Wellness, Yoga and Nature retreats in the Netherlands - NEW 2027 dates!

The art of doing nothing

Ask anyone about a good spa weekend and they’ll tell you about the bits in between: the book that never got past page ten, the afternoon spent drifting between the sauna and a sofa, the realisation at four o’clock that you haven’t looked at your phone since lunch. You don’t need much for that. A comfortable bed, a proper dinner, warm mineral water to sink into, and woods or sea close enough to walk to in your slippers, or nearly. Yoga, a massage, a long walk: they’re all there if you want them. And if you don’t, that’s perfectly fine.

Yoga in the Flow

Yoga suits this way of travelling, as long as it doesn’t turn into a workout. It doesn’t matter how far you get into a pose, and nobody expects your hands to reach the floor. No fiddly postures, nothing to prove. It’s about breathing, moving and letting your shoulders drop from around your ears. Mornings tend to be livelier, with a class that wakes the body up and gets things moving. Afternoons are slower and softer, with a little meditation and yin yoga, where you settle into a pose for a few minutes and let the body gradually give way. Our regular team of teachers has been leading the retreats for more than fifteen years. Each has their own style, but all of them pay attention to what you need rather than what the rest of the room can do. Beginners are shown a simpler version, while more experienced students can go deeper. There are blocks, straps and bolsters to hand, so you needn’t be bendy to take part. And if you’d rather skip a morning class? Stay in bed a little longer. Nobody will mind.

Various way to slow down

The Netherlands may be small, but a weekend among the dunes is a world away from one in the woods, or one spent floating in warm spring water. The landscape sets the mood, and the mood decides how you unwind. That’s why we sort our hotels into three kinds: wellness in nature, wellness by the sea and wellness from the spring.

Wellbeing Retreats in Nature

Open the door and you’re in the woods. No car, no map, no plan. Just footpaths, a dawn chorus and the smell of pine needles and damp leaves, a world away from home.

Landgoed De Wilmersberg, Twente

Back in the 1920s, the Blijdenstein family, Twente textile people, built themselves a country retreat here called ‘t Nije Huss. The estate sits close to the German border, a few minutes from Oldenzaal and a short drive from the pretty town of Ootmarsum. There’s a log fire in the lounge. You can follow the tree trail past hundreds of veteran specimens, or borrow a bike or e-bike from reception. Dinner is regional and seasonal, with a sommelier on hand and a long wine list, and the Michelin Guide describes the kitchen as modern and vegetable-led. If the sky is clear afterwards, take a last turn outside for the stars.

Boshotel Vlodrop, Limburg

De Meinweg National Park, near Roermond, is a patchwork of heath, woodland and small pools, and the hotel sits right in the middle of it. Walk out of the front door and you’re on the trails, or you can go by bike or on horseback. Afterwards there’s the Vita Allegra spa, with a generous sauna area and an outdoor sauna. Limburg is known for eating well, and the à la carte restaurant lives up to it, with a menu that follows the seasons and makes the most of local produce.

Wellbeing Retreats by the Sea

The seaside keeps its own timetable. Salt in the air, a bit of wind or a bit of sun, waves murmuring away in the background. Spend an afternoon walking into a stiff breeze and you’ll sleep like a log that night.

Badhotel Domburg

Domburg is one of Zeeland’s best-loved seaside towns: pretty boutiques, pavement cafés and restaurants, and a long sweep of beach backed by dunes. It is also an officially recognised spa town, one of only a handful in the Netherlands, with the sea air and salt water as its cure. The hotel stands on the edge of the village in its own park, fountain and all. The centre is about a hundred metres away and the beach a few minutes’ walk, so it’s easy to nip out for a coffee, potter round the shops or stroll down to the sea. The hotel rents out beach huts with loungers, and the beach club, Strand 90, has a terrace for fine days and an open fire for chilly ones. Afterwards, it’s back to the spa for a long soak and a massage.

Wellness from the Spring

Only a handful of places in the Netherlands can call themselves official spa towns, and Bad Nieuweschans is one of them. Its warm water comes from a spring of its own, and it’s so rich in salts that you float almost without trying.

Thermen Bad Nieuweschans, Groningen

The spring lies some 600 metres beneath the town. The water is so heavy with salt, magnesium, iodine and bromide that it’s diluted with fresh water before it reaches the pool, then warmed to 36 degrees. What’s left is close to weightless: the salt holds you up and the warmth does the rest. In 2009 the village even added “Bad”, the German word for a bath, to its name in honour of the water. The complex is spacious, with a large sauna area, big gardens full of quiet corners to settle into, and a lovely yoga studio. Up here in the north, the sky is huge, the horizon a long way off and nobody is in a hurry. After the woods and the sea, this is where the water does the work.

Discover your own pace

Some people unwind on a long walk by the sea. Others need a yoga class, a massage or an afternoon in the sauna. There are cyclists, there are people who live for a long lunch, and there are those who would happily clear the diary for a whole day. It all works here. Pick a place that feels right and stay a little longer than you planned. There’s more room for quiet in the Netherlands than you might think.

About Marleen

This blog is written by Marleen, the founder of PureandCure.com in 2005. She travels around the world in search of the best Health & Wellbeing Hotels, Spas and Retreats and shares her know-how, experiences and observations through her blogs.