Welcome to the 2025 Country & Town House Wellbeing Guide, where we bring you the very best spas in Europe, personally reviewed by Daisy Finer and her troupe of experts.
This year, we’ve curated a celebration of the best spas in Europe. While Asia has long held the crown when it comes to pampering pilgrimages, we don’t always need to travel so far in the quest for rest and regeneration. Closer to home – and without the air miles – Europe’s spa scene is quietly blooming. In fact, I believe the continent is entering a new golden age, offering one of the most progressive blends of diagnostics, detox techniques and holistic healing available today.
From mountain medi-clinics to regenerative rural retreats, this guide is here to offer direction and discernment for those seeking real health results. Stress, sleep, hormones, overwhelm… we are living through times of profound transition, where we are asked on a daily (or should that be hourly?) basis to process more information than our brains were ever designed to handle. Which of us signed up to be parttime nutritionist and full-time wellness strategist to our own nervous system, while also remembering 72 passwords and keeping up with whether bananas are friend or foe this week? There’s no official opt-out button for multitasking – which is why we need to create our own.
The call to press pause and nourish our deeper selves has never felt more urgent. We don’t need trends: what we crave are holistic, realistic and grounded approaches to wellbeing that can actually fit into our lives. These icons deliver just that. They are inspiring sanctuaries for those seeking balance, vitality and new ways to be. We know because all have been tried and tested by our close-knit team of experienced writers. Whether you seek restoration, transformation or simply space to breathe, these are the places we trust. The ones that stay with you. The ones where a quietly powerful human touch offers an antidote to the digital age. AI couldn’t make them up. And for that, we are so grateful.
Foreword by Daisy Finer
This game-changing Greek retreat is tackling emotional health through a brilliantly balanced East meets West approach, blending heart-nurturing practices with a scientific outlook. A focused programme was just what I needed after a few hectic, rollercoaster months. An initial consultation revealed that my earth element was unbalanced: according to Traditional Chinese Medicine, this can show up as worry and anxiety – exactly how I’d been feeling. Cue a stress-releasing five days in the luscious Peloponnese countryside, filled with deep meditation, nurturing aquatic massages and neuro-fascia release treatments designed to ease tension stored in the body’s connective tissue. But what stayed with me most was the emotional release work with head therapist Vladia, who blends movement science and visualisation techniques to uncover and unlock trapped emotions through targeted massage. It was surprisingly powerful and left me feeling so much lighter. The healing Kneipp path and the serenity of floating in the indoor-outdoor pool, with its backdrop of pine trees, added a further sense of calm and restoration. The Byzantium-inspired bedrooms are super comfortable and the Mediterranean food exquisite, using local produce to create the likes of shrimp mille-feuille and octopus risotto. Overall, this is a beautifully curated reset – and a powerful reminder that true emotional harmony begins with reconnecting to your true self. Harriet Compston
BOOK IT: Five-day Emotional Harmony programme from €2,000 inclusive of 17 treatments, plus accommodation from €374 per night B&B. euphoriaretreat.com
Letting go of emotions, people and concepts is easier said than done. As someone who struggles to surrender control and accept life as it comes, I went to Lefay eager to find out if it could soften my grip. The new three-day Letting Go programme, rooted in Traditional Chinese Medicine, promises to restore your ability to go with the flow. First on the agenda was the Prima di Vera ritual, an energising body scrub designed to open meridians and dissolve emotional blockages. A breathwork session followed, which revealed how shallow breaths trap tension while deep, diaphragmatic breaths release it. Next was a combination of massage and guided meditation to ease overthinking. With mind and body more open, I wandered the herb garden, had a cooking lesson with what I found, and hiked along the lakeside, experiencing what Lefay calls a ‘return to wonder’. Then, the finale: water shiatsu. Floating in warm salt water, I felt I had surrendered to what Lefay was trying to achieve – no resistance, just a freer version of me. I emerged lighter, accepting that holding onto negative emotions only weakens my ability to embrace and enjoy the here and now. Note to self: stock up on bath salts – they might just keep this feeling alive. Camilla Hewitt
BOOK IT: Three-night Letting Go programme from €1,370, inclusive of all treatments and meals. lefayspamethod.com
If you thought modern spa food equals the ubiquitous chicken quinoa salad, then you haven’t come across Heinz Beck. If a foreign cook can please the Italians, that’s saying something. This German-born chef runs the only three-Michelin-starred restaurant in Rome – La Pergola – which has been going strong for over 30 years. He’s also the maestro behind the superlative food at Palazzo Fiuggi, a results-driven medi-spa just over an hour’s drive from Rome.
I tried the Optimum Weight programme, designed to encourage sustainable healthy eating instead of the feast-famine yo-yo ride. I was surprised to discover that a seven-night stay of measured, regular meals left me 3.5kg lighter, despite the lack of starvation (maybe even because of it). Days are punctuated by fluffy breakfast omelettes, well-timed fruit smoothie snacks, seed-packed salads sprinkled with pomegranates and deeply flavoured soups. Think cream of borlotti bean with goji berries and pumpkin seeds. There’s always enough protein to keep you energy-fuelled: chicken breast with parsnip puree and basil sauce, veal carpaccio with pesto and redcurrants. Everything comes with a surprise factor. Turbot is served with a nashi pear infusion. Minestrone with spicy puffed rice. It’s a melodious adventure that leaves taste buds humming – and, blissfully, lunch and dinner are both two courses.
By chance, Beck happens to be at Palazzo Fiuggi during my stay. As soon as I meet him, I feel I am in the presence of a genius. It takes a certain kind of brain – and heart – to not only cook with wild invention, but to care enough to work out and chart the quantity, calories, proteins, fats and minerals of every mouthful being served to every guest on every different programme. The calorie count of your meal plan is listed every day and is meticulous: 1,239 calories one day (with 78g of protein), 1,242 calories the next (with 77g of protein). ‘It’s not only about the creativity of the food, the knowledge of the flavours and knowledge of the ingredients. Behind what we are doing, it’s really structured. Nothing is improvised,’ Beck says. ‘I know everything about what we are doing here. Everything.’ I believe him.
Way before Tim Spector, there was Heinz Beck. For 25 years, he has been studying the nutritional impact of food – including research in 2006 into the oscillation of insulin in the body after eating. He is now the only professional chef to contribute to Nutrients, an American medical scientific journal. Its researchers are currently exploring oxidative stress in the body after eating. ‘This is really important because we all have low grade inflammation, and we have to keep it on a low level because it’s responsible for most cancer cells,’ Beck explains.
The anti-inflammatory menu at Palazzo Fiuggi is the result of over 1,000 recipe testings that Beck undertook during Covid. No red meat, sugar, salt or alcohol is used. Everything is ‘buono ma pochino’: good, but small. That, however, is no reflection of Beck’s mission. Next, he’s jumping aboard Orient Express to oversee menus for six of its trains – with 12 different itineraries – as well as five of its hotels, all in Italy. ‘Bravo’ doesn’t really cut it. Daisy Finer
BOOK IT: Seven-night Optimal Weight programme from €4,950, inclusive of all health assessments, medical and wellness treatments and food and drink. palazzofiuggi.com
It’s my great fear; the health hazard we all rightfully dread. Dementia. Scientists’ once broadly-upheld theory about its cause – amyloid plaque on the brain – has been shaken by autopsy research, showing that although many brains of those with dementia do display excessive amyloid deposits, many don’t. Bleakly, once you’ve got dementia, that’s pretty much it. Grim, huh? That’s why I’m at SHA, the ultra-advanced Spanish medi-clinic aiming to stay at the cutting edge of global health research.
In its cognitive health department, Joaquín Juliá Salmerón – warm, bearded, 51 – is the resident neuropsychologist. ‘Dementia has no cure. That tells us to focus on prevention,’ says Salmeron calmly. ‘When neurons – brain cells – die, the functions they provide disappear. That is, however, usually a gradual process that can start 20 years or more before dementia becomes evident. So it is never too soon for new habits to keep your brain healthy.’ SHA’s cognitive boost programme – combining ‘science and technology to assess and enhance mental performance’ – is punctuated by truly fabulous food and time to lie on the huge terrace drinking in the views of mountains and sea. It starts, rather unnervingly, with an online cognitive test: memory puzzles, pattern recognition and so on. (‘No one ever gets 100 percent,’ the therapist reassures me.) Health, functional and bioenergy assessments follow, plus cryotherapy, ozone therapy, acupuncture and yoga. During the Icaros session, I lie spreadeagled on the machine, put on a VR headset, and am exhorted to ‘fly’ through rings on a simulated mountain valley floor using hip movements. (No chance. Can’t stop laughing; don’t care.) Best is the hour with Salmerón, which includes a transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) session. First, I take the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (30/30, hurrah). Then – big excitement – Salmerón fits a grey rubber tES cap with sensors onto me, which he often uses daily on himself or his wife. It leaves me jubilant with energy and enthusiasm. (Easy to see why tES has proved effective on depression.)
Those crucial new habits to keep your brain healthy? Don’t smoke, drink minimal or no alcohol but plenty of water, get plenty of sleep and exercise and consult the website Food for the Brain on what to eat. Avoid plastic. Chillingly, one study has found the amount of microplastics in the brain tissues of people who died in 2024 (7g in some) was generally double that found in the tissue of people who died in 2016. ‘Don’t buy, microwave, consume or store food or drink in plastic containers,’ Salmerón warns. Avoid statins, too. ‘Statins reduce cholesterol – and a fifth of the brain is cholesterol.’ he explains. Ensure you get into sunlight every morning to enhance immunity-boosting vitamin D and improve sleep. And increase your neural pathways by learning, doing, reading or listening to something new every day. ‘Look after your brain as well as you do your body. Better, even. Future you will thank you,’ Salmerón says. Agh. Please, God. Adriaane Pielou
BOOK IT: Cognitive Boost pack from €1,350 inclusive of all treatments, plus accommodation from €500 per night. shawellness.com
My face is being blasted by ultra-fine jets delivering a cocktail of active ingredients deep into the dermis at speeds of up to 720km/h. JetPeel may feel like the beauty equivalent of a car wash, but I know the results will be worth it. ‘It’s like a mini lift,’ beams the therapist. This new non-invasive treatment is designed to bridge the gap between Villa Stéphanie’s traditional spa and its renowned medical centre, a Harley Street-like tardis housing assorted medical, dental and aesthetic practitioners.
Headed up by preventative medicine titan Dr Harry König – whose advice Victoria Beckham describes as ‘life-changing’ – Brenners Medical Care combines holistic therapies with advanced diagnostic techniques. Most popular are the weight loss and detox programmes with nutritionists on hand to create tailored menus. Relaxation, though, is key – as it has been since stately Brenners was at the epicentre of 19th-century high society life in this historic spa town. The hotel’s Beaux Arts-era annex, Villa Stéphanie, is its jewel: residents are made to feel totally at home (Frau Beckham included), and encouraged to pad around in slippers and a bathrobe. Take a hike in the nearby Black Forest or simply stroll in the private gardens, which run alongside the famous Lichtenaler Allee. I left feeling lighter and calmer – and believing I can tackle any kind of mountain. Juliet Herd
BOOK IT: Programmes are bespoke with prices available on request, plus accommodation from €400 per night. oetkercollection.com
Does the Mayr Cure work? I’d heard about the previously unknown cancers that are often detected here by the doctors (skin and bowel are the most common), and the miracle babies conceived shortly after a stay. For some, arthritis eases. Others give up sugar. For me, a stay here was the ultimate mind-body booster. We now understand that gut health goes far beyond digestion: often called our second brain, the microbiome plays a crucial role in everything from skin and immunity to mental health. In fact, 95 percent of serotonin is produced in the gut. So, it’s no surprise that by the time I finished a week-long stay at Original Mayr, I was high on happiness. Daily Epsom salts, comprehensive blood tests, vitamin drips, superb treatments (don’t miss the extraordinary Ortho-Bionomy with Bernhard) and natural, alkalising food leave you not only lighter on the scales, but energised and glowing from within. It’s as if a powerful vitality switch has been flipped. Those morning dips in Lake Wörthersee – one of the purest in Europe – are uplifting for the soul; the sleek beach house and jetty are wonderful places to decompress with nature wrapped around you. There are other Mayr outposts, but the original (it opened in 1976) remains, in my experience, the blueprint best. Daisy Finer
BOOK IT: Seven-night Detox and Gut Health programme inclusive of accommodation from £4,810. original-mayr.com
There’s one crystal clear goal at the UK’s most results-driven wellbeing destination: improve metabolic health. Achieve that, and pretty much everything else falls into place: blood pressure lowers, fertility rises, type two diabetes can be reversed, menopause monsters and sleep demons tamed. Weight automatically normalises. I always thought my lifelong battle with the scales was down to weak willpower and greed, but at Combe I’m told it’s not my fault – I have an addiction to sugar. This requires a complete overhaul of my relationship with food. Sugar and starchy carbs are out, but there’s no depressing deprivation. The high-protein diet is delicious and plentiful. I eat way more than I would at home and still lose weight (it feels like a miracle). No wonder I keep returning, and every time I do I feel my spirits lift and my stress levels dive. The 18th-century manor with its nature-chic rooms and woodland walks is magical. Treatments are superb, the diagnostics incisive. Optional consultations with medical gurus – such as menopause whisperer Juliet Balfour – add nuance. Game-changing? Yes. For some, potentially even lifesaving. Return home feeling inspired and determined, knowing you can boomerang back for the inclusive three-night follow up. Clever. Jane Alexander
BOOK IT: Five-night Metabolic Health programme, inclusive of accommodation, treatments, meals, fitness facilities and a three-night returner’s retreat at 12 weeks. Early bird spots from £2,600. combegrove.com
When Hans Jürg Buff discovered that his 82-year-old mother was being prescribed 18 standardised pills a day by her doctor, he decided to take matters into his own hands. Rejecting the pharmaceutical approach, he curated a regime of natural supplements and took over her care himself. She went on to live two years longer than predicted by a cancer diagnosis – something Buff credits not only to alternative therapies, but to the power of personalised, preventive health. His passion for this pathway sparked the hugely ambitious vision for BUFF – a brand-new medi-clinic on the sunlit shores of Lake Constance. No newcomer to hospitality, Buff owns six boutique hotels under ‘The Swiss Mountain Hotel Group’. He is also a father to eight children, several of whom now work alongside him – ensuring that BUFF remains an almost patriarchal family affair.
The aim? To seamlessly blend five-star service with cutting-edge diagnostics and holistic therapies. The foundations of this project stand solid: rooms are slick serenity (although I did find myself wishing I had a degree in electronics just to turn off the lights). The food and gut-focused philosophy are FX Mayr accredited and you can opt for spartan fasting or for the GourMED menu, where I was surprised to discover roast potatoes are allowed, alongside fish from the lake, beef brisket, or beetroot and goats cheese salad melodies. There are some highly specialised wild-card doctors in place. With a focus on health-span rather than lifespan, their areas of particular expertise include heart health, digestive health, metabolic and muscle health and hormone health. Offerings also include postural and gait analysis. If it’s discovered that you need insoles, they’ll apparently be made bespoke overnight. And yet, BUFF is more than a clinic – it’s one man’s bold, nearobsessive statement to the world. Rooms have been engineered to offer adjustable altitude simulation – up to 4,000 metres, in order to stimulate red-blood-cell production and enhance cellular regeneration. (At soft launch, the system is temporarily offline, but Buff insists he holds the patent for the necessary fix.)
There’s also a bulletproof presidential suite with its own car park, a gold-leaf ceiling above the indoor swimming pool, and a private cardio MRI. ‘We are the only ones in the world to have this,’ says Buff. ‘Our approach is to treat, teach and care. The pharmaceutical industry makes people dependant. We try to make our guests independent, so they can take responsibility for their own health.’ Cardio care is a strong focus. I’d never experienced a heart ultrasound and was relieved to discover all was normal. Thankfully, a different kind of heart medicine is also available. Healing hands deliver exceptional treatments with real intent, from Ayurveda, outstandingly intuitive osteopathy and reflexology to a Team Dr Joseph facial – an organic, biodynamic ritual rooted in the Alps. I’m not sure if the neck massage was part of the protocol or if my therapist was simply responding to what my body asked for. I floated out wondering if maybe, just maybe, Buff is onto something. Daisy Finer
BOOK IT: Seven-day Buff Med Vitality Therapy €3,400, plus accommodation from €940 per night. buff-medical-resort.com
The Mayr Method may dominate Austria, but Mount Med, Oberau, Austriaount Med Resort – which opened this year in the sleepy alpine Wildschönau region – takes a very different approach. The clinically tested, scientifically stringent Mylife Changer method is designed to reduce biological age and support long-term health and wellbeing without even a whiff of deprivation. The alpine-luxe interiors feel like a hug and everyone is kindness incarnate (though Google Translate may come in handy). After a week’s stay, I left lighter (by seven pounds), younger (by five years) and without the chronic back pain that has plagued me for the last three years. No cranky diets here – just sublime food. Orthopaedic consultant Dr Stephan Papp packed me off for an MRI and then prescribed laser therapy, plus Emsculpt and Emsella sessions to strengthen small muscles in my back (pleasant side effects included tighter abs and a perky pelvic floor). Meanwhile, longevity guru Dr Alexander Papp (yes, they’re brothers) is everyone’s dream GP – erudite, kind, funny, stern when necessary. Smart diagnostics, high-tech biohacking alongside superb bodywork, immersive sauna experiences, an indoor-outdoor pool with mountain views: Mount Med has the lot. It’s an icon in the making. Jane Alexander
BOOK IT: Healing Holidays offers a five-night Quick Prevent programme, including transfers and full board, from £3,299. healingholidays.com
If therapeutic fasting has a spiritual home, it is here, above the still waters of Lake Constance. Founded in 1953 by Dr Otto Buchinger – a naval doctor who healed his rheumatoid arthritis through fasting – this family-run clinic is quietly rigorous and backed by decades of medical research. I arrive frayed at the edges: too much travel, too much peanut butter, mind in a frenzy. I’ve fasted before, but never like this. There are no juices here, no fancy nut milks or cold-pressed promises. Just the warm elegance of apple-skin tea (so good), the odd medicinal spoonful of honey and perfectly clear vegetable broths. Somehow, it is enough. In fact, it’s astonishing how I never feel hungry despite a purely liquid diet. Days fall into a reassuring rhythm: medical consultations, liver compresses, gloriously relaxing holistic treatments, lectures on the benefits of fasting (increased endorphins and immunity). Unmissable daily walks through forests that smell of pine and possibility. The whole experience brings me closer to my inner self. Indeed, there are times when it feels like the noise of the world, and the film inside my head, have gone quiet. Some nights I have dreams I want to remember. Less really is more at Buchinger. In the end, it’s not about deprivation, but illumination – a clearing of physical and mental clutter. Experience a deep, cellular exhale. A remembering of what it feels like to be well. Daisy Finer
BOOK IT: Ten-day Compact fasting programme inclusive of accommodation from €4,078; three-night non-fasting Relax stays from €1,356. buchinger-wilhelmi.com
I’m swimming straight into the sun at Lanserhof, surrounded by meadows and mountains, steam rising off the outdoor pool, blue skies ahead. This place is not what I expected. I had imagined a sci-fi medical clinic where the uber rich come to chew their way into Barbie-thin versions of their former selves. But while the Mayr Cure is in full swing, the atmosphere here is far softer and more inclusive than I had assumed. The medi-spa smells of palo santo, there are hot water bottles in my room (for liver compresses) and within minutes my doctor, Dr Dinah PutzGergely, is advising me that ‘the breath is serotonin’. We talk about mantras, and she recommends a session with the in-house shaman, Leo, who purifies my aura with a smoking totem. I expected to leave with a clean gut – I wasn’t anticipating a return to my soul self. Putz-Gergley’s advice also includes four solid life rules. No snacking unless it’s protein (dates with almond butter are out). No meat in the evenings; fish or soup are far more digestible. Eating early is also encouraged, or alternatively: ‘cancel dinner’. And lastly, no wheat. ‘Read The Wheat Belly,’ she advises. I leave Lanserhof truly inspired, a new routine in hand. I had thought the measure of a good time here would be balanced purely on the scales. But I felt lighter in body and spirit, and that was enough. ‘I am enough’ is the mantra we all need, Putz-Gergely and I concluded. Daisy Finer
BOOK IT: Healing Holidays offers a seven-night Cure Classic programme from £4,599pp. healingholidays.com
‘Mediterranean longevity’ is the goal at this newcomer in Spain, where terracotta rooftops and olive trees meet a cutting-edge medi-spa, and deep relaxation goes hand in hand with serious diagnostics masterminded by 25 specialists. After extensive tests, I follow a highly personalised programme that oscillates between clinic and spa. I have my first colonic; after a great massage, I lie like putty in the physiotherapist’s (gigantic) hands; an Emsella chair rolls electromagnetic waves through my nethers – part of the gynae-led Intimate Boost, as while I have no ailments down there, I’ve had four children. I learn I have a metabolic age of 29, a wellness age of 40, and a skin age of 51 (I am 44). I detox my organs in the MLX i3Dome (which is like lying in an infrared coffin with my head in a space helmet filled with plasma and oxygen) and sleep through a dry float session, cradled in a womb-like waterbed. There’s more: laser IV drips; longevity testing with a geneticist; the food – anti-inflammatory, Mediterranean, delicious, with 75 percent sourced from ZEM’s own finca. I’m allowed coffee and I see one guest having (sshhh) wine. This newbie is still finding its feet, but I leave retuned, informed, and with a much-tightened pelvic floor. Lucinda Baring
BOOK IT: Seven-night Essential programme inclusive of accommodation, spa access and full nutritional plan from €10,800. zemaltea.com
Upon entering the grounds on a cool late summer’s day, it isn’t the meditative thrum of a gong bath or an ‘om’ that greets me, but the roaring purr of a vintage Porsche and the refined yap of a prize-winning chihuahua. Lily of the Valley is everything you want rolled into one. Housing some of the most cutting-edge treatments in the South of France, it is known for its detox and better ageing programmes. Alongside this, it offers one of the most exquisite low-calorie menus (I still dream about my morning turmeric omelette with garden veg). For non-dieting pals – and sybaritic locals or holidaymakers – the wine list stretches all the way to a 2005 Le Pin. The 2,000 sq/m spa is also to be taken seriously. After a consultation, I begin a bespoke three-day programme of high intensity exercise, treatments such as Indiba body sculpting for weight loss, and drop-in classes including the rather eccentric but circulation-boosting sea wading (I choose to take the coastal path for a lung-blasting ramble on an eiderdown of pine). Philippe Starck-designed warm white rooms with wooden accents make it one of the least institutional retreats. If you are the type who needs thimblefuls of broth with no other temptations, this is not the place for you (the regular menu features the full gallic spread, from caviar to cognac-flambéed beef). But where else can you seamlessly mix mobility training with Montrachet? I raise a glass to that, even if it is just Voss Gazeuse. Jemima Sissons
BOOK IT: Four-day Discover detox programme €2,500, plus accommodation from €450 per night. lilyofthevalley.com
It’s the food I’ll miss most. Even if I hadn’t had a wink of sleep all week (more on that later), the daily 850 calories are so cleverly calibrated that each meal brings a quiet joy. Yes, you’re fasting (and yes, you lose weight, I promise), but it’s a feast of flavour and imagination. Not a dash of oil, a morsel of meat or a lick of dairy has touched my tongue, but yet, the ingenuity and beauty of this vegan cuisine has to be seen to be believed. Think unctuous aubergine parmigiana made with macadamia nut cheese, or the daintiest starter of amaranth and blueberry in a coconut and lemongrass emulsion. And this is just the figurative icing on the cake (god forbid there’d be real cake) of the detox bubble that makes Chenot Palace, overlooking glittering Lake Lucerne, such a cosseting treat. Despite The White Lotus vibes (this place attracts the global elite), the palace oozes taupe-coloured calm, all wrapped up in an obviously slick and sophisticated operation.
I’m here to sleep – or, at least, as Dr Fee points out, to give myself seven days to recharge and energise my cells and learn that rhythm and repeat is the best tool for a good snooze. It begins in the bedroom – one of just four specially designed for optimal rest. At night, it’s set to a cool temperature (heat is not your sleep friend) and I slip into freshly laundered PJs and sheets which keep my temperature regulated throughout the night. Just before bed, I press the digital panel on the wall and a nature-inspired light and sound show plays, lulling me into a calm, natural state before I pop on the (extra blackout) eye mask and waft off to dreamland (ideally). Come morning (the system is set to go off at 06.30), birdsong and warm pink light rouse me to a calm waking. I’m encouraged to get up and fling open the windows for that first burst of light before heading out for a morning walk along the lakeshore heading – explicitly – towards the sun. This ritual kick-starts your ‘sleep pressure’, says Dr Fee, with the whole programme designed to build it up throughout the day. Cryotherapy first thing (three minutes at -110°C, survived by flailing and singing wildly) gives you an electric jolt of energy and lowers core body temperature – another tick for sleep.
The rest of the day is busy in a lying down being pampered sort of way, with a raft of treatments that optimise cellular function and calm the parasympathetic nervous system. There’s neuroacoustic therapy (headphones + rhythmic frequencies = dreamy state), acupuncture and even photobiomodulation, which is like a sunbed without the damage – red LED and laser lights reduce inflammation and help cells repair. The sciencey bit about sleep is that as your body uses energy during the day, it creates adenosine, a chemical that signals tiredness. Sleep clears it, and the cycle starts again. The better your cell function, the better your adenosine build-up – and the better your sleep. Sluggish cells therefore equate to sluggish sleep. So yes: it comes down to routine, light exposure, movement, good food and serious rest. Simple in theory, tricky in practice – which is why coming to Chenot and its warm embracing arms, epic treatments (the to-die-for daily massage comes as standard), supercharged tech and excellent, empathetic doctors might just be enough to scare the sleep monster away. Or, at the very least, give you the tools to try. Lucy Cleland
BOOK IT: Seven-night Sleep Cycles programme from £7,150, plus accommodation from £368 per night. chenot.com
It’s true to say the Grand Resort Bad Ragaz is built on water. More specifically, it was founded on the healing properties of the thermal springs that bubble from the nearby Tamina Gorge at 36.5°C. With 12 different pools to choose from, including the magnificent Tamina Therme public thermal baths (free for hotel guests), you’ll find yourself water hopping all day – and wishing you were a Swiss local, so wholesomely do they appear to embrace this natural treasure. It’s no wonder these restorative waters are integral to the resort’s wellness packages, medical services and even gastronomy (the Michelin star tally is an astonishing six). ‘You don’t need Botox – just water,’ declares sommelier Stephanie Mieth during our aqua tasting (yes, really), explaining that the unique mineral composition and temperature help to stimulate metabolism and improve blood circulation and heart function. Traditionally known for its rehabilitation programmes, the medical centre is pivoting to a more preventative approach with longevity at its core. Healthy living seems easy when you’re surrounded by the verdant hills of Heidiland. I power along the Rhine on an electric bike before veering off to explore bijou vineyards and villages – but nothing beats the feeling of bliss that comes from floating in the thermal garden pool, the late afternoon sun on my face. Juliet Herd
BOOK IT: Two-night Pure Relaxation package inclusive of accommodation, breakfast, treatments, fitness classes and spa access from approx. £1,180. resortragaz.ch
This Belle Époque beauty has risen triumphantly through difficult times, including the passing of its legendary founder Henri Chenot – king of Italian detoxing – in 2020. Now under new ownership and with Dr Massimiliano Mayrhofer at the helm, everything that once defined Chenot has been newly remoulded into the Revital Method. It’s 14 years since I last visited; I barely recognise the interiors or the vibe. Old-world glamour sits alongside upbeat contemporary cool, inclusive of serene garden spaces, the top-tier medi-centre and the beautifully revitalised spa. The new Sport & Recovery Lab offers technologically prompted memory tests as well as performance and posture assessments for everyone from athletes to your granny. But it’s the integrity of the original detox philosophy – where Traditional Chinese Medicine meets modern diagnostics (blood and bone density tests are standard) – alongside the expert delivery that wins my heart. Most staff have been here for decades – and their advice and empathy is as beneficial as the delicate plant-based meals. Daily hydro-mud therapy, incredible cupping massages and electric acupuncture lull my racing mind into blissful submission; my body follows suit. Bioenergetic testing shows my energy has more than doubled on departure. ‘Breathe, dance, catch yourself a boyfriend,’ my doctor says. Alright then. If the palace can reinvent itself, then surely, so too can I. Daisy Finer
BOOK IT: Four-day Detox & Longevity programme from €5,349, inclusive of accommodation and treatments. palace.it
We've created the ultimate European spa bucket list, from Spain to Switzerland
