Wellness holidays in Portugal

“Wellbeing,” says Andrew Winter, with the tone of someone who knows exactly how many ways the word can be interpreted. “What we’re talking about is: where do we feel well?”

For Andrew and Vonetta, that “where” is Vale de Moses in the Serra da Estrela of central Portugal. They run some of our best-reviewed wellness retreats in Portugal, offering a blend of yoga, forest bathing, massage, acupuncture, Ayurvedic-inspired food, and comfy and accessible cottages and tents for snoozing in.

Most importantly, they offer space.

“Health and wellbeing isn’t down to the individual,” says Andrew. “We’ve been part of the industry that has sold it like you can become empowered to be well. But what we’re really seeing in the bigger picture is that our health is dependent on the health of our environment.”

Portuguese environments are varied. Vale de Moses is a steep valley filled with forests, streams and orchards. Other wellness holidays head for the ocean, pairing yoga with surfing on the Algarve and Alentejo coasts, where wind and sun power the houses you’ll stay in. Or you can choose to approach wellness via a yoga retreat in a farmhouse in Costa Vicentina Natural Park.

The owners of these retreats are vocal champions of the environment and communities they live in. Rather than silently hiding themselves away, hoping for the bare minimum environmental impact, they’re positively impacting their surroundings, with tree planting and biodiversity projects and commitment to renewable energies – including renewing yours.

Despite the shrinking rural towns, the retreats are closely connected to the people that remain. Many of the staff are local. You’re encouraged to explore footpaths and villages – perhaps visiting a café that hasn’t changed a jot in 50 years for a glass of port. And if your hosts aren’t Portuguese, they’ve learned to live and farm here thanks to the welcome wisdom of their neighbours.

The ageing populations in Portugal’s mountain and coastal communities have lived self-sufficiently for generations. Houses are built from local wood and clay. Farmers keep small orchards and trade within a few kilometres of their vegetable terraces. Water comes from the springs that they can see from their windows.

“The relationship with the earth is in their blood,” says Andrew. “If you don’t look after the earth, you don’t eat. If you don’t look after the waters, you don’t drink. They’ve experienced the wisdom of the plants for healing and it’s being lost because their children have gone to cities… There’s a lot of loss and sadness, which means there’s quite a lot of empathy.”

On wellness holidays in isolated settings, your three meals a day are cooked by in-house chefs using vegetables and herbs from the garden. Retreats closer to villages or towns might leave dinner up to you, so you can choose to eat out in the evening.

“You have to eat well,” says Andrew. “That’s been a really important part of our retreats over the years. Really good, freshly made food that is diverse and nutritious… When we’re eating food grown in stressed conditions, the stress of those plants enters our body.”

That’s a common belief amongst many who offer wellness holidays in Portugal. Vegetarian and vegan food is the mainstay and takes advantage of home-grown produce such as mushrooms, strawberries and nuts. Other ingredients are bought from farmers who work as organically as possible – as they have done for generations.

“People go on retreat to seek peace and healing. The food they eat is medicine,” says Andrew, whose menu is inspired by Ayurvedic methods. “The horrendous fact is that the food we’re collectively eating has 80 percent less minerals than it did 100 years ago because the soil it’s been grown in has been abused with chemicals and massive machinery – and we eat that.

“It’s really important that we offer this diverse food that tends towards seasonal ingredients that are being grown in the area and that is digested easily… Our tables are always full of colour with beautifully prepared dishes that are really tasty.”