Top 10 healthy holidays

Have a healthy holiday

Take a trip with a distinctly healthy approach this year with our selection of fantastic holidays designed to keep you active and improve your sense of wellbeing.

By Jill Starley-Grainger

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How holidays are good for you

Treat your tummy

Sort out your tummy troubles in the midst of the Austrian Alps at Park Igls health retreat. They specialise in the modern Mayr method, which aims to sort out digestive health problems with a combination of diet and exercise. A medical team will discuss your digestive and health issues, then prescribe a week-long nutrition and exercise programme, taking advantage of the beautiful surroundings. The metabolism and detox module includes medical checks, diagnostics, medical consultation with a doctor and daily group sessions.

Seven nights at Park Hotel Igls (+43 51 237 7305, www.parkhotel-igls.at) from €2,400. Fly to Innsbruck with British Airways or EasyJet.

Hard core

Bad back, posture problems, jelly belly? Sort it out with on a South African getaway with renowned Pilates instructor Steve Jordan. But it\'s not just Pilates on offer. Daily activities mean you can explore the region to the max, with a rip up Table Mountain, boat trip to Seal Island, overnight safari in a lion park and a Stellenbosch vineyard tour. And that\'s all included in the basic price, along with seven sessions of Pilates. What\'s more, improvement of muscular and skeletal problems is guaranteed within three Pilates sessions. This is one of the most amazing ways to see the Western Cape of South Africa, and at the end of the week, your muscles will be longer and leaner, your stomach and back will be vastly improved and you\'ll be walking straighter and feeling wonderful.

Seven nights at Cape Active (+27 28 272 9723, www.capeactive.com) boutique guesthouse from ZAR7,260, including daily pilates sessions and the adventure tours in the Western Cape and transfers from Cape Town airport, but excluding flights. Fly from London direct to Cape Town with British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and South African Airways. Emirates often has much cheaper flights, with stops in Dubai or Abu Dhabi with Etihad.

Make a splash

Red Sea, Egypt

It\'s island hopping - with a twist. You get yourself from A to B with nothing but a swimsuit and goggles to help you on your way. But don\'t worry. Boats will be pootling along nearby in case you get knackered, and swims are usually around four kilometres a day in total, so it\'s not too tough. On SwimTrek\'s Red Sea holiday, you\'ll explore the Egyptian islands using nothing more than the front crawl or breaststroke. Walk from the sandy shoreline into the shallows, then plunge into the depths for some genuine wild swimming. At the end of the week, not only will you have had a truly unique holiday experience, but you\'ll most likely have toned up and feel more fit than you have in ages. The only requirement is that you can swim the front crawl or breaststroke to a reasonable standard. Those who need swimming lessons or who lack confidence can do one of SwimTrek\'s weekend sessions in the UK.

Six days from €720pp, B&B, including luggage transfer, with SwimTrek. Fly to Sharm El Sheikh with British Airways in about five hours. Then it\'s about an hour by road.

Stretch and ski

Samoens, France

Avoid sore muscles and add some interest to your snowbreak with a yoga-ski getaway in one of the Alps\' hippest new lodges. Go by train, and you\'ll very little-eco guilt, too, because the stunning La Source is a model of ethical design and responsible tourism. Start your day with yoga before the pistes, then cool down with some stretching afterwards to prevent the build-up of lactic acid, which causes post-workout muscle soreness. Ski lessons are available for beginners to off-pisters, and you\'ll be eating top-quality organic vegetarian food all week. You can also book shiatsu, reiki and tai chi on site. End your day soaking in a wood-fired hot tub under the stars in the midst of the snowy Alps.

Seven nights at La Source (+33 4 50 586107, www.sourcealps.com) from €675, half board, including some yoga sessions and transfer from Cluses train station. Take the train from London (www.snowcarbon.co.uk) or fly to Geneva with numerous airlines. Yoga ski weeks from €850. The one-hour transfer will then cost around €70 return. Local shuttles to and from the ski lift and village, €30 for the week.

Surf and turf

Near Montezuma, Costa Rica

Improve your physical fitness on a learn-to-surf holiday, and boost your feel-good hormones, too, by helping preserve this beautiful stretch of coastline. This back-to-basics break isn\'t for luxe lovers - there\'s no phone, electricity or hot water, rooms are dormitory style, and meals are mostly of the rice-and-bean variety - but it might be just the thing to get you a new perspective on life. The setting couldn\'t be more idyllic, bang in the middle of a tropical paradise. The week includes two surf lessons, two session of assisted practice, then supervised surfing the rest of the week. In between, you\'ll be doing ecological projects to help save the local wildlife and environment.

14 nights free accommodation and meals with I-to-I (0800 093 1505, www.i-to-i.com). Fly from the UK to San Jose are with Iberia via Madrid.

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Purification vacation

Phuket, Thailand

Give your system a quick clean-out and a dose of winter sun on a five-star detox in Thailand. At the luxurious Six Senses Evason Phuket, the three-day purification programme aims to give you a boost with a mixture of diet, exercise and holistic therapies. For the first two days, you\'ll eat specially created light meals of fruit and vegetables, then the third day is entirely a juice and soup diet. Exercises, activities and spa treatments are tailored to your particular needs, whether it\'s weight loss, resolving muscular or digestive issues or coping with exhaustion or physical ailments. As one of the world leaders in luxury spa breaks, you can be sure the therapies will be fantastic, and the setting on the beaches of Phuket is stunning. Perfect for an annual pick-me-up.

Kuoni (01306 747008 or www.kuoni.co.uk) offers 7 nights in Thailand on room and breakfast basis, staying 2 nights at the Dream Hotel Bangkok in a classic room and 5 nights at the Evason Phuket & Six Senses Spa in a studio, including flights with Thai Airways from Heathrow with private transfers in resort. Prices for 2010 from £907 per person based on two sharing. Three-day purification programme THB 9,150.  

Holistic holiday

Mallorca, Spain

Find your inner balance on a Getting to Know Ayurveda four-night break. Situated in the countryside, you\'ll stay in a beautifully renovated 13th-century finca hotel. Immerse yourself in the Ayurvedic way of life, with Ayurvedic breakfasts and Tridosha dinners, Ayurvedic teas, consultation with an Ayurvedic specialist and two Ayurvedic spa treatments for three days. During the day, you can either explore the surrounding countryside or drive to some of the island\'s least-known beaches 18km away. The goal is to help you regain energy, harmonise and balance your body and mind. Weight loss is also often achieved.

Four nights Getting to Know Ayurveda at the Sa Bassa Rotja Hotel and Vedamar Ayurveda centre (+34 689 073451, www.Spa-in-spain.com) from €890, half board, including treatments but excluding flights. Numerous airlines fly from the UK to Palma, including British Airways, bmibaby and Easyjet.

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The 10-years-younger trip

Caribbean cruise

Hop on the Norwegian Spirit in New Orleans for a seven-day Caribbean cruise, and return a week later lighter and smoother. The on-board spa provides Botox and Restalyne for wrinkle reduction, Perlane to plump lips and remove crow\'s feet and grooves around nose and mouth. A 60-minute acupuncture treatment is said to hep with weight loss, and there are dedicated cooking-light chefs to provide low-calorie meals for those that want them. Book sessions with a personal trainer if you want to tone up, or just make the most of the ship\'s fitness facilities. Stops on the cruise include Costa Maya and Cozumel in Mexico, Santo Thomas de Castilla in Guatemala and Belize City.

Seven nights in an inside state room with NCL Freestyle Cruising (0845 658 8010, www.ncl.co.uk) from £999, full board (including cooking-light options), with return flights from Heathrow, one night pre-cruise hotel and transfers. Spa and medical treatments (Botox, Acupuncture, etc) and personal training sessions extra.

Horsing around

The Gower, Wales

Sitting down might not seem the best way to get fit, but learning to ride a horse, or going out on day-long treks if already know how, gives a fantastic work-out, especially of the core muscles, and you will burn the calories without even realising it. Make friends with your trusty steed on day-long rides, then share a bottle of wine in the evening with the friends you made that day, all by a cosy log fire in Parc-le-Breos House, a spacious Victorian hunting lodge. If your muscles are aching after a day in the saddle, book one of the on-site massage sessions. Weekend riding packages are available, too.

Seven nights at Parc-le-Breos House (01792 371636, www.parc-le-breos.co.uk) from £555, half board, including five full day rides. Take the train to Swansea or drive down the M4 to Parkmill.

Ballroom bliss

Torquay, Devon

Tired of watching celebrities learn to glide like Astaire and Rogers, while you sit on the sofa, wishing could do it? Get moving with the tango, folk dance or foxtrot on a dancing holiday at a three-star hotel. Lessons are in the morning, with afternoon tea dancing, and a post-dinner boogie. Dancing is an excellent workout, using a wide range of muscles all over the body, and it boosts your mental agility, too, as you try to remember the steps. After four days, even those with two left feet will no longer be shy about hitting the dance floor.

Five nights dance holidays with TLH Leisure Resort (01803 400500, www.tlh.co.uk) from £215, half board, including dance lessons. Take the train to Torquay or Exeter.

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Roll with it

Camber Sands, East Sussex

Cycle those calories off on a self-guided break through the quiet lanes and flat terrain of Kent and East Sussex. Roll through the natural beauty of Romney Marsh, quietly gliding past wildlife, or head to historic Rye for a bouncy ride over the cobbled streets. Take to two wheels along the coastline, past vast beaches and salt marshes aflutter with birds. Then choose a scenic spot for a picnic lunch, provided by The Place at the Beach guesthouse, your home for the two-night break. They\'ll also provide you with bicycles, helmets, a selection of planned routes varying from 10 to 42 miles in distance, and catering for cyclists of all abilities, although you must be comfortable riding on roads with cars. Routes can be easy or tough, but go for the harder ones if you want to shed a few pounds.

Two nights at The Place at the Beach (01797 225057, www.theplaceatthebeach.co.uk), from £85pp, including breakfast and packed lunch on two days, bicycles, helmets, planned routes, maps and itineraries.

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