Delphi Mountain Resort and Spa, Ireland
Combine inner well-being with the great outdoors at the Delphi Mountain Resort and Spa (00 353 95 42987) in County Galway on the rugged west coast of Ireland. At this stylish wilderness retreat, guests can put together their own programme combining activities such as pony trekking, surfing, sea kayaking and dolphin watching, with massage, reiki, facials and classes in t'ai chi, yoga and meditation. This is not a conventional health farm: Guinness is served on tap and you can treat yourself to a cooked breakfast before going for a walk in the mountains, or if that sounds too strenuous, simply admire the mountain views from your recliner in the spa. A package including two nights' bed and breakfast and one dinner costs €295 (£207) per person at weekends until the end of October. Treatments cost around €60 (£42) for an hour. Discounts are available for midweek and low-season breaks.
Body and Soul Adventures, Brazil
On a tropical island 100 miles south of Rio de Janeiro, Body & Soul Adventures (0800 917 5506) offers seven-day health and fitness programmes involving a daily dose of rainforest hikes, sea kayaking, yoga, massage and a detox vegetarian diet to cleanse mind, body and soul. At night guests are treated to cultural entertainment including dance, music and Brazilian martial arts. A maximum of 16 guests are housed at any one time in exclusive 'village style' accommodation on the island of Ilha Grande. A seven-day package costs from $2,000 (£1,236) per person and includes everything except your airfare. The programme runs from April to November.
Yogahikes, Spain
The name is self-explanatory: a combination of yoga and hiking in the hills of Andalucia. Yogahikes (020 7727 4003) offers week-long holidays at Trasierra, a restored finca in the Sierra Norte, 80 kilometres north of Seville, set in 1,000 acres of olive groves. Guests are invited to participate in a combination of two yoga sessions a day in Trasierra's candle-lit chapel, plus two daily hikes - one compulsory and one optional - and a healthy semi-vegetarian diet. Caffeine, alcohol and cigarettes are all banned, but in case this all sounds too abstemious, the food is apparently sublime and the accommodation is in comfortable white-washed rooms decorated with Andalucian ceramics and antiques. The next dates are 26 September and 3 October. Prices start at £950 per person per week (based on two sharing) and include return flights with Iberia from Heathrow to Seville, transfers, food, accommodation, yoga, hiking and two massages.
