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From high-altitude clinics in the Alps to breezy beachside retreats, there are few regions as packed with world-class spas as Europe. Across all four corners of the continent, you’ll find a dazzling variety of wellness getaways, whether you’re in the market for a week-long detox or just a classic deep tissue massage.
Here, in alphabetical order, find Vogue’s pick of the 10 best spas in Europe.
Chenot Palace Weggis
Half a century ago, Italian doctor Henri Chenot set out to answer an age-old question: How can we live forever? Though immortality may, alas, not be possible (in this lifetime, at least), he did conclude that the human body could live to 120, if taken seriously. But how? Enter: “The Chenot Method,” a preventative medical approach vitalizing human life for longer. Thousands of people—some curious to see if the hype really is true, some being annual returnees (Naomi Campbell is among fans)—flock to the flagship spa, Chenot Palace Weggis. From its attentive eye to detail to the sweeping views of the Swiss Alps and Lake Lucerne, there’s a reason the medical spa is widely recognized as being among the world’s best detox program. On the standard seven-day retreat, your stay is bookended by in depth consultations with various doctors, nutritionists and therapists, to explain the program—really, Chenot is less like a spa but more a scientific retreat. Visiting is an opportunity to learn more about your body, its immune responses, and how to take your learnings beyond your stay and into life. Of course, there’s the lovely massages and facials involved, and other ways to relax like yoga sessions and aqua therapy. You’ll come out feeling like you’ve shed your deadweight like a snake. —Giles Hattersley
Dior Spa at the Plaza Athénée
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Twice a year (or six times, if you’re counting the couture and men’s shows too), a glittering phalanx of buyers, editors, stars, and influencers descend on Paris for the world’s most stylish trade fair: Fashion Week. And when it comes to accommodation, the seasoned pros know you have to book early—at least if you want to be in one of the city’s see-and-be-seen hotels. On that front, few hotels rank quite as highly as the Hôtel Plaza Athénée, which dates back to 1913—and after a major renovation of its Dior Spa, which reopened in fall 2023, the fashion crowd (or anyone) has another pressing reason to visit. There’s a head-spinning array of treatments to sample, unless you’re only there to check out the sauna and hammam. While the spa’s three signature rituals—recharge, recover, and rest—may all seem simple on the surface, how the in-house “well-being experts” help you achieve those goals is a little more complex, relying on cutting-edge technology. Most impressive, perhaps, is the Dior Light Suite, which uses LED lights scattered across the ceiling to harness the power of the sun—and the body’s circadian and chronobiological rhythms in response to it—in order to combat jet lag, encourage the body to feel reenergized, or simply strengthen the ability of your dermis to withstand the likes of pollution or stress. It’s a serene (and highly scientific) slice of paradise in the heart of the city. —Liam Hess
Euphoria Retreat
Tucked up on a hillside in the Peloponnese, Euphoria is miles away from Greece’s coastal party scene, the ideal place to really immerse yourself in the ritual of relaxation, sans temptation to party. There is so much on offer here that you won’t need to leave, whether you’ve booked one of their 3-day Well-Being Detox packages or opted into the 21-day Weight Metabolic Management Program. Staff offer complete guidance on what program will serve your needs, whether it’s emotional rebalancing, fitness enhancement, or spiritual centering, and then plan a complete schedule for your stay. This might mean an early morning guided forest walk, followed by reflexology, with a Biologique Recherche lifting facial in the afternoon, and a private sound bath in the evening. There are custom smoothies each afternoon (ingredients are determined by a blood analysis) and a menu entirely attuned to an individual’s dietary quirks. Meetings with nutritionists and trainers are translated into reports for guests, a real perk for those who want to take home their newfound self-knowledge. What you can’t bring back, however, are the impeccable amenities, including an indoor/outdoor pool where you can paddle from the solitude of a domed deep water section to the open views of the Taygetus Mountains. —Hillary Kelly
Forestis
Within the state-of-the-art spa complex—spread across over 2,000 square meters and two floors—you’ll find a kind of sleek Nordic Disneyland for rest and recuperation. There are all your standard spa mod cons, of course, but also briny steam baths, hot rooms scented with local herbs, and saunas set at a perfectly calibrated temperature. As is custom in this corner of Europe, inside the cabins, nudity is expected, but there is a sauna and steam room by the pool where the less brave can keep their swimwear on. And for those feeling especially plucky, there’s an outdoor Finnish sauna with a giant tub for cold plunging afterwards, refilled by a wood tube plugged straight into the side of the mountain to release its glacial waters. Forestis’ unfussy approach to wellness stems from its illustrious history as a place for recovery—the more adventurously inclined can even try out a Wyda session, a millennia-old energetic stretching practice nicknamed the “yoga of the Celts”—but within the spa, the emphasis is firmly on healing methodologies absorbed from the resort’s natural surroundings. Here, you’ll truly feel at one with the forest. —L.H.
Lefay Resort Spa Dolomiti
Lefay Dolomiti is the seriously impressive mega-spa that has (until now) remained a best-kept secret of wellness enthusiasts from Milan to Munich. Increasingly, the secret is out: With over 5,000 square meters, it offers one of the largest spa areas in the entire Alps, and the sheer breadth of the offering here means that even after spending multiple days scrubbing and soaking, it’s practically impossible to grow bored. The centerpiece of the complex is an enormous whirlpool of magnesium-rich salt water, which you’re encouraged to return to after completing one of four “pathways,” each of which sits in its own separate wing. My personal favorite? The invigorating Red Phoenix pathway, which involved a furnace blast of 90-degree heat in a panoramic sauna followed by an icy cold plunge—followed by a cup of freshly blended “balancing” herbal tea, best enjoyed while sat on a lounger looking out through the floor-to-ceiling windows at the mountains beyond. After a long morning of hiking, it’s a genuinely restorative experience. Of course, you can also freestyle across the different spa facilities, or just relax by one of the two pools: an indoor sports pool, or a colossal indoor-outdoor family pool that allows you to take in those views from the comfort of the water. As a travel editor, I’ve been lucky enough to visit many a spa in my time—and despite being lesser known outside of Italy and its neighboring European countries, I can confidently say Lefay is up there with the very best. —L.H.
RoseBar
A dedicated longevity clinic, RoseBar sits within the five-star Six Senses Ibiza on the island’s northern tip and caters to a growing appetite for functional medicine, biohacking, and genetic screening. The clinic—all jute rugs and minimalist cream furniture—boasts state-of-the-art equipment and a deeply seductive tagline: “Defy the concept of aging.” Customers might spend a half hour breathing pure oxygen in a hyperbaric chamber, submerge themselves in the world’s only automated ice bath, take a snooze under cell-rejuvenating red-light panels, or have their very DNA sent off to be assessed in a laboratory. All with the goal of staying healthy, strong, and vital for longer. RoseBar can’t stop the relentless march of time—but it can, it insists, help to prevent it from leaving its footprints on your body. The brainchild of American physician Mark Hyman, the spa reflects a new face of the White Isle, and its patrons are far less preoccupied by wild parties than they are with the very latest in wellness. Here, the cocktails are administered via IV drip (your Inner Glow cocktail won’t taste of anything, but it will make your skin pop), and the only shots being lined up are of energy-boosting B12. The focus here is on positive—and tangible—lifestyle outcomes, rather than, say, a relaxing deep-tissue massage after an afternoon by the pool. You can expect to leave feeling more informed about your overall well-being than you were going in. —Kerry McDermott
SHA Wellness Clinic Spain
Longevity—the pursuit of living not only longer but better—may seem to be having a moment, but this clinic has been a temple of wellness for over 15 years. As Dr. Vicente Mera, one of the most prestigious experts in anti-aging and an active participant in the development of the SHA Wellness project explains, "it is possible to age without illness and suffer from illness without being old." This is the key learning that you will take away from staying at SHA—cultivating good habits is the key to ageing in a healthy, beautiful way. The clinic receives an average of 4,500 people every year, and in 2023, the rate of returning customers was 53 percent. They can’t all be wrong. It is important to understand that SHA Wellness is anything but your average spa, with their medicinal waters or relaxing massages; it’s a school of longevity, and you must embrace it with a learning spirit—but the rewards of doing so are undeniable. —Ana Morales
Surrenne Spa at the Emory
If the pursuit of longevity in the most luxurious of surroundings is high on the agenda, then Surrenne is the place for you. It’s an urban medi-spa that, in the words of its creative director, Inge Theron, “is the stop gap before going to the doctor. It’s the front line of medicine and wellbeing, with smart functional doctors that see things in a new way.” Surrenne is a members’ club with a hefty price tag, but what membership unlocks is more than worth its weight in wellness gold. Upon signing up, you will have access to wellbeing on tap, including a dedicated doctor focused on functional diagnostics ranging from blood work to cardiovascular and hormone tests, to microbiome mapping and epigenetic testing. The café has a juice and food menu developed by nutritionist Rosemary Ferguson, it hosts Tracy Anderson first London workout studio and a state-of-the-art gym. Weather permitting, wild swimming in the nearby Serpentine and run clubs in Hyde Park are an extension of its offerings. It’s a wellness paradise in the heart of the big city. —Jessica Diner
The Bothy at Heckfield Place
The Bothy by Wildsmith is the recently opened spa within the sprawling 438-acre estate of Heckfield Place, in Hampshire, just an hour from London. Years in the making, the spa carefully fuses the Georgian history of the stately house with the type of impressive architecture that transports you away from the world. The underground spa was the vision of Heckfield’s owner, Gerald Chan, and curated carefully by Wildsmith Skin’s general manager Katherine Pye. Based around nature’s circadian rhythm—there’s no cliché spa music but rather the sounds recorded over the course of a week from the grounds of the estate during lockdown. From the regenerative treatments that utilize the estate’s farm equipment (milk churns for its functional Farm Fit workout sessions), to cold-water immersion therapy in the lake, you’ll feel instantly grounded amid the landscape. In addition to phones, children and alcohol are not permitted. The total number of spa guests is capped at 52, ensuring tranquillity and focus, while also avoiding the crunch of back-to-back treatments—for both guests and practitioners and therapists. —Lauren Murdoch-Smith
Vair Spa at Borgo Egnazia
Borgo Egnazia is undoubtedly one of the most extraordinary hotels in all of Italy, with 184 suites and villas laid out across a sprawling estate, all built from scratch just 16 years ago to resemble a traditional Puglian village that magically features every modern mod-con you could think of. Of course, this wouldn’t be a true luxury resort without an eye-popping spa to match, and the Vair Spa is a sight to behold. Where the rest of Borgo Egnazia is all gleaming tufo limestone (allegedly chipped away at by the architect to lend it an authentically old-world feel) and sun-dappled white-washed walls overflowing with bougainvillea, the spa takes its cues from the ancient civilizations who once occupied the region. The treatments, which take place in cabins also lit by candlelight (honestly, I’d love to know Vair Spa’s annual candle budget) place a particular emphasis on tradition, simplicity, and the use of natural or organic ingredients. Many taking their cues directly from the surrounding countryside, such as a heated stone and hot towel massage inspired by the Masciara, an ancient Puglian folk figure believed to possess magical healing powers, or the Lòuma chiaine ritual (which translates from the Puglian dialect to “full moon”) that involves caper oil and almond butter being applied in increasing intensity to the face, head, and feet in order to stimulate your memory and concentration. The cumulative effect is so transportive that it will have you stepping back into the sunlight blinking, wondering if it was all some kind of mirage. —L.H.
Read more from Vogue s Global Spa Guide.
