The Best Mindfulness and Meditation Retreats in the UK

Escape to the Berkshire-Oxfordshire border on this go-slow, four-day beginner meditation retreat organised by Culture Trip. The beautifully located Swan at Streatley – a chicly reimagined 17th-century hotel – is your base, set among mulberry-shaded gardens overlooking the Thames. The schedule combines morning yoga, meditation and breathwork (all in a peaceful riverview studio) with country walks, wild swimming, canoeing, stand-up paddleboard yoga and even a cider-tasting session.

With sessions running throughout the year, this three-day programme in pretty rural Yorkshire weaves together meditation, yin yoga and yoga nidra, as well as vinyasa and ashtanga yoga workshops. The setting is delightful country-chic farmhouse Deighton Lodge, which feels worlds from everything but sits only 4mi (6km) outside central York (some rooms have roll-top baths for relaxing in your spare moments). Retreat leader Debbie Jenkins is also a nutritionist, so you’ll be spoilt with plant-based communal meals. All levels of experience are catered to.

It’s all about embracing the wild outdoors on this three-day, all-levels-welcome escape in one of the most magical destinations in the UK – the glittering Lake District. On the shores of Rydal Water, you’ll join guided meditations and vinyasa and yin yoga classes in a dedicated yoga barn with Wild Times founder Jenny Clark. But there’s also a healthy splash of adventure, with stand-up paddleboard yoga, lake swimming, a mountain hike and more. The 16th-century Nab Cottage, where you’ll be based, was once the home of Romantic writer Thomas de Quincey.

A sunny barn-conversion home in the secluded Syndale Valley in the Kent Downs hosts these regular weekend retreats focused on boosting mind and body. Mornings start with pranayama, vinyasa yoga or qigong, before a meditative woodland walk, a journaling session or a switch-right-off massage, while evenings bring in yin, sound baths and yoga nidra. A raw-food workshop complements the home-cooked vegetarian and vegan meals. When the weather behaves, sun salutations move outdoors.

Recharge on a three-day dreamy Devon escape for beginners and intermediate yogis and meditators, organised at a duo of cosily revamped barns just outside Totnes. Ashtanga and yin sessions, guided meditations, yoga nidra and sound healing fill the schedule, and river swimming and moorland walks await on the doorstep. There are also massages, holistic therapies and an on-site sauna, plus lovely home-style vegetarian cooking.

An action-packed, four-day hot yoga retreat awaits in the pine-scented Black Wood of Rannoch, in the soul-stirringly beautiful Scottish Highlands. You’ll be practising yoga twice a day (yin, gentle flow, yoga nidra, Bikram), as well as walking the woodland trails, cycling around and boating across Loch Rannoch, or even braving a dip – though if you prefer to switch off with a good book that’s actively encouraged too. The small group sessions are sprinkled throughout the year and include home-cooked vegetarian, vegan or gluten-free meals.

You’ll be slumbering in a solar-powered glamping geodome on this five-day ayurveda-focused programme on the Rame Peninsula in southeast Cornwall. It’s the perfect recipe for resetting your body and mind while exploring the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty-protected environment. The ayurvedic workshops build on self-massage and home remedies, complemented by restorative and flow yoga and a sound-healing session. Dazzling beaches, coastal walks, reiki, surfing, kayaking and a dolphin-spotting boat trip add to the fun.

What better way to recalibrate than a five-day summer retreat rooted in the spectacular landscapes of Snowdonia? Hosted at the lakeside Trigonos Estate in the Nantlle Valley, North Wales, this adventure-filled escape balances dru yoga classes, gong baths and meditation sessions around wild lake swims, plant-based cookathons and guided hikes to waterfalls and national park mountains. The vegetarian and vegan meals are fuelled by organic homegrown produce. Rooms are cosy and calming, and you’re free to wander the leafy 18-acre (7ha) grounds.