperbaric chambers, electromagnetic thrones, DNA testing, and cryotherapy. There are, of course, some bohemian touches, like daily breakfast at the Farmer's Market and ‘energy treatments’ to realign, but this is mostly about utilising science to better and lengthen your health and life.

The main difference to your usual Balearic experience? Bedtime’s long before the sun rises.

Beaverbrook, England: Best for a day trip

Wim Hof’s breathing and cold-water therapy is a powerful reminder that we are in control of our stress response. Try his patented method in the cosseting surroundings of this Surrey hotel, only a short drive from London.

Led by a certified Wim Hof Method instructor, you and your small group (moral support is essential!) will be guided through breathing techniques designed to optimise and expand your body and mind, followed by the famous cold water exposure. You’ll work your way up to a guided six-minute ice bath, which is hardcore and invigorating, and even if you don’t find it emotionally life-changing, it’s still a great dinner party brag.

After warming up you’ll enjoy a hard-earned lunch and free rein of Beaverbrook’s beautiful Coach House Spa.

Yeotown Madeira: Best for the outdoorsy type

Since opening in 2010, Yeotown Devon has gained a reputation as a no-nonsense health retreat offering an array of fresh-air activities.

Its new Portugese island outpost transports that philosophy to sunnier climates. Dubbed the ‘Island of Eternal Spring’, Madeira’s remote and rugged landscape sets the scene for daily activities of coastal and mountain hiking, sunrise yoga, wild swimming, and more. Your schedule is packed but varied, including daily massages to soothe your post-hike legs. The food is as fresh as the air, and although it’s branded as a detox (so expect to forgo alcohol, caffeine, and sugar), it shouldn’t send you into a panic: think bright juices and local-produce-filled salads.

If you wish to pack even more into your days, a whole host of alternative therapies such as acupuncture, reiki, crystal therapy, and Ayurvedic consultations are available. Otherwise, you can nestle into your ‘boho chic’ room, and let the sound of the waves send you into a well-earned slumber.

Lanserhof Sylt, Germany: Best for a medical MOT

The name Lanserhof has always been synonymous with medical excellence, and its newest outpost, a futuristic-looking building on the island of Sylt in northern Germany, has surpassed even its own high standards.

Offering more medical services than any other wellness hotel (it has 10 full-time doctors and a further 32 specialists on its books), the 50,000-square-foot medical centre has been designed to help guests achieve optimum health. “The people who come here aren’t necessarily ill by definition,” says the group’s chief marketing officer, Nils Behrens, “but they might have health problems like migraines, back pain, skin issues, or digestive struggles.” On a health scale of one to 10, most people put themselves at a five to seven, he says. “We want to get you to as close to a 10 as possible.”

You’ll meet with specialists ranging from dermatologists to psychotherapists, and undergo assessments using hi-tech equipment such as a full-body AI scanner with 96 cameras. The goal is to combine medical treatments with natural solutions to cure the source, not just the symptoms, of any ailments. Essential to this are good nutrition and supplementing, breathwork, mindfulness, and alternative therapies including acupuncture and craniosacral therapy (a gentle but effective upper-body treatment to remove energy blockages). There’s even a shaman available to guide you through a fire ritual. It might sound a bit woo-woo, but nothing at Lanserhof is for show: it’s about drawing on all possible resources to get you back to better health—and, hopefully, send you home feeling like a perfect 10.

Palazzo Fiuggi, Italy: Best for a holistic health check

Leading a healthier lifestyle requires a multi-pronged approach, realigning and balancing the body and brain. The week-long Complete Life Rewind programme at Palazzo Fiuggi—a beautiful building set within expansive private grounds overlooking the mediaeval Italian spa town of Fiuggi—combines a multitude of tests, treatments, and therapies to achieve just that.

A day might start with a thalassotherapy bathing ritual (wallowing in a magnesium- and salt-filled pool to draw toxins out), followed by a rigorous personal training session, with time for some Ayurvedic therapy later on. Another could include colon hydrotherapy, a vitamin-filled IV drip, and an aromatherapy massage. And with the help of the team’s expert aesthetic surgeon, Dr Regina Fortunato, you can take advantage of innovative treatments and tweakments, including skin-boosting injectables and fillers.

You will be served tailor-made, nutritionally balanced menus throughout your stay—but rest assured that, unless weight loss is a goal, there are no broth-based, hunger-inducing meal plans. Perhaps surprisingly for a wellness destination, one of the biggest draws for guests is the food, served in the opulent, chandelier-lit dining-room, since every dish—and there are more than 1,000 in the hotel’s recipe book—is conceived by the garlanded German chef Heinz Beck. “We don’t want guests to feel like they’re at a clinic,” says the lead physician Professor David Della Morte Canosci. “It’s a holiday, after all.”

Clinique La Prairie, Switzerland: Best for a mind and body reboot

If one chooses to undergo a life transformation—with all the dark moments of the soul that entails—there’s no lovelier place to do it than Clinique La Prairie, nestled beside the picture-postcard Swiss town of Montreux. Founded in 1931, the clinic has a reputation as the world’s most exclusive health destination, with just 38 rooms and the discreet ambience of a grand old hotel. It’s the original medi-spa, built on pillars of evidence-based medicine, wellness, nutrition, and movement.

These have been refined over time—the menu now is mostly vegan and Michelin-star-worthy (no starvation here!), while the revitalisation programme, which once involved foetal-lamb-liver injections, is about genetic testing and stem-cell therapy. It’s down to the dynamic CEO, Simone Gibertoni, who is leading a modernisation process that includes a range of ultra-luxe ‘longevity supplements’ to bring health home. A seven-day stay resulted in a seven-kilo weight loss and a miraculous shift in mindset.

Palacio Estoril, Portugal: Best for dipping your toe in

This 1930s monument on the Portuguese Riviera (where Ian Fleming supposedly wrote Casino Royale at the bar and British and German spies filled the tables during the Second World War) is a glamorous location for any type of holiday. But if you are going to go down the wellness route, why not do it in style?

With a menu of retreats, from a four-day reformer pilates boot camp to a day ‘holistic de-stress’ programme, whatever your ailment or goal there should be something for you. Specialities include water shiatsu and osteopathy, and the wellness centre offers unlimited access to pools, saunas, Turkish baths, and hydrotherapy. And there’s of course the bar for a martini if you so wish...

Buchinger Wilhelmi, Germany: Best for mindful consumption

Situated by the Northern shores of Lake Constance in Germany, Buchinger Wilhelmi is known as one of the world’s leading clinics for therapeutic fasting. The property, which has just celebrated its centenary with a full renovation, is now under the leadership of Leo Wilhelmi, the great-grandson of its founder Dr Otto Buchinger.

Days begin with tea in bed, followed by checks on blood pressure, weight, and blood sugar levels with one of the programme’s seven doctors. An optional meditation session could be followed by swims in the heated outdoor pool, Nordic walking, yoga, qi gong, t’ai chi, dance and art classes, or spa treatments. Mindful fasting is at the heart of the plan, but there is also a focus on understanding the balance between exercise and rest, hunger and repletion, and inspiration and relaxation. As Wilhelmi puts it: “While the body fasts, the mind and soul need to be nourished.”

Vivamayr, Austria: Best for detoxing

Gut health is all the rage now, promoted by scientists as the secret to weight management and a longer life. The forefather of this belief was Franz Xaver Mayr, an Austrian doctor who concluded that the intestine was at the core of physical and mental health and preached a set of common-sense eating habits, including chewing slowly and mindfully as an aid to digestion.

Mayr’s teachings remain the guiding principles at the health resorts named after him, including Vivamayr Maria Wörth, on the shores of Austria’s Lake Wörthersee. Upon arrival, a consultation with Dr Zancolo results in a tailored regime for the rest of the stay, combining individual treatments with group activities such as stretching, yoga, and aqua gym. Different therapies address bad habits; I had a session on breathing and posture given by a former opera singer, and another on circadian rhythms, which explains why ‘when’ you eat is as important as ‘what’ it is.

There can be a bit of hardship involved, especially in the detox phase (giving up caffeine can be particularly challenging), but the beautiful landscape, absorbing treatments, and kindly staff combine to miraculous effect, leaving even the most stressed-out guest feeling refreshed and revived.

Lime Wood, England: Best for nature lovers

This boutique country-house hotel’s ‘rewilding retreats’ take advantage of its New Forest setting to offer energising woodland walks and meditation sessions, as well as time in the Herb House spa.

Designed to reconnect you with nature (with busy Londoners in mind, no doubt) the mix of fresh air and time in their serene spa aims to ‘recharge mind, body, and soul and restore balance, health, and creativity’. Choose ‘Forest Fix’ if you’re feeling energetic, which includes outdoor fitness (and a ‘Forest Combat Session’ to relieve some stress) followed by a 60-minute spa treatment to wind down, or ‘Wild Wanderings’ for a more subdued forest bathing walk, breathwork, meditation, and a gentle healing massage.

If one day simply isn’t enough, their three-day retreat, in partnership with Bamford, incorporates a holistically focused balanced schedule of forest, spa, and studio time, with sound healing, mind and movement classes, and seasonal fresh food to soothe the soul.

The Kusnacht Practice, Switzerland: Best for rebalancing

At this super-exclusive treatment centre, set in the serene Swiss landscape, scientific excellence is paired with first-class hospitality. With only 12 villas (one per guest) and some 90 professionals to cater for your needs—from doctors to chefs, and personal trainers—you’d be hard-pressed to find somewhere where your wellness experience will be more personalised and thorough.

Kusnacht’s Bio-R programme focuses on biomolecular restoration: the recalibration of your body, mind, and energy through science. Bone density, muscle health, genetics, brain age, and an extensive psychiatric evaluation are all taken into consideration when proposing treatments, the goal of which isn’t necessarily to cure a specific ailment, but to achieve peak physical and mental health.

Tailored supplementation, hyperbaric chambers, X-rays, and ultrasound scans are just a few of the services available to the practice’s ultra-high-net-worth clients (who include CEOs and entrepreneurs, royalty and billionaires) as part of a comprehensive but constantly adjusted plan. A stay at Kusnacht— from one week, though many choose to stay for six or more—is a big investment, but one that is bound to repay itself; after all, you can’t put a price on your health.

Goodwood, England: Best for a nutritional reset

Set in the famous Goodwood Estate and promising a gut-health overhaul in this glorious setting, this five-day retreat combines nutritional advice, complementary therapies, and an organic diet to heal and re-energise you from the inside out.

A concept drawn up by the Duchess of Richmond, gut-health nutritionist Stephanie Moore, and complementary therapist Elaine Williams, the aim is to have ‘a restorative effect on both, body and mind’. The food follows the estate’s field-to-fork philosophy so expect organically farmed produce and local delights that help to heal your gut without depriving your taste buds.

Education is forefront here—there’s no point eating well for five days then undoing all the hard work— so expect nutritional talks, results-driven therapies, and a deep dive into your daily habits (from sleep to stress) to ‘ensure you experience a life-changing reset’.

This piece originally appeared in Harper’s Bazaar UK. 

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