Pause, breathe, repeat: wellness and mindful retreats
Kickstart the year with a mindful retreat. In Scotland, the four-star Dunkeld House Hotel, a converted Georgian manor house on the banks of the River Tay in Perthshire, blends Scottish heritage and contemporary decor with luxury wellness. Treatments range from Hebridean seaweed baths to ishga hot stone massages. After a day of pampering, visitors can stroll the estate, where peaceful woodland paths deliver their own kind of nature therapy.
In Wales, wellness goes mobile with Wildwater Sauna – a wood-fired retreat on wheels that roams the Pembrokeshire coastline. One week, visitors might be steaming on the seafront of Broad Haven, with sweeping views across St Brides Bay, the next surrounded by rugged cliffs in Porthclais Harbour. Visitors can pick a location or follow the sauna to experience Wales’ great outdoors from a new angle.
In England’s Lake District, Farlam Hall Hotel and Restaurant hosts The Sycamore Retreat, where holistic wellness treatments – from hot stone massages to Jade facials – are followed by Michelin-star dining at Cedar Tree by Hrishikesh Desai. Set on a working farm near Lyme Regis on the Jurassic Coast, Louma gives guests a closer connection to the land. This country hotel combines farm-to-table dining with a programme of wellness experiences, from yoga sessions and outdoor swims to creative workshops. Surrounded by rolling Dorset countryside, visitors can also explore nearby vineyards on wine tours or go horse riding. The surrounding farmland supplies the kitchen, while peaceful gardens, a gym and the light-filled Wellness Barn provide spaces to recharge. In Manchester, Kontrast brings Nordic wellness into the heart of the city with Britain’s first sauna-and-ice-bath café. Visitors step from steaming heat into a cold-water plunge pool, then warm up again with specialty coffee or matcha.
Trails, peaks and moonlight views: nature and scenic exploration
Britain’s outdoors takes on a striking new character in winter, with misty trails and long, starlit nights making the scenery all the more atmospheric. England has unveiled a new crown jewel: the final 42-mile stretch of the King Charles III England Coast Path, between Easington and Bridlington in Yorkshire, just opened, completing a continuous path from the Scottish border to Gibraltar point in Lincolnshire. This wild sweep of shoreline, often quieter in winter, rewards walkers with windswept beaches and towering sea cliffs against the fresh sea air. Along the way, unique wellness experiences add to the journey – including cow cuddling at Dumble Farm, where visitors can unwind in the calming company of gentle Highland cattle. Further inland, Castlefield Viaduct, a Victorian-era steel viaduct in Manchester, has been reimagined as a ‘garden in the sky’, blending steel and greenery to reconnect the city with its industrial past. Visitors can stroll along elevated walkways lined with winter-flowering Sorbus and Guelder roses, and explore planting areas such as the Urban Forest Garden and the Heritage Garden, each designed to showcase native species.
For a slower pace, Adventures for the Soul in North Yorkshire offers a programme of night walks, stargazing, and even moon bathing, designed to help visitors reconnect with nature. Highlights include guided five-mile walks under the gibbous or full moon, stories of local myth and magic, and time to explore the night sky – from constellations and planets to the geology beneath our feet. In Wales, wellness offerings are equally inventive when it comes to reconnecting with nature. Recharge in Pembrokeshire’s coastal national park at Hwyl Outdoor Sauna in Saundersfoot, where soothing heat and cold-water dips awaken the senses against a backdrop of sandy beaches and crashing waves. Meanwhile, Pool Bridge Farm in rural York hosts monthly full-moon swims in open-air pools and lakes, inviting visitors to reconnect with nature under the night sky and enjoy a cosmic recharge. Pre-and post-swim, guests can warm up and unwind in on-site saunas.
From forage to feast: innovative food and drink experiences
From shoreline foraging to fine dining in the hills, Britain’s food scene offers plenty of reasons to venture out this winter. In England, go green at the Vegetarian Society Cookery School in Greater Manchester, where hands-on classes promote plant-based living. Courses range from knife skills to crafting global vegetarian dishes, including Indian curry and Japanese street food. Meanwhile, Flavours of Manchester leads three-to-four-hour walking tours through the city’s streets and markets, mixing tales of food history with tastings of craft beer and global cuisine.
On the North Wales coast near Snowdonia (Eryri) National Park, the Wild Food People’s Coastal Foraging Course teaches participants how to identify and cook edible treasures found along the shore. Down in Devon, in the foothills of Dartmoor National Park, Fowlescombe Farm combines organic farming with hands-on learning, where visitors can explore regenerative agriculture, and take part in activities including food design, foraging and breadmaking. In Northumberland and the Scottish Borders, luxury holiday provider Crabtree and Crabtree has launched a set of Epicurean Experiences, pairing countryside stays with stargazing suppers, cocktail masterclasses and wild dining. Visitors can feast in the open air, surrounded by moorland and scenic coastline, making the landscape an integral part of this sensory meal.
