Where Wellness Meets Wine: The Rise Of Alternative Therapies

So you wouldn’t want to miss your yoga or Pilates class, but you enjoy the odd glass afterwards just as much. Now you can combine the two – blending the best of both worlds, so to speak. Culture Trip explores your options. Chin-chin!

Meditation, sound baths and yoga classes have taken off around the globe as wellness has become an important aspect of our lives. It’s all about raising consciousness, clearing internal blockages and creating a sense of calm. So why not combine it with a cheeky glass of wine? Here’s how.

Yoga is all about focus, and in New York they say that a drink can make you more flexible

Where better to enjoy champagne than in the place it was invented?

1. Sip bubbly between Pilates classes

Spa, Health Spa

When in Champagne, you know what to do: the Royal Champagne Hotel & Spa offers champers from its Leclerc Briant winery. But there’s also an emphasis on wellbeing – on being present, unwinding, and getting the body moving with some gentle fitness. Embracing wellness and the self-care movement, the spa is running regular Pilates and yoga retreats. Esteemed personal trainer Marilyn Grès is on hand to guide you through Pilates and its principles, whatever your level. So whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned practitioner, this is the place to practise the plank followed by a glass of bubbly.

3. Adopt the tree pose, cocktail in hand

Yoga Studio

In New York, you can enrol at Drunk Yoga, which was founded as a joke by Eli Walker, who claims that wine helps with flexibility. She introduced a tipple into the mix to “take the pressure out of the practice and turn it into a party”, and the idea took off. Sessions start with a happy hour, before you launch into a 45-minute vinyasa sequence. The focus is on community and having a good time as much as it is on yoga poses. Namaste responsibly.

4. Surf and drink after hours

Hostel

The Algarve is famous for its wine, which Bura Surfhouse celebrates in between catching waves on its equally famous shores. With three full days of surfing, including lessons from a qualified instructor and board rental, this retreat is an all-encompassing taster of the surf lifestyle. It’s open to complete beginners, as well as those with a bit of experience under their belt and intermediates: different levels of ability are split into three groups before reconvening at the end of the day over a drink by the pool. The last day of the retreat includes a visit to a local winery, so you’ll leave with more knowledge about the wines – and possibly the surf – than when you arrived.

Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.

Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.

Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.

Culture Trips are deeply immersive 5 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and 4-5* accommodation to look forward to at the end of each day. Our Rail Trips are our most planet-friendly itineraries that invite you to take the scenic route, relax whilst getting under the skin of a destination. Our Private Trips are fully tailored itineraries, curated by our Travel Experts specifically for you, your friends or your family.

We know that many of you worry about the environmental impact of travel and are looking for ways of expanding horizons in ways that do minimal harm - and may even bring benefits. We are committed to go as far as possible in curating our trips with care for the planet. That is why all of our trips are flightless in destination, fully carbon offset - and we have ambitious plans to be net zero in the very near future.