IMAGINE IF INSTEAD OF RUSHING BACK into traffic after your yoga class, you’re in bell’Italia strolling through a baroque Sicilian village…or walking along the River Arno…or staring out into an olive grove…
The yoga retreat scene in Italy is growing, with masterful minds from the United States and United Kingdom setting up programs that cover all the bases when it comes to combining yoga with the pleasures of Italy’s peaceful surroundings, including English-speaking instructors. There are also many good day classes available in cities and towns, where classes are, of course, in Italian, but if you have some yoga experience, it’s easy to follow along.
Each of the suggestions below are open to beginners or long-time practitioners, classes are small so there’s lots of individual attention, and prices are affordable.
A calm, welcoming studio in the Oltrarno, with three to four classes a day, making it a convenient stop for travelers who want to keep their yoga practice going when they’re away from their home studios. Offerings range from restorative to Rocket, or high-powered styles.
Casperia is an idyllic, un-touristed medieval village (population 350) in the Sabine hills north of Rome. Here you’ll discover Sunflower Retreats, created by Hatha yoga teacher and holistic practitioner Lucy Bremner, and her husband Alan Scheda, a Casperia native. Since the opening of the program in 1998, they have revitalized Casperia—renovating homes, employing locals, and promoting eco-tourism.
Along with morning yoga classes, their packages include B&B accommodations in houses scattered around the village, a swimming pool, a guided walk in the mountains, and bikes for the week. You can add on excellent massages and holistic treatments, go horseback riding, head to hot springs for a soak, or take a cooking class in the village.
The freedom to create your retreat however you want it to be is what makes this so appealing. When I got there and checked into my attic room, with a skylight directly over the bed so I could see the stars, I felt heavenly. The morning yoga classes were sublime. Highlights of my stay were afternoon classes on the outdoor deck with a soft breeze blowing and birds twittering, buying some of the best olive oil in Italy from the old signor photographer in town who filled up a bottle for me out of his work shed vat, and best of all meeting Lucy, Alan, and their children, who bring true heart and soul to the scene. They’ve set it up so everything is easy-—whether you want to add on private yoga and meditation classes, go to a nearby village for dinner, or get a lift to the train station to head out for a day in Rome or Assisi.
Adrienne Storey, who has been here six times, tells me she cries every time she leaves and goes back to London. “From the first time I went to Casperia it felt like coming home. It’s like one big happy family,” she says.
Yoga-Escapes—which also offers holidays in Greece and Egypt—is the successful passion project of Laura Bianchini. Born and raised in Rome, Laura left her corporate career working in London and New York to pursue her love of travel and yoga. The holiday week in Sicily combines yoga, culture, art, great food, and relaxation in an ideal seaside location, just outside Siracusa, Sicily. It’s a yoga vacation, not a retreat—meaning drinking wine, sleeping in, and experiencing the surroundings according to your desires is the way things are set up to flow.
Alice Johnson, a documentary filmmaker from London, raves to me about her trip: “It was so well organized, so you can get to the authentic heart of the culture. Laura brought a great personal touch to the week, taking us off the beaten track to hidden beaches and local restaurants.”
The program attracts an international mix—British, American, German, and Italian travelers—and it’s great for solo travelers. Along with morning and sunset yoga, there are options for biking, wine tasting, visiting the baroque towns of Noto and Taormina, and exploring the breathtaking archaeological sites of Siracusa and enchanting Ortygia island. Guests stay in a 5-star hotel, where spa treatments, a private beach and pool make for a luxurious base. It’s the perfect escape to recharge the body and mind.