Even if you do all the classes available each day, there will still be lots of time free on your break for other activities.
Of course you can stay at the house any time of the day; maybe read and relax by the pool, take a siesta or explore some of the local area on foot. The houses for our breaks are all in quiet, rural locations, usually within a few kilometers of a village or town. In most cases, the property is surrounded by substantial land and you can certainly spend some time exploring this local area.
In each location, Jonathan and Linda have tried to find you some interesting and more unusual places to visit. For instance, one of the properties is close to a Tibetan Buddhist monastery that is open for visits, another has a caving centre nearby, and so on. These might be things you wouldn’t try at home but maybe you’d give it a go when we tell you more about it. And of course, our French breaks are in July when the Tour de France is likely to pass close by – worth seeing as this is the largest spectator sporting event in the world!
Or you may want to explore the local towns and villages, many of which are quite exceptionally beautiful. Our Spanish breaks are in the heart of Andalucia with literally hundreds of traditional white villages (“pueblos blancos”) nearby, in France there are the unspoilt villages of the Dordogne or the Lot, and in Italy the numerous fortified towns of Tuscany and Umbria.
You may prefer to visit a local vineyard, or the many historical sites in each area and every holiday location has a number of local markets nearby, open on different days of the week that we can guide you towards
We typically don’t schedule any classes on a Wednesday during your break, so a longer day out is possible. You could visit a local major town or city e.g. Granada, Cadiz, Ronda or Seville in Spain; Bordeaux, Toulouse, Marseille, Avignon or Aix-en-Provence in France, or Florence, Siena, Perugia, Cortona or Rome while in Italy. Or you can, in many cases, visit the coast – indeed it is even possible to visit Tangiers in Morocco for a day trip from one of our Spanish breaks (though it is quite a long day out!)
All of the holiday areas are of great natural beauty; indeed they are often in, or close to, national parks. So you could go hill walking, in some cases to some very high mountain areas, and try to see some of the unusual animals and birds in each area. Or you may be able to go cycling, or white-water rafting, and so on.
For a list of the other activities available close to each of our breaks, click on the links below
Spain Moorish Farmhouse Hacienda
France Chateau de Rodie La Moliere
Italy Villa Mignola Villa Treppie
If you do decide to stay around the house, there are a number of other activities that Well Being Breaks organizes each week. On most breaks, we are able to offer a further range of physiotherapies, for instance Indian head massage, Thai massage, reflexology, one-on-one yoga and Pilates sessions, as well as further one-on-one discussions about that week’s theme. These can all be booked with Linda and Jonathan, though in some cases will require a little bit of notice.
You will see on your break that we pride ourselves on the food and drink that we serve. Jonathan, who does most of the cooking, is always keen to find kitchen volunteers, so if you’d like to have a go at cooking a traditional paella, peppered chicken with escalivada or a beautiful summer minestrone, then you are more than welcome to give Jonathan a hand in the kitchen!
On Sunday evening’s we usually organize a tasting of a selection of local wines. We don’t consider ourselves to be wine experts, but we do like to try out a good range from the area we are in. In many cases we will b
e tasting wines from local vineyards that offer tours, so you can go and see the process first hand.
One of the main things you notice about being away from the U.K. is that the sky is much clearer and darker at night. You shouldn’t miss out on a chance for some star gazing and Jonathan will be very happy to take you out to see some of the universe through a proper astronomical telescope. You’ll be amazed by what you can see!