Top 10 spa holidays

Think of a spa holiday and you might imagine white towels, cucumber water and smooth, round pebbles. Yet at their heart, spas are places where medicinal spring waters flow, around which communities have built unique customs. Our list of top 10 spa holidays celebrates natural spas, countries with strong bathing cultures and holidays where healing treatments, like ayurveda, feature.

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Top 10 spa holidays

Want to get to know local people on your holiday? Then hop into a hot spring or bask in a bath. Bathing, spa time and wellness treatments aren’t just the preserve of holidaymakers. In some cultures they are crucial to day-to-day life – a social hub or a space for healing. Our top 10 spa holidays seek out these kinds of experiences. They celebrate the idiosyncrasies of bathing cultures around the world, whilst also supporting the local communities who practice them. At their best, our trips don’t just give you rest and relaxation, but a sense of place to go with your sense of peace.

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1. An ocean hot spring in the Azores

There’s something funny about the sea at Ferraria; it’s hot! The volcanic island of Sao Miguel in the Azores has caldeiras – hot springs – dotted across it, including the ocean hot spring at Ferraria. A quarter of the electricity produced on the island is geothermal, but why not bypass the middleman – in Furnas, another hot spring hotspot, you can try traditional cozido – slow cooked stew cooked in the geothermal heat.

Best time to go: All year round
Our top trip: Hiking holiday in the Azores with thermal springs
See all our trips: Azores holidays
Read more: Azores travel guide

2. Wellness and walking in the Rhodope Mountains

The Romans built some of the first spa towns in Bulgaria, delighting in its profusion of mineral rich springs. Today, spas are popular places for local people, who make regular visits to spa towns like Devin in the Rhodope Mountains for a health and well-being boost. These waters are good for sporadic visitors, too – especially if you’re hiking. Join the local bathers and rest your weary muscles after days on the trails.

Best time to go: May to October
Our top trip: Bulgaria self guided walking and spa holiday
See all our trips: Bulgaria walking holidays
Read more: Bulgaria wellness holiday guide

3. Ancient ayurvedic treatments in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is a popular place for ayurvedic treatments, which first arrived on the island in the 5th century BC. This highly personalised system of treatments can restore you to yourself. But why not restore some nature whilst you’re at it? Deep in the forest, where ingredients for elixirs and extracts grow wild, you can plant trees and restore the landscape in between treatments.

Best time to go: November to April
Our top trip: Ayurvedic retreat in Sri Lanka
See all our trips: Sri Lanka holidays
Read more: Sri Lanka travel guide

4. Saunas and river bathing in Lapland

Four degrees Celsius – 39 Fahrenheit – seems an unthinkable temperature for bathwater, but cold water bathing is a traditional practice in Lapland. It’s best combined with sauna, where the resulting stress on the body as it goes from hot to very cold provides a number of health benefits. Explore them for yourself near Lulea in Swedish Lapland, at a riverside Arctic retreat built with natural materials.

Best time to go: All year round
Our top trip: Luxury Arctic short break
See all our trips: Lapland holidays
Read more: Lapland travel guide

5. Dead Sea mud and hot spring water in Jordan

The very strange Dead Sea throws up a couple of spa-ready natural products – salt for scrubs, and mud for body masks – but that’s not all. The lowest place on Earth is also unusually oxygen-rich, which is thought to provide all sorts of health benefits, including helping patients with heart problems or cystic fibrosis. It’s not the only attraction in Jordan for the wellness crowd. In the mountains you’ll find the Ma’in hot springs, whose thermal waters include a lovely waterfall.

Best time to go: September to May
Our top selling trip: Jordan luxury spa and wellness holiday
See all our trips: Jordan holidays
Read more: Jordan travel guide

6. Wellness, and a dash of luxury, in Spain

Who among us can honestly say they give sufficient attention to their overall wellbeing? This wellness retreat on the Costa Blanca takes a holistic approach, with a top of the range spa featuring a heated pool, therapy and treatment rooms and sauna, with gentle exercise, 1-2-1 life coaching sessions and healthy Mediterranean cuisine all part of the mix, too.

Best time to go: February to September
Our top trip: Luxury wellness retreat in Spain – total life reset
See all our trips: Spain wellness holidays
Read more: Spain wellness travel guide

7. Ayurvedic treatments in Kerala, India

Ayurvedic practices have existed in India for 5,000 years, and much of the knowledge is passed down from generation to generation. Kerala, one of the original centres for the practice, gets so many health tourists coming to the area for treatment that it even issues a special visa. Tap into expert treatments from a family-run business in the state and benefit from thousands of years of knowledge, even on a short 11-day retreat.

Best time to go: September to May
Our top trip: Kerala ayurveda and yoga holiday, India
See all our trips: Kerala holidays
Read more: Kerala ayurveda holidays guide

8. Hot springs and the High Tatras in Slovakia

There are over 1,500 springs in Slovakia, and many are warm and even hot, and rich in minerals. Slovaks love visiting spas for their numerous health benefits and there are large thermal theme parks in the country. For a calmer experience, head to the Tatra Mountains for a wellness break with hiking and a hot tub, one that prides itself on using local businesses and restaurants throughout.

Best time to go: May
Our top trip: Wellness retreat in Slovakia’s Tatra Mountains
See all our trips: Slovakia holidays
Read more: Slovakia travel guide

9. Enjoying onsens in Japan

Baths fed by natural springs are known as onsens in Japan. There are more than 3,000 hot spring towns across the country, and among them innumerable therapeutic onsens. So popular are baths for relaxation that people may bathe up to three times a day – though before dinner is most common. Join the bathing craze on a walking holiday that gives plenty of time for submerged relaxation at family-run ryokans along the way.

Best time to go: Spring or autumn
Our top trip: Nikko and Yumoto onsen walking tour, Japan
See all our trips: Japan holidays
Read more: Guide to visiting a Japanese onsen

10. Lazing in the lavender in Provence

The Romans are at it again, building bathing facilities around Europe’s natural springs. In Montbrun-les-Bains, a beautiful hillside village in Provence, you’ll find bathing water that’s especially known for its assistance with respiratory and rheumatology conditions. Embrace slow travel, walking in a lesser-visited area of Provence. Visit between the end of June and August, and you’ll also see the lavender in bloom.

Best time to go: June to August
Our top trip: Provence walking and spa holiday
See all our trips: Provence holidays
Read more: Provence travel guide