The Winter Edit: Alpine Wellness Retreats

Jan 2

Let’s be honest: the holiday season is an emotional amplifier. Everything is heightened. The joy feels brighter, the stress feels sharper, and the nostalgia can ache. Some people avoid these dates altogether, and some people see it as the best time of the year. But what is for sure, emotions are at their highest, like a sustained, weeks-long mercury retrograde feeling.

Along with the chance of gifting yourself or others, I want to highlight an activity that truly resonates with winter for me, and that is wellness retreats. Yes, yes, you might have imagined an episode of White Lotus in the tropics, but what if we gave these resorts a twist? What if the ultimate luxury wasn't a sandy beach, but the quietness of a snow-blanketed forest, the cozy weight of a wool blanket, and the warmth of a sauna looking out at the Alps?

The Boa Vida List is our annual roundup of the world’s most exceptional experiences. In this edition, we bring you the kinds of alpine spas that will redefine winter for you. We consider these the best in Europe right now, whether you’re looking for a gentle reset after the holidays or a life-altering shift amidst snow-dusted peaks.

Lanserhof Tegernsee

BAVARIA, GERMANY

Lanserhof picked up its guiding philosophy from Austrian physician Franz X. Mayr, who believed cleansing the digestive system was the starting place for total health. The doctor-guided Mayr therapy system goes like this: You fast, drinking only tea and water. Then you detox, drinking Epsom salts to purge the system. Then you eat, at first, according to a radically restricted diet of sheep’s milk yogurt, buckwheat toast, and steamed vegetables, and learn to chew properly. (Thirty to forty times for each small bite.) It is intensely challenging.

That said, the central activity at Lanserhof is relaxation. Stress, they teach, really mucks up your body’s functions. The spa offers a vast menu of treatments, some traditional (like herbal wraps and Dead Sea salt soaks), others cutting-edge (like cryotherapy and electromagnetic sculpting). If the pampering was not enough to distract you from your detox, the mesmerising location might be. The facility is peaceful and the vibe contemplative, you could call it monastic, if monasteries had floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking a frozen lake and heavenly beds.

There are three other Lanserhof locations: Lans, the original location outside Innsbruck; Sylt, on a German island off Denmark’s western coast; and Lanserhof at the Arts Club, in London.

The Alpina Gstaad

GSTAAD, SWITZERLAND

The same way the spiritual majesty of the Alps draws seekers, it draws healers, and you can work with the best of them at The Alpina Gstaad. This resort is a marvel of rustic-luxe design, and thanks to its Six Senses Spa, it’s joined the ranks of our most-obsessed-over wellness destinations. Expect a Himalayan-inspired sanctuary of ancient wood, heated stone benches, and an indoor-outdoor pool that seems to spill into the Alpine vistas.

The Alpina calls the experience here a journey, and it’s apt. visitors follow personalised programs designed to address whatever called them here, perhaps it’s connection, solace, or a digital detox. Depending on a guest’s needs, a journey might include traditional spa offerings, like enzyme wraps and lymphatic facials, as well as specialty services, like guided snow-walking meditations and sound healing. Even downtime contributes to the objectives of clarity and discovery: Your guide might prescribe intuitive watercolour, hikes in the silent forests, or a session in the salt grotto. If you’re feeling energetically stuck, go there.

VIVAMAYR Altaussee

ALTAUSSEE, AUSTRIA

Set on the shores of a stunning, ice-blue lake, VIVAMAYR is the austere, brilliant older sibling of the wellness world. It takes the Mayr philosophy to its most rigorous and effective conclusion. This is a place for deep, medical detoxification. Your stay begins with a comprehensive health assessment, and every element of your time here, from the specific way you are taught to chew your spelt roll to the timing of your walks, is prescribed for your benefit. It is intensely challenging.

People come here with chronic issues, digestive and skin related problems, persistent fatigue, and leave transformed. The treatments are clinical and powerful, focusing on manual abdominal therapy and lymphatic drainage. And if the discipline were not enough to captivate you, the mesmerizing location might be. The stark, beautiful landscape of the Salzkammergut provides a powerful, silent backdrop for this inner work.

Brenners Park-Hotel & Spa

BADEN-BADEN, GERMANY

There’s a reason European aristocracy has been “taking the waters” in Baden-Baden for centuries. Brenners, a grand hotel perched on the edge of a luminous park, has perfected the art of the traditional wellness cure. This is where old-world glamour meets serious, medical-grade wellness.

The heart of the experience is the Roman-Irish Bath, a multi-step thermal journey that involves dry heat, steam, and a series of progressively cooler pools, culminating in a brisk plunge and a deep, cocooning rest. It’s a ritual that scrubs away stress on a cellular level. Beyond the baths, you can work with in-house doctors to create a personalized program addressing everything from burnout to healthy aging. The vibe is serene, the service is impeccable, and the feeling of stepping out into the crisp Black Forest air after a day of treatments is nothing short of sublime. This is for those who believe healing should be as elegant as it is effective

Chenot Palace Weggis

WEGGIS, SWITZERLAND

Perched on the shores of Lake Lucerne with jaw-dropping views of the snow-capped Alps, Chenot Palace is the epitome of high-tech, scientific wellness. This is where you go for a state-of-the-art reboot. The Chenot Method is a proprietary program that combines advanced diagnostics, from genetic testing to metabolic analysis, with a suite of treatments designed to decelerate the aging process and enhance cellular function.

Your days are a mix of innovative bio-procedures (like hydro-aromatherapy and magneto-therapy), personalised fitness, and a strictly controlled, yet delicious, ketogenic diet. It’s intensive, structured, and profoundly effective. You won’t find a cocktail menu, but you will find a team of world-class experts dedicated to optimising your vitality. For the ultimate "new year, new you" foundation, look no further.

Mercédesz Neumann https://www.instagram.com/mercedesz.neumannn/