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Mind
Zen in Switzerland
Set in two acres of secluded pastures, Hidden Dragon is a six-bedroom chalet built in accordance with ancient Shinto and feng shui principles. On a week-long yoga retreat, I followed a strict ayurvedic diet, practised meditation, took barefoot walks along Alpine streams and had two days of silence to still the mind. It completely changed my outlook. I felt more invigorated and uplifted than after any other holiday I can recall.
Hidden Dragon (hidden-dragon.com) offers week-long breaks from £3,250 per person, including board and activities. Gabriella Le Breton
Cultural Istanbul
A few simple facts about the wondrous, soaring, eye-stretching grandeur of the great dome and half domes of Hagia Sophia, and their vast, hushed interior, tell the story of this extraordinary building more graphically. Commissioned by Emperor Justinian I in 532, it was completed in its current form in 562. Surviving earthquake, fire, pillaging crusaders and the Ottoman occupation, it remained for almost 1,000 years the largest enclosed space ever built. Put simply, it is one of the greatest architectural achievements of world history, and a visit there is profoundly moving.
Read Telegraph Travel’s expert guide to Istanbul at telegraph.co.uk/istanbul. Telegraph Tours is also offering a unique 14-night luxury Cunard cruise – in the company of Telegraph experts – which includes stays in Istanbul. See telegraph. co.uk/cunardcruise or call 0333 005 9159. Nick Trend
Star-gazing in Chile
I first looked through a powerful optical telescope on a stargazers’ tour around Chile, at the country’s Mamalluca Observatory in the Elqui Valley. There was Saturn and its rings, and the magical swirls of the Orion Nebula, one of the Hubble telescope’s favourite subjects. At Alma, the world’s largest astronomical project, high in the Atacama Desert, I met scientists searching the edges of our known universe. This was travel at its most mind-expanding.
Audley Travel (01993 838650; audley.co. uk) can organise a nine-day trip to Chile, including visits to the Elqui Valley and San Pedro de Atacama, from £3,615 per person. Michelle Jana Chan
Australian geology lesson
If only I’d listened to the bloke in tweed, I thought, as we zipped around the Kimberley on Zodiac inflatables, part of a cruise around this magnificent section of the Australian coastline. As I tried (and failed) to recall any detail from school geography lessons other than my teacher’s jacket and his mop of curly hair, it was all I could do to keep up. Here was tectonic chaos laid bare: great lava-like cliffs of rock, towering rock escarpments and a honeycomb strata with holes so big you could put your fists in. It was a thousand geography lessons rolled into one.
Mundy Adventures (020 7399 7630; mundyadventures.co.uk) offers a 13-night Kimberley expedition from Darwin to Broome on the National Geographic Orion from £11,995 per person. Teresa Machan
Learning a language in Valencia
“Total immersion” is a phrase you hear often in relation to language learning. At the start of my week with a family in Valencia, I was immersing myself in cold showers because the instructions about the bathroom boiler were entirely in Spanish and I was terrified of burning down the apartment. Soon, however, one-to-one lessons and my hosts’ encouragement were making a big difference. I learnt the truth of the phrase “Mi casa es su casa’’ (literally “My house is your house”, or make yourself at home). On the flight home, I found myself burbling away to a couple of Spanish pensioners instead of burying my nose in a book.
CESA Languages Abroad (01209 211800; cesalanguages.com) offers a week’s halfboard stay with a family in Valencia and five one-to-one lessons from £362. Flights cost extra. Michael Kerr
The Hebrides in winter
It would be freezing going to the Outer Hebrides in January, people said. Ferries get delayed, they added. We went anyway and revelled in the space, air, people and slow pace of island life. Over a week, we stayed in self-catering cottages with fireplaces and big baths in which to wallow and read books. By day, we walked along remote coastlines, then, after a dram in a local pub, collapsed by the fire, our lungs filled with sea air and our noses relishing the smell of salt and seaweed. It was just what our cityaddled brains needed.
For recommendations on the best cottage rentals in the Outer Hebrides, see telegraph.co.uk/hebridescottages. Lisa Grainger
Sewing in Sussex
Sewing? The mind? I know, weird. But this lovely, calm space in a converted 18th-century cowshed on the edge of the Goodwood Estate in West Sussex offers a rare chance to use your hands, focus on one thing, chat (or not chat) and walk away with a garment at the end. If, like me, you hated school sewing lessons, this is where you make peace with bias binding and tailor tacks. Learning this skill was a tranquil, sociable experience – and no one was more surprised than me.
The Textile Space (01243 811300; thetextilespace.co.uk) offers a summer sewing school for £175 (course only). Sophie Campbell
At the Alma observatory I met scientists searching the edges of our known universe
Immerse yourself in the exotic, with daily yoga, Pilates and aqua therapy
Body
E-bikes in Austria
Like many cyclists, I was at first highly sceptical of the batteryassisted e-bike, but for our family – some of whom are faster than others – its power assistance was transformative. Climbing the Austrian Alps in a singalong, recrimination-free peloton, at the top we declared the e-bike one of our favourite things.
Thirty to 40 miles per day through this sublime scenery is a well-judged allowance – manageable yet satisfying. Comfortable overnight stays in castle-hotels and a former palace brewery bring an added feelgood factor.
The Carter Company (01296 631671; the-carter-company.com) is offering six nights in the Alps from £880 per person based on two sharing; plus £95 for an e-bike. Flights cost extra. Adam Ruck
Trekking in India
High adventure in low-key style is a good summary of the trekking provided by Village Ways, an ecotourism company, in the foothills of the Himalayas in Uttarakhand, India. My wife and I were guided by villagers, and stayed in their guesthouses. We looked down from temples on circling vultures, with the nearest road an hour’s walk away. From a tented camp at 10,068ft, we watched the morning sun peel away a scarf of mist to reveal peak after snow-capped peak. As a backdrop to morning chai, it couldn’t be bettered.
Village Ways (01223 750049; villageways. com) organises a 12-night trip to the Saryu and Pindar Valleys from £887 per person for a party of four to six. Flights cost extra. Michael Kerr
Caribbean workout
If you stay at an all-inclusive, there is always the temptation to indulge. And I was an absolute glutton at the BodyHoliday, although in the most virtuous of ways. This Caribbean resort, tucked away in a bay in northern St Lucia, offers a daily smorgasbord of sports, including morning beach boot camps with bona fide Olympians (it was the rower Katherine Grainger during my week). Spa treatments repair you for the next day’s physical feast.
British Airways Holidays (001 758 457 7800; ba.com/thebodyholiday) offers a seven-night stay from £2,449 per person including accommodation, full board, spa treatment and most activities. Sarah Baxter
Juicing in Portugal
It’s no exaggeration to say that the week I recently spent at the Jason Vale Juicy Oasis in Portugal changedmy life. After living on juice, bouncing on minitrampolines, spinning and doing yoga at dawn, I came back fizzing with energy – friends even said I looked different. I haven’t stuck with the juices, but the experience has reset my attitude to exercise.
Juicy Oasis (01234 480280; juicyoasis. com) offers week-long stays from £1,195, including all juices and classes. Flights cost extra. Olivia Walmsley
Yoga in Brazil
Ibitipoca is an extraordinary place: uplifting, calming, invigorating and surprising. Nothing jars in the beautifully restored 1715 lake-side farmhouse, set in a lush valley four hours from Rio. A graceful mother and daughter conduct yoga sessions as well as a wide range of massages in an airy spa, and there is also a woodfired sauna and hot tub. The setting for dinner is often a surprise – by firelight beside a waterfall, perhaps – and the estate, with its wildlife and sculptures, is yours to discover on horseback, foot, or electric bike.
Reserva do Ibitipoca (0055 32 2101 5103; reservadoibitipoca.com.br) has a three-night stay from £495 per person, full-board. Tailor-made packages are available from Steppes Travel (0845 0756 079; steppestravel.co.uk). Fiona Duncan
South West walks
Hobbling into Boscastle’s Cobweb Inn after 17 testing miles on my first day on the South West Coast Path, it was as much as I could do to lift my pint of Doom Bar. The 203-mile Bude to Falmouth section of England’s longest National Trail truly was a baptism of fire: the relentless climbs set my calves ablaze. Yet a fortnight tracing the dramatic Cornish coast around Land’s End and the Lizard sent both fitness and spirits soaring. On long stretches, people are scarce, unlike wildflowers, seabirds, seals and basking sharks. I finished happier and healthier. Magical isn’t overstating it.
Macs Adventure (0141 530 8751; macsadventure.com) offers supported self-guided packages on the path from £320. Or see southwestcoastpath.com. Paul Bloomfield
Exotic wellness in Bali
Shambhala Estate was a pioneer of the wellness retreat concept in Bali. At this resort, you can immerse yourself in the exotic, enjoying daily yoga, Pilates, aqua therapy and fitness classes – or simply walk or cycle amid its 22 acres of tropical gardens. There are also indulgent spa treatments, riverside pools to lounge by and healthy cuisine to enjoy. I added private classes in qigong, an ancient Chinese practice blending martial arts and meditation, to kick-start a healthier way of living. I’m still reaping the rewards.
Healing Holidays (healingholidays.co.uk) offers breaks from £3,199 per person per week, including international flights and transfers, full board and treatments. Gabriella Le Breton
Soul
Northern Lights cruise
Some say the Northern Lights made them feel more spiritual; I simply found the aurora borealis utterly mesmerising. As our ship rounded the top of Norway, the crew announced there was activity ahead. Cue a rush to jostle for position on the freezing decks. The sense of anticipation was tangible as what looked like a slow-burning firework hovered on the horizon. Suddenly a great patch of the deep blackness to the left took on a soft green glow and soon half the sky was alive with shifting shapes. Dinner had never seemed so unimportant.
Hurtigruten (020 3468 4079; hurtigruten.co.uk) has a five or six-day Arctic Highlights voyage from £799, including flights. John Wilmott
Temple stay in Japan
On a mist-shrouded mountaintop amid ancient forest, lodgings at the sacred retreat of Koyasan have temples attached and are run by monks. I crawled out of bed at 6am for morning meditation, flickering candles and incense smoke, lulled back into semislumber by the chanting and gongs. Staff served me breakfast on my tatami mat – meticulously presented, tiny pots of tofu. Nearby is Torodo Hall, containing the mausoleum of Kobo Daishi, the monk Kukai who introduced Shingon Buddhism to Japan in the ninth century. It has an unforgettable setting, and its silent serenity lingers long after a visit.
Audley Travel (01993 838 210; audleytravel.com) is offering an 11-night “Ultimate Japan” trip that includes a night in Mount Koya, from £2,625 per person in August. Natalie Paris
Desert lodge in Jordan
On the edge of the Dana Biosphere Reserve in central Jordan, Feynan Ecolodge is firmly set within the community of Bedouin who have inhabited this land with their animals for centuries. A stay here might mean walking through gorges and exploring abandoned copper mines with a local guide, lying on the roof watching a sky of stars, or simply enjoying the silence. It has genuine ecocredentials: solar panels provide electricity and traditional Yemeni architecture keeps the building cool. Blissfully, Wi-Fi access is limited to a couple of hours a day. There are few places in the world I would rather be.
Doubles from £139. For a full review, see telegraph.co.uk/feynan. Lizzie Porter
Frozen continent
It can be hard to find space, peace and silence in the hurly-burly of the 21st century. But there is one corner of the globe that offers little else – Antarctica. This frozen continent at the end of the Earth has never been permanently occupied by man. Accessible only from November to March, it has no towns, no villages, and no habitation bar the odd research station or expedition hut; just grand, icy, unpredictable wilderness. Even aboard an expedition ship, the solitude and the emptiness will envelop you and bring you down to scale. A trip here is humbling, astonishing, soul-soothing – and a lot more fun than therapy.
For a full guide to visiting the Antarctic, see telegraph.co.uk/antarctic. Joanna Symons
Isle of Wight monastery stay
Creature comforts at Quarr Abbey, a Benedictine monastery on the Isle of Wight, might be far and few between, but as one of the few remaining monks at the abbey put it, you go for “a calm space in a world of clutter and noise”. After four days of putting away my mobile phone and avoiding the internet (neither is obligatory), walking in the grounds, reading (the Bible – not obligatory either), attending the occasional service of Gregorian chanting and enjoying the sound of silence (the monks rarely speak), I felt recharged, rebalanced and strangely relaxed.
Quarr Abbey, Ryde (01983 882420; quarrabbey.co.uk) has 10 rooms with 11 beds. No charge, but donations are welcome. Simon Horsford
Epic Australian landscapes
My first sight of the Flinders Ranges was from the saddle of a dusty mountain bike. I had just cycled 186 miles from the tiny settlement of Burra across the immensity of South Australia. The Flinders Ranges, a series of ancient outcrops marching into the desert, seemed as fanciful as stumbling upon Shangri-La. But, suddenly, it was there – Wilpena Pound, a natural amphitheatre of ancient, fissured rock, glowing in the lateafternoon sun: it was simply bewitching. Remote, mysterious and attracting few visitors, the Flinders is the sort of epic Australian landscape that seeps into your soul; a place of silence, soaring eagles and Dreamtime legend. It may just change you.
For Telegraph Travel’s full guide to Australia, see telegraph.co.uk/australia or download the Telegraph Travel Guides app to Australia (for iPhone or iPad) at telegraph.co.uk/travelapp. Mark Chipperfield
Whale encounters
I am a self-confessed whale addict. I need to see one of these aweinspiring and enigmatic creatures at regular intervals just to survive normal daily life. Since I encountered my first whale more than three decades ago, I’ve been to more than 50 countries to see them, but one whale hotspot has had more impact on me than anywhere else: San Ignacio Lagoon, on the Pacific coast of Mexico. I’ve returned to tickle and scratch the unbelievably friendly grey whales in the lagoon every year since the late Eighties, and I miss it enormously when I’m somewhere else. Wildlife encounters don’t get much more humbling.
For Mark Cawardine’s full guide to planning a whale-watching trip, see telegraph.co.uk/whales. Mark Cawardine