Pampering spas offer decadent indulgence, medical clinics provide diagnostic reassurance but the joy of a wellness retreat is that it places as much importance on the emotional and mental condition as physical concerns, providing the space for a 360-degree exploration of your wellbeing. It’s also on your terms — the broader definition of this style of wellness break leads to an interesting range of interpretations.
Depending on your personality, you may prefer an esoteric examination, achieved through talking therapies and ancient rituals such as moon baths. Others respond to the physical challenges of wild swimming and hiking, while for many nutrition represents the most comfortable springboard to a more balanced life, boosting mood as well as health. Wellness retreats can be individual and bespoke, or have a group dynamic and generic themes. In the past few years, the UK has really upped the ante on health holidays and is now home to some of the world’s best wellness retreats. We reveal the best of the bunch.
Main photo: Ragdale Hall, Leicestershire
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1. Arrigo Programme, Somerset
Best for emotional healing
She’d never divulge names but over her 35-year career psychotherapist Fiona Arrigo has helped many famous faces, from politicians to celebrities, overcome stress and burnout. Her retreats, in a former Georgian rectory set in 17 acres near Bruton, focus on body and breath work, sharing circles, expert talks and daily guided meditation. Arrigo’s little black book of therapists also ensures the healing treatments are truly top-notch. It’s not all earnest soul-searching though; there’s a pool, Jacuzzi and sauna, plus tennis courts and bikes to explore Somerset’s gorgeous countryside.
Pool Y
Gym N
Price £££
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2. Armathwaite Hall, Lake District
Best for tree lovers
Set within 400 acres of woodlands and with restful views over Lake Bassenthwaite, the spa at this unpretentious Victorian mansion has employed a forest-bathing specialist — yes, really — to devise retreats that centre on a meditative journey through its dappled woods to gain an appreciation of how nature can be a metaphor for change. The brave can try tree-climbing, courtesy of the majestic oaks and twisting groves of rhododendron in the parklands, the hardy can opt for lake swimming. And if you prefer something quirkier, there are also mindful walks with alpacas.
Pool Y
Gym Y
Price ££
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3. Bamford Wellness Spa, Gloucestershire
Best for holistic relaxation
Lady Carole Bamford is the queen bee behind the Bamford Wellness Spa, nestling into a sylvan fold of her 2,500-acre organic farm near Stow-on-the-Wold. Lady B lures her favourite instructors and therapists to this classy cocoon in the Cotswolds so expect exceptional yoga classes and sound baths, excellent massages and fascinating workshops as well as support from a friendly team who will help you build a bespoke break. After a day of pure holistic indulgence, buy supper at the on-site Daylesford Organics, the Ferrari of farm shops, and drift across to one of the estate’s stylish cottages.
Pool Y
Gym N
Price ££
4. Broughton Hall, North Yorkshire
Best for nature immersion
This 16th-century mansion near Skipton is the epitome of stately grandeur, but its wellness centre is thrillingly state-of-the-art, with walls of glinting glass and feng shui curved stone. Retreats display the same dual nature — so some are fitness-based and run by world-class athletes. Others are a back-to-nature immersion in Broughton’s uplifting 3,000 acres of ancient parkland and moors and feature breath work, moon bathing, fire ceremonies and forest bathing. There is even a “wisdom strategist” to set you on the right path.
Pool Y
Gym Y
Price ££
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5. Gleneagles, Perthshire
Best for a glamorous gut cleanse
This grande dame has turned its luscious 850 acres into the ultimate spa playground, with yoga in the woods, wild swimming in crystal-clear rivers and silent hikes through misty glens. It is Gleneagles though, so there’s also plenty of A-list kudos. At the decadent spa, there are facials by Kim Kardashian’s favourite aesthetician Dr Barbara Sturm and the café’s cuisine is overseen by supermodel-turned-nutritionist Rosemary Ferguson. Ferguson also runs retreats that focus on boosting the liver and energy levels and improving gut health through diet and extra helpings of Gleneagles’ clean country air.
Pool Y
Gym Y
Price £££
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6. The Detox Barn, Suffolk
Best for a gentle reset
Detox clinics are usually rather hushed, serious places but, thankfully, not this idyllic rural retreat near Stowmarket. Sisters Sharon and Lauretta Gavin who run this programme are also professional comedians so there are plenty of laughs and a refreshingly “normal” attitude to getting back on track. Expect daily meditation and tasty vegan meals sourced from the garden as well as sessions of yoga and guided walks. You can book massages, facials, reflexology and personal training but there’s no bragging on Instagram. The barn is a digital-free zone.
Pool N
Gym N
Price £
7. Grantley Hall, North Yorkshire
Best for high-tech fitness
The Palladian mansion outside Ripon is home to two floors of state-of-the-art gym equipment including an underwater treadmill, a cryotherapy chamber and, for some additional bang to help shift your bulk, an altitude adjustable exercise studio to help boost metabolism and fitness levels. Personal trainers can customise fitness retreats and while they’re taskmasters about counting crunches, they’ll also schedule in regular bouts of R&R such as soothing massages, swims in a pool and hot tub time. For maximum impact, book one of the altitude-adjustable bedrooms that replicate conditions at 18,500ft. That’s higher than Mont Blanc.
Pool Y
Gym Y
Price £££
8. Lime Wood Hotel, Hampshire
Best for style hounds
This New Forest country house has a supremely photogenic three-storey spa with a rooftop garden for yoga and a swanky hydrotherapy pool that overlooks the centuries-old oaks. It regularly hosts body and mind retreats from some of the biggest names in the business. Fitness bootcamps are courtesy of Matt Roberts, who has trained former prime minister David Cameron; while food expert Amelia Freer, who has worked with singer Sam Smith, heads up nutrition retreats; and facialist Sarah Chapman, whose clients include Gigi Hadid and Uma Thurman, will impart the secrets of glowing skin.
Pool Y
Gym Y
Price £££
9. Middle Piccadilly Rural Retreat, Dorset
Best for esoteric healing
Eliana and Gerry Harvey pioneered a more elemental approach to wellness in the UK. When they established this vegetarian healing centre complete with bell tents in 1986, teacups definitely rattled in the nearby town of Sherborne. How times have changed. These days shamanic practices, quantum healing and heart and soul therapy are part of the emotional armoury of many high achievers. Eliana, a renowned shamanic healer, still heads up some retreats and the ethos at this modest farmhouse remains the same: to bring back holistic balance through top-quality therapy and caring service.
Pool N
Gym N
Price £
10. Ragdale Hall, Leicestershire
Best for wellness virgins
This Victorian mansion outside Melton Mowbray offers a comprehensive initiation for wellness newbies. You can have everything from eyebrow shaping to sinus-soothing facials. There are ten hours of fitness daily, from yoga classes to Strictly-style dance workouts. Dining is calorie-counted but tasty and accompanied by a decent wine list. Admittedly, bedrooms are functional rather than fancy but it’s not an issue as the majority of your time will be spent working hard at your wellness in the vast thermal spa, with a dozen heat and water experiences including a salt chamber and a Scandinavian rose-scented sauna. Alternatively, ponder the big wellbeing questions around one of the six pools, including a rooftop infinity pool overlooking rolling countryside.
Pool Y
Gym Y
Price ££
11. TheraSea Rewilding, Cornwall
Best for sea lovers and swimmers
Katy Griffin, a former mental health nurse, runs this rewilding retreat, which promises to “awaken your adventurous spirit, unleash your warrior mentality and master your inner calm”. No pressure then. Griffin is confident that her brand of lifestyle medicine, which combines nature and exercise, is more powerful than prescription drugs. Accommodation is in basic treehouses and cottages on the banks of the River Fal, with loos in a communal block and, of course, there’s no wi-fi. Instead, cold water swimming, bushcraft, foraging, workshops and camp-fire chats work a subtle magic.
Pool N
Gym N
Price £
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12. Wandering Wild, Devon
Best for walkers
Dartmoor is home to some of Europe’s oldest man-made formations and those mystical standing stone circles make the park the perfect location for meditative walks. It’s also one of the few places that permits wild camping (so long as you can carry everything you need and stay only two nights) and these walking retreats present an authentic, pared-back and natural reboot. They certainly work for Henriette Lofstrom, a former jewellery designer who gave up the bright lights of London for the starry skies of Devon, retrained as a hill guide and now leads these breaks.
Pool N
Gym N
Price £
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13. Yeotown, Devon
Best for outdoorsy types
The yoga at this beautifully decorated Barnstaple farmhouse is excellent — unsurprisingly, given the co-founder Mercedes Ngoh Sieff is one of the UK’s best teachers. But the exercise is not limited to downward dogs. There are long, heart-pumping yomps along Devon’s dramatic coastline and surfing in its wild waters, and, for contrast, there is also clever “edutainment”, courtesy of therapeutic singing classes and cookery lessons. And although the food is plant-based and free from caffeine, refined sugar, gluten and dairy, the emphasis is on healthy eating rather than weight loss.
Pool N
Gym N
Price ££
14. Wildfitness, Norfolk
Best for getting fit outdoors
Tara Wood first launched transformational fitness bootcamps on the Kenyan coast. By way of bases in Iceland, Menorca and Crete, she’s finally found the ultimate paradise in 750 acres of Norfolk countryside. The yurts, the wildflower meadows and woodlands might not have a lot in common with Africa’s savannahs or Iceland’s volcanoes, but the Wood formula is reassuringly similar. Several hours of daily movement classes from yoga to weightlifting, spliced with swimming, paddleboarding and kayaking on the eight-acre lake and bolstered by truly delicious organic cuisine. You will leave as bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as the local wildlife.
Pool Y
Gym N
Price ££
Take me there
Inspired to stay at a wellness retreat, but yet to book your trip? Here are the best Warner Leisure wellness breaks and Tui spa breaks, as well as the best wellness tours from trusted operators.And if you’re still unsure of where you want to go or what type of holiday to book, get in touch with theDesigner Travel expertshereand one of the team will be in contact to help you arrange your perfect tailor-made break