The coronavirus emergency has disrupted our daily rhythms and habits and 2020 will surely be remembered as the year when we all had to rethink the way we live, live, work and socialize.

During this long quarantine, the desire for escape and relaxation is growing fast, and as soon as we’ll be travelling again safely, we’ll prefer naturalistic and less crowded places than the renowned tourist resorts and cities of art.

More and more people are looking for detox retreats in which to detoxify, find their balance and immerse in Nature to recharge their batteries with renewed positive energy.

In this short journey through the natural retreats we are going to discover the most evocative, both in Italy and abroad, to visit when the desire to slow down the pace increases, to find time to take care of oneself and regenerate oneself, in safety.

There is no doubt that South Tyrol with the South Tyrolean Balance initiative is always in first place when it comes to wellness offers that combine relaxation, wellness and gourmet cuisine in every season of the year and are suitable for all needs.

In the mountian around the city of Bolzano, for example, you can admire the suggestive autumn foliage in the exclusive Adler Lodge Ritten, a five-star eco-resort nestled in a thick larch and fir forest with panoramic views of the Dolomites and the sunny Renon plateau.

Suites and chalets of the Adler Lodge Ritten overlooking the lake have been designed and built according to bio-construction criteria, perfectly integrated in the naturalistic context, and the SPA, the pride of the structure, follows the same concept: panoramic infinity pool with heated salt water and hydromassage, Finnish sauna, aromatic herbal bio-sauna, Turkish bath and relaxation room in the middle of the forest, where precious elements such as water and warmth, wood and the beneficial effect of Alpine plants give a total wellness experience.

Yoga, meditation and forest bathing are not lacking among paths, woods and high altitude alpine pastures to recover energy and prepare for the winter season.  In fact, the aim is to offer its guests an experience of excellence in a welcoming and informal environment, where they can regenerate body, mind and soul in a suggestive and exclusive natural context.

In Slovenia, on the other hand, just a few kilometres from one of the most famous destinations, Lake Bled, there is the Glamping Ribno, an amazing glamping facility, which allows you to live almost “suspended in the trees”, completely immersed in Nature. Lake Bled offers unique scenery in every season: here the undisputed protagonist is Nature, which makes it almost fairy-tale, ideal for those seeking relaxation but also for those who prefer an active holiday.

Glamping Ribno is a small eco-resort of eight chalets in the forest, among spruce forests surrounded by a beautiful landscape. The charming lodgings are all made of Slovenian wood by skilled local craftsmen and each chalet is named after a flower (lily of the valley, orchid, edelweiss). They can accommodate a maximum of four people and being thermally insulated and equipped with independent heating, they can be used all year round.

Among the new eco-resorts, we should also mention the ambitious and evocative Arctic Bath, built in Harads, Sweden and inaugurated in January 2020. Inspired by the success of the Tree Hotel and built by the same team of architects, Arctic Bath is a real floating hotel on the Lule River.

The structure, attentive to environmental sustainability and built using only local materials, is perfectly integrated with the surrounding nature. Arctic Bath is surrounded by ice and snow in winter, while in summer it floats on water, with a structure that recalls the importance of forests and their protection in Sweden.

It is the ideal place both to admire the Midnight Sun in summer and to experience a dream night in winter, admiring the spectacle of the Aurora Borealis, surrounded by the unspoilt nature of Swedish Lapland.

The resort includes 12 suites and a circular structure, with a central outdoor swimming pool in which cold river water flows, where the bravest ones can dive after the sauna, a very common and natural practice in Scandinavian countries, to get the maximum benefits for the body.

Around the central swimming pool there are the common areas and the SPA which includes Finnish sauna and Turkish bath and the rooms for beauty treatments, as well as the outdoor terrace with two beautiful jacuzzi tubs from which to enjoy, with a little luck, the spectacle of the Northern Lights dancing in the sky.

The natural retreats presented, allow you to rediscover your time, live in contact and in harmony with Nature, respecting safety protocols. The SPA is also perfectly integrated into the surrounding environment: it is often made with natural elements and the detox and beauty treatments proposed use strictly local products to enhance and promote the excellence of the area, giving guests exclusive wellness and relaxation experiences, but always in the name of environmental sustainability.

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Articolo Realizzato in collaborazione con SPA ADVISOR

“SPA ADVISOR”, a blog entirely dedicated to wellness at 360° to share wellness as culture and healthy and conscious lifestyle. SPA ADVISOR not only deals with SPAs and spas, but with wellness as a philosophy of life, because health and wellness are directly proportional to harmony and physical, mental and social balance.

Psychophysical well-being involves all aspects of our life and defines its Quality.

For some years now it has also been an honour to work as City Ambassador for Milan on the occasion of the global World Wellness Weekend event which is celebrated on the third weekend in September to promote wellness all over the world”.