Guardian readers have shared their favourite European wellbeing breaks, ranging from a historic bathhouse in Stockholm to forest bathing in northern Croatia.
The tips were published as part of the newspaper’s readers’ travel tips series, which invites submissions from the public each week. A selection appears online and may also be printed.
Stockholm: candlelight and a cold plunge
Sarah Rochfort recommended Centralbadet, described as one of Stockholm’s oldest spas, set inside an art nouveau building on a shopping street. A day ticket starts at £23.
She said candles are placed around the pool as winter darkness falls, creating a quiet calm, and that swimming by candlelight is a treat. A sauna and an ice-cold plunge follow, before a brisk walk through cold air to the Fotografiska restaurant, which she called a great spot for views over the old town of Gamla Stan and the lights on Lake Mälaren.
Norfolk: birdwatching as meditation
Petra described the Cley and Salthouse marshes at Cley-next-the-Sea in Norfolk as timeless and immersive. The two bird hides open directly onto saltwater pools where many species wander, and she said the only task is to watch the birds.
Despite the site’s popularity, she found the atmosphere friendly and quiet, and said another visitor let her group try their binoculars. She particularly enjoyed watching a nest of baby swallows in the corner of a hide. She noted the marshes’ importance for biodiversity as a resting place for resident and migratory birds, and said a spoonbill might be spotted — a species she said returned to the UK from 2010 after an absence of hundreds of years.
Hampshire: sauna with a sea view
Claire Edwards wrote about the Hello Outdoors shepherd’s hut sauna, which has a picture window looking over the historic Lymington Sea Water Baths. Guests were greeted with a fresh ginger concoction, orange slices and a sauna master.
She listed Swedish sauna hats, the scent of a chosen essential oil, a soothing soundtrack and the option of an ice-cold tub or a warmer dip in the sea baths. She said the couple of hours felt restorative and that they did not want to leave.
Croatia: five days under the trees
Bex Hamilton spent five days forest bathing in Radoboj, northern Croatia, walking slowly, practising breathing and meditation and eating simple local food. She said there was no luxury spa and no expensive treatments, only nature and time.
Wearing an Oura smart ring throughout, she reported that her resting heart rate fell markedly and that by the fourth day the device recorded four and a half hours of restorative time. She said she felt profoundly different, and that the trip overturned her idea of wellness travel. Sometimes the most restorative place is not a spa but a forest, she concluded.
Sofia: mineral springs as a way of life
Sarah Collings said the natural mineral springs in Sofia make bathhouses part of daily life. She took a bus to the Central Mineral Bath Bankya on the city’s outskirts, an opulent bathhouse owned by the Sofia municipality, which she said blends the feel of everyday council baths with early 20th-century architecture.
Entry costs under €10, and she noted a thermal zone, salt room, aromatherapy, saunas and steam rooms, plus a range of massages, alongside the promised health benefits of the spring water.
Poland and Scotland: spas on the slopes and by the loch
Frances used Terma Bania, a pool and spa centre in the heart of the Zakopane ski resort in Poland, describing the experience of watching the sun set from warm water surrounded by snow as magical. She said the centre has an array of saunas, pools and steam rooms with mountain views, and that several other thermal complexes lie in the surrounding area.
Lewis recommended the Lochside Sauna at West Coast Wellness in Evanachan, on the shore of Loch Fyne, costing £17 for two and a half hours. A 10-minute walk from a single track road leads to what he called one of the UK’s most peaceful saunas, with a giant window overlooking the loch and the chance of seeing dolphins. He said bathers can walk down for a dip between sessions, or use a cold water plunge he described as colder than the loch itself. Yoga and pilates are also offered, with the Inver restaurant nearby.
Yorkshire and the Black Forest
Fin wrote that wild swimming at Pool Bridge Farm, converted from old fishing ponds into four lakes near York, makes for a wholesome retreat. He recommended pairing a dip with the sauna at £16.50, then visiting Wheldrake Ings nature reserve, which he called one of North Yorkshire’s top wildlife destinations, especially for waterfowl, with migratory birds arriving as autumn flood waters rise.
Helen described a barefoot sensory trail at Park mit Allen Sinnen near Freiburg in Germany’s Black Forest, which she visited with her two teenagers last summer after a German walker, carrying a tree branch as a stick and accompanied by a husky, suggested it. The trail involved walking barefoot over grass, sand, woodchips, stone and mud while tuning into the five senses, and guessing hidden objects by putting hands into hollowed-out trees with eyes closed. She said there were flowers, natural scents and huts filled with sounds and smells, and that the family repeated the walks for three days, rewarding themselves with rye bread and cheese sandwiches and forest fruit juice from simple forest cafe cabins.
Donegal: a sauna at the pier
Peter Henry recommended the Sliabh Liag Sauna at Teelin pier on the wild coast of south County Donegal. He said the small wood-fired sauna on the pier was the perfect unwind after a day of hiking, followed by a sea dip in the bay steps away.
With more time, he suggested combining the sauna with a boat trip to the Sliabh Liag sea cliffs, which he said tower 601 metres (1,972ft) above the sea.
The publication also invited readers to submit tips on a small European ski resort, with the best entry winning a £200 holiday voucher.
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