Five of the Best Luxury Spa & Wellness Retreats in Portugal for Summer Rejuvenation

Combining cultural hot-spots with lush green landscapes and wide-stretching beaches, Portugal is a dream destination – it also boasts some of the best spa and wellness retreats in Europe. Here’s our edit of the best:

EPIC SANA, Algarve

With its glorious location overlooking Falésia beach and state-of-the-art spa, fitness and wellness centres, EPIC SANA is a truly idyllic retreat and one of Portugal’s leading wellness destination. The resort’s Sayanna Retreats are tailored to the individual’s goals and include diet, exercise, activities, relaxation, massages and treatments. Programmes are curated by qualified fitness instructors, spa therapists, nutritionists and alternative health practitioners.

Sayanna Wellness Spa spans two floors and boasts swimming pools, a hammam, a sauna and seven treatment rooms. The spa’s pièces de résistance are couples treatment pavilions – with relaxation decks and private hot tubs offering panoramic ocean views. Holistic and cutting-edge treatments on offer range from Thermal Immersions to Botox Effect Facials. Adjacent to the spa sits a state of the art gym, complete with personal trainers, and a fitness centre offering aerobics, pilates and yoga classes. Programme choices include Detox, De-Stress, Insane Fitness, Reshape, Yoga, Mindfulness.

Savanna Yoga Retreat Includes:

• 5 Nights Accommodation Deluxe Room Resort View with breakfast
• Free access to EPIC Vital group activities and SPA facilities
• 6 x Yoga Lessons (90 min each)
• 1 x Meditation Workshop (120 min)
• 1 x Breath Workshop (120 min)
• 1 x Kaori Massage
• 1 x Deep Kincho Massage
• 15% discount in wellness and relaxation rituals and treatments at the spa

From €1077 per person

Anantara Vilamoura, Algarve

Debuting Anantara’s authentic luxury in Europe, Anantara Vilamoura Algarve Resort offers a landmark of quiet prestige, along Portugal’s stunning Algarve coastline. Rooms, suites and penthouses are surrounded by rolling golf greens and cerulean pools. You can drift between five pools and an array of first-class eateries, explore the wineries and olive groves or play a round on the world-class golf courses right on your doorstep…

Anantara Spa Vilamoura is an award-winning haven that draws on the healing traditions of the world’s richest wellness cultures. Expect centuries-old Mediterranean therapies, timeless Turkish hammam rituals and exotic Asian treatments. Advanced spa wisdom nurtures dynamic results for sleek, vibrant beauty and intrinsic wellness. Each journey is tailored by highly skilled therapists and personally prescribed treatments incorporate lavish elixirs to restore radiance, relaxation and wellbeing. Signature experiences, unique to Anantara, elevate spa exclusivity.

The Detox Retreat includes:

• 1x Nutrition Consultation (50 min)
• 1x Purifying Body Scrub (30 min)
• 1x Purifying Body Mask & Drainage Massage (60 min)
• 1x Purifying Facial (60 min)
• 2x Fitness Activity (120 min)
• Complimentary access to fitness classes & wellness facilities
• 1x Wellness Juice per day
• 15% savings on regular priced spa treatments
• 15% savings on the Healthy Wellness Menu

From €450 per person.

Palacio Estoril Hotel, Golf & Wellness

Standing proudly in the heart of Estoril, just 20 minutes from the centre of Lisbon, Palacio Estoril Golf & Spa is an opulent hotel set in manicured gardens and with beautiful views over Estoril and the Bay of Cascais. Welcoming successive generations of guests from the four corners of the globe since 1930, the Palacio now marries its grand facade with modern facilities, a championship golf course and a world-class state-of-the-art spa and wellness centre.

Just next door to the hotel the Banyan Tree Spa Estoril offers a true sanctuary for the senses and takes a holistic approach to physical and spiritual well-being – offering traditional Asian therapies that date back centuries. Highlights include a hydrotherapy pool, Hammam, sauna and Turkish baths.

The Estoril Wellness Center provides excellent facilities for all aspects of wellbeing – every detail has been designed to provide peace of mind, vitality and good health. Facilities include hydrotherapy pools, hydromassage tubs and steam rooms. Treatments on offer range from advanced aesthetic facials to Watsu sessions and lymphatic drainage.

Wellness packages include Detox, De-Stress, Beauty Booster and Re-boot & Rebalance.

Reboot & Rebalance includes 7 nights accommodation in a Superior Room with a buffet breakfast.

• Unlimited access to the Dynamic Pool, Hydro-Banyan Circuit and use of fully-equipped gym facilities with expert supervision by a qualified personal trainer and daily group classes.
• 1 x Biofeedback – Quantic Medicine consultation
• 1 x Integrative Medicine consultation
• 1 x General Practice consultation
• 1 x Nutrition and Lifestyle consultation
• 1 x Ayurvedic Medicine consultation
• 1 x Psychoneuroimmunology consultation
• 1 x Osteopathy session
• 1 x Traditional Chinese Medicine session
• 1 x Banyan Tree Spa Indian Head Massage (30 minutes)
• 1 x Banyan Tree Spa Balinese Massage (30 minutes)
• 1 x Watsu session, 1 x Physiotherapy session
• 1 x Pilates Reformer Private session
• 1 x Vichy shower massage + Jet Shower
• 1 x Sothys Facial Anti-Age

From € 1946 per person based on two people sharing a superior room.

Vilalara Thalassa Resort & Medical Spa, Algarve

With an exclusive location on the breathtaking Algarve coastline, the Vilalara Thalassa Resort & Medical Spa is a leader in the Portuguese wellness scene. Set in 11 hectares of lush gardens and fringing a secluded golden sand beach, the luxury resort offers one of the best Thalassotherapy centres in the world as well as five fresh and seawater pools, four tennis courts and two quality eateries.

The Vilalara Longevity Thalassa & Medical Spa offers a unique fusion of Thalassa, spa and state of the art ‘Wellness and Anti-Ageing Solutions’ within exotic landscaped gardens surrounding a secluded beach. An integrated experience to help you ‘Relax, Revitalize, Reenergize and Rejuvenate’. Guests can choose from one of Longevity’s simple Wellness Programmes or one of the high impact and structured Detox, Fitness, Weight Loss, Anti-Ageing, Mindfulness, Stress Management and Check-up Programmes, and enhance the experience with a wide range of spa, Thalassa, and anti-ageing services.

The 5 nights Longevity Wellness Booster Holiday Programme includes:

• Accommodation for a 5 nights stay at Vilalara Thalassa Resort.
• Half Board: Buffet breakfast + 1 Standard Healthy & Tasty Low Calorie Meal/night.
• Daily supply of Alkaline Water 9.5pH and Herbal Teas.
• Access to the Relaxation Area (Sauna, Turkish bath, Fitness Area)
• Access to the Longevity Vitality Plan daily group activities – examples: SLIM CIRCUIT (Burn It, Aqua Boost, Aquapilates, Power Hike, Shape It, HIIT, Walk), Fitball, Pilates, Yoga, Tibetan bowls, Stretching.

Thalassa & Medical Spa programme, per person includes:

• 1 x Personal Health Check
• 1 x Biophysical Evaluation
• 1 x Evaluation of Heavy Metals and Trace Elements
• 1 x General Medical Consultation and Clinical Examination
• 1 x Nutrition & Wellbeing Consultation
• 1 Osteopathy Session
• 1 x Microphysiotherapy
• 1 x Cranio Sacral Therapy
• 1 x Mindfulness Therapy Session – Mind, Body and Inner Self Relaxation
• 1 x Medical Pressotherapy
• 1 x Exfoliation in the Tepidarium
• 1 x Multijet Bath
• 1 x Bubble Bath
• 1 x Aromatherapy Massage

From €3.387 in a Junior Suite Garden View.

Tivoli Palacio de Seteais, Sintra

Tivoli Palacio de Seteais is a neo-classical palace with the kind of breathtaking architecture that will take you back to the elegance and atmosphere of the 18th century. Elegant rooms are dressed with ornate and sumptuous furnishings while ballrooms boast stunning tapestries and rare frescos, making the boutique hotel in Sintra – a UNESCO World Heritage Site – a truly unique escape.

With views of Portugal’s mountainside Anantara Seteais Spa and Wellness Centre is a tranquil oasis hidden between exotic gardens and mountainscape. Signature treatments and Spa Journeys are offered in three treatment rooms – including one for couples. Indulgent therapies are combined with restorative holistic awakenings, from innovative Vichy shower therapy to all-natural Biologique Recherche products.

The Ritual of the Moon Package includes:

• 6 nights’ accommodation in Deluxe room, including healthy meals and snacks that will make you forget you are eating healthily!
• Yoga Sessions with Patrícia de Herédia
• Meditation
• Nature Walking Experiences
• Nutrition class
• Creative activity: painting emotions, feelings and sounds
• 2 Anantara Signature Massages
• Music concerts
• Transfer to and from airport are included

From 600€ p/person, p/day in a Single room or 485€ p/person, p/day in a Double Room.