Ready to recharge? These are the best wellness experiences in the world for 2026.
Seaweed bathing in Ireland, a trek through Africa’s first designated wilderness quiet park—we asked National Geographic staff and contributors for their favorite places to escape the stress and noise of the world. Here are their picks.
Our 2026 Best of the World list inspired you to hike South Korea from coast to coast, take an iconic road trip along Route 66, or plan a once-in-a-lifetime big five safari. For our Best of the World Wellness Experiences list, we hope to inspire you to slow down. From seaweed bathing in Ireland to silent walks in Tanzania, or a traditional hammam experience in Istanbul, these experiences—handpicked by National Geographic’s global community of explorers, photographers, and editors—go beyond the spa, encouraging you to immerse yourself in local cultures, communities, and sustainability while focusing on wellness.
Why go in 2026: The Tucson-based Canyon Ranch is on the verge of opening a branch in Austin, Texas.
At the eastern edge of the Sonoran Desert, surrounded by towering saguaro and brightly blooming prickly pear cactus, sits the unassuming stucco building where I’m about to take a “soul journey.” For hundreds of years, shamanic traditions have used this technique to explore consciousness or even change a person’s behavior or perspective. At centers like Canyon Ranch, on the outskirts of Tucson, Arizona, new technologies claim to make it easier than ever to explore the inner workings of your mind and soul.
My session takes place in a room outfitted with a “neuro-acoustic sound bed” with built-in speakers. I lie down and cover my eyes with a small pillow as my guide dims the lights.
She tells me to envision going down a path, alone or with anyone I choose. I see myself walking with a friend who is trying to have a baby. Theta music, sounds and beats meant to alter brain waves, emanates from the mattress and speakers on the ceiling. My guide joins in with sound bowls (bowls that, when hit, produce sounds and vibrations meant to help with meditation), immersing me in meditative melodies.
Within minutes, I’m having dreamlike visions, the kind you have when you’re starting to fall asleep. I see my best friend holding a newborn and myself as an old woman, with my two grown daughters nearby. As I’m leaving the session, a deer family runs past through the desert, and I feel a sense of belonging.
In a world full of ever evolving wellness trends, this tradition feels uniquely comforting, even with a few modern-day bells and whistles.
How to do it: Canyon Ranch Tucson is an all-inclusive resort (food, airport transportation, $200 nightly spa and fitness credit), with nightly rates starting at about $900, depending on the season. — Megan Margulies
Why go in 2026: Sections of the trail have been recently updated with clearer way markers, and since the pandemic, village homestays are welcoming walkers once again and chapels have reopened.
Pilgrims traditionally walked this 136-mile route across north Wales to visit the sacred sites that pepper the landscape between Basingwerk Abbey and Bardsey Island, known as “the island of 20,000 saints.” Today the trail is being rediscovered as a pilgrimage for the soul.
I’ve joined the North Wales Pilgrim’s Way trail near Conwy, where the castle’s ramparts rise like a crown atop the estuary, its towers keeping watch over the sea. The wind off the Menai Strait carries a tang of salt and heather as I head west, my boots clicking against ancient stone.
From here, I follow local walking paths westward, leaving the coast to fold inland through beech woods and sheep-dotted hillsides before gradually turning back toward the sea near Criccieth, the ruins clinging defiantly to a rocky headland. Though this stretch lies slightly off the modern mapped line, it remains firmly part of the broader pilgrim’s journey across north Wales.
Over three days, I walk only a fraction of the route, yet time seems to stretch and slow. Freed from the rush of daily life, I settle into a steady rhythm, each step like an exhale. Birds sing from hedgerows, chapel ruins glow green with moss, and clouds shift from pewter to cobalt in a heartbeat. At dusk, I meet locals tending community gardens or lighting candles in small stone churches.
Travelers seeking wellness will find it on the Taith Pererin—not a spa or digital detox, but a deep, grounding calm resting in contemplative motion. In an age of constant stimulation, the Pilgrim’s Way offers something radical: a return to presence, step by step.
How to do it: The route is best tackled in sections. Conwy, Bangor, and Criccieth make natural base camps. Rooms at The Castle Hotel in Conwy cost just over $100 and up per night. Rooms at Caerwylan Hotel in Criccieth start at about $120. — Charlotte Wigram-Evans
Why go in 2026: A five-million-dollar restoration and a slate of new workshops and events refresh this historic landmark.
Taliesin, Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterfully designed Wisconsin home, may not seem like an obvious wellness destination. But any Wright fan will tell you the renowned 20th-century architect’s philosophy was rooted in creating spaces in harmony with nature that enhance human well-being.
I feel it during my two-night stay at Taliesin, the UNESCO World Heritage site built into the rolling Welsh Hills where Wright grew up. At 6:30 a.m. the house is nearly empty. It’s just me and a handful of fellow weekenders strolling the quiet grounds overlooking the valley, coffees in hand.
Anyone can spend a weekend here, enrolled in classes that take advantage of the home’s balance with nature, from yoga to plein air painting. On this weekend, we’re exploring the Japanese concept of kokoro, a word with deep meaning that connects the heart, mind, and soul.
As I try my hand at calligraphy in Wright’s light-filled studio and attend meditative tea ceremonies in his living room, I begin to see art and harmony in the tiniest of things: the swish of a brush, the folds of a napkin. There’s beauty in everything—a reminder that thoughtful architecture can help balance the soul and that spaces should make us feel good.
How to do it: Weekend workshops are limited to 10 participants staying in single rooms with shared bathrooms and kitchenettes across the complex. Breakfast and lunch are included. Workshops cost about $1,800 and quickly sell out, so it’s best to book well in advance. Travelers can also visit for the day by booking tours, which run 1.5 to four hours. — Jacqueline Kehoe
Why go in 2026: This ready-made wild retreat in the Highlands offers a new mindfulness experience blending foraging, art, local history, and meditation.
Wrapped in an oversize robe, I tramp through the trees to Glen Dye’s Discovery and Adventure Centre. Through a Narnia-style doorway in a tree-trunk wall, I emerge into a bucolic woodland setting.
This center is home to a custom-built wooden sauna, a rustic red-roofed hangout called the Seed Store, and two tangerine-colored tin tanks for cold-water dunking set beneath towering pines. Slipping out of the robe, I step into the sauna before walking barefoot over pine needles to the orange tubs and gingerly lowering myself in.
Glen Dye, on the eastern edge of Scotland’s Cairngorms National Park, is a forward-thinking, ever evolving Highlands estate, its 15,000 acres a ready-made wild wellness retreat. Besides cold-water therapy, I try forest bathing, laying a mat among the blaeberry bushes and listening to birdsong. I swim in a peaty pool along the River Dye after a lung-busting hike to the summit of Clachnaben. I also learn how to whittle around the campfire, a surprisingly mindful experience.
Owners Charlie and Caroline Gladstone’s ethos is naturally nurturing. The estate’s vintage-chic cottages all have hot tubs, libraries, turntables, and stacks of vinyl—no televisions. This is a place to reconnect, with each other and with nature. And among all the nature, there is art not normally found in these settings: Giant billboards peppered through the woods give life-affirming, feel-good messages. A bright pink one by the river asks, “Shall we just love each other?”
New this year, an artist-led natural-ink workshop begins with a meditative walk to gather materials. Along the way, guests learn about the history, folklore, and uses of plants before creating the inks and expressive artworks, of things not seen, but rather felt. At Glen Dye, the restorative power of nature works its magic.
How to do it: The Discovery and Adventure Centre at Glen Dye offers a range of courses and nature-based activities costing between about $40 and $70 per person. It’s part of the Glen Dye Estate, which includes a collection of cottages for rent, with rates from about $918 for a three-night stay to about $1,883 for a one-week stay in a property sleeping two. — Lucy Gillmore
Why go in 2026: Chem Chem Lodge focuses on plant-forward cuisine and a growing collection of mindful experiences, among them silent walks alongside Maasai guides.
Chem Chem Lodge, found between Tarangire and Lake Manyara National Parks in northern Tanzania, promises a serenity that seeps into your bones through newly offered experiences like silent walks. Led by Maasai guides, these no-talking strolls take in wildlife-strewn grasslands and towering baobabs around the camp.
Shortly before sunset, I meet Raposh Leng’arwa for one such walk. Before we head out, Leng’arwa gives just four instructions: Move in single file, maintain your pace, stay aware, and don’t forget to breathe.
My pulse is already high at the thought of stepping into predator country before predator dinner hour. But as we fall in line and settle into the sound of buzzing bugs and howling monkeys, my heart rate slows.
Then a giraffe steps into our path and peers down to study us. The experience is overwhelming and reminds me just how small we really are.
Afterward, we pause at the lakeshore, where Leng’arwa lights a fire and hands each of us a piece of paper. We write down feelings we want to release and others we want to keep, then throw the papers into the fire. It’s a chance to reflect more deeply on this ancient landscape with the people who know it best—precisely what these walks aim to achieve.
Guests can try forest bathing among the baobabs or meditating in their luxe tented suites, listening to the sounds of nature. And the sound of silence.
How to do it: Silent walks are included with a stay at Chem Chem Lodge, booked on request. Rates start at $1,420 per night per adult. Pack sturdy footwear. — Stacey Leasca
Why go in 2026: This jungle-meets-sea retreat in the heart of a blue zone blends traditional wellness with high-tech health analyses.
One of the first things I learn when I arrive at Anamaya Resort is that its name means “free from disease” in Sanskrit. It’s a fitting moniker for this yoga and health retreat perched on Costa Rica’s Nicoya Peninsula, one of the world’s five blue zones (regions where people live longer and healthier than in other places), overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
Each day of my stay begins and ends with yoga sessions, drawing on a variety of traditions, in an open-air shala with the ocean on one side and lush rainforest on the other.
Beyond the mat, Anamaya provides sound healing, sacred cacao ceremonies, adventures to Montezuma’s iconic waterfalls and stunning beaches, breathwork, and communal meals made with local ingredients.
For the biohacking-curious (the process of using technology and science to adjust a person’s lifestyle), Anamaya has heavy-metal testing, red-light and oxygen therapies, an infrared sauna, cold plunges, and heart-rate-variability analysis and optimization.
Anamaya maintains an extraordinary 1:1.5 staff-to-guest ratio, allowing staff to create an intimate experience so that guests’ needs are a priority. Staff are available to book customized massages and arrange meals.
Throughout my weeklong stay, I discover a deeper reverence for what makes this retreat special. Resting at the convergence of three ecosystems—ocean, rainforest, mountain—it offers a genuine community where staff know your name and story. The rotating-teacher model brings abundant wisdom to one location, while the intimate scale ensures authentic connection—to nature, others, and yourself.
How to do it: Anamaya’s customizable wellness retreats run Saturday to Saturday and include rooms and three meals daily. Rooms are $895 to $2,195. Activities (yoga, spa, biohacking) are priced separately.
The retreat is a three-to-four-hour drive from Guanacaste Airport and four to five hours from Juan Santamaría International Airport. Travelers can also book a roughly 30-minute domestic flight from either hub to Cobano Airport, which is just a short drive to the resort. Taxis and shuttles are available for a fee. — Birch Thomas
Why go in 2026: With several spectacular meteor showers forecast throughout the year, travelers have plenty of opportunities to schedule a mental break on this small-group trek along Namibia’s Tok Tokkie Trails.
The Southern Cross. Magellanic Clouds. The Milky Way. These celestial sights light up a moonless night across the Namibian desert.
I’m on a three-day, two-night trek along the Tok Tokkie Trails in the NamibRand Nature Reserve, both an international Dark Sky Reserve and Africa’s first designated wilderness quiet park.
Each morning, I watch the sun bathe the desert in golden light, and I trace the tiny footprints that beetles, geckos, and moles left during their nocturnal wanderings. During the day-long treks, I spot giraffes, zebras, and oryx, as well as some of the many species of ground-thumping Tok Tokkie beetles for which the trail is named. At night, I lie on a cot with cozy bedrolls out on the dunes, feeling a sense of awe, and fall asleep under the dazzling multitude of stars.
Studies show that gazing up at star-studded dark skies may improve mental health and even repair DNA. I experience this mental boost firsthand. As my adventure comes to a close, I feel a sense of calm. I’m not quite ready to tackle my ever-growing inbox. Fortunately, I have a bit more time to look out over the Namibian desert and enjoy the view.
How to do it: Wilderness Travel offers a 14-day Namibia Expedition, which includes deluxe accommodations, meals (with beer and wine), and ground transportation, from $10,595 (double occupancy). Tok Tokkie Trails’ two-night hike covers camps, meals with drinks, luggage transport, and park fees, from roughly $620 per person (about $308 for kids ages eight to 14). — Kristen Pope
Why go in 2026: A Lheidli T’enneh interpretive center, sweat lodge, solar farm, and artisan shop, as well as upgraded elevated trails, are set to open throughout 2026 and 2027.
As I walk into Chun T’oh Whudujut—a rare inland temperate rainforest about 65 miles east of Prince George, in British Columbia—I am awestruck by the dizzying heights of western red cedars all around.
With bark resembling woven wood and roots anchored in this snow-fed habitat, many of these old-growth trees have lived for more than a millennium.
Tassels of greenish gray lichen, called old man’s beard, hang from the branches above, their abundance testifying to the air’s purity.
Studies show that time in nature can, like natural medicine, provide a boost to cancer-fighting cells and proteins. As I stroll a 1.4-mile trail in Ancient Forest Provincial Park, I breathe in the fresh air—and likely the phytoncides, protective organic compounds plants emit—and feel a sense of calm. To the Indigenous Lheidli T’enneh people, this forest has always been nature’s medicine cabinet. Once threatened by logging, a roughly 43-square-mile area of it became designated parkland in 2016, thanks to efforts of the tribe and other conservationists.
Exhibits at the Lheidli T’enneh interpretive center will recount this recent history and more, while upgraded elevated trails and a boardwalk extending a quarter of a mile into the forest bring visitors close to these ancient trees.
How to do it: Travelers staying in Prince George can reach Ancient Forest Park by car via Highway 16. The forest has ample parking. Admission to the park and trails is free. — Amy Brecount White
Why go in 2026: United Airlines is set to offer direct flights from Tokyo to Ulaanbaatar, making it the first major U.S. airline to service Mongolia.
The setting sun paints the desert rose-gold as we climb a granite outcrop for wraparound views of the endless lunar landscape. We’ve seen petroglyphs carved onto a rock face thousands of years ago, and a herd of wild horses on the horizon adds to the magic.
I’m on a yoga retreat in Ikh Nart Nature Reserve in Mongolia’s Gobi desert, and the sense of wonder is profound. Sandwiched between China and Russia, this vast country is one of the least inhabited places on Earth—an otherworldly mosaic of rolling steppe and arid desert, where people still follow a traditional nomadic lifestyle.
Switching off is easy here. Our base is a ger camp deep in the desert. These white, round yurts with hand-painted furniture, wooden floors, and comfy beds feel luxurious in such a remote place. Our days are punctuated by twice daily yoga and meditation classes. We feast on delicious vegetarian meals, and there’s plenty of time for sessions with the massage therapist who travels with us.
By day, camp manager Nergui Chadraabal leads walks into the desert, teaching us about the flora (feather grasses and green alliums) and fauna (vultures, wolves) that thrive in this harsh environment. Each night the velvet sky sparkles with more stars than I’ve ever seen before. The silence and gentle moonlight cast a spell, instilling a deep sense of peace that’s hard to find in our modern world.
How to do it: Reclaim Yourself’s Mongolia 2026: Yoga Wilderness Adventure with James Rafael starts at about $4,800 for 10 days and visits two camps in the eastern Gobi steppe and the wild Khan Khentii region. — Jane Dunford
Why go in 2026: Six Senses Laamu, in the Indian Ocean’s Maldives, is expanding its visiting practitioners program to include rotating specialists and therapies.
My 40th birthday comes and goes without a midlife crisis, but it helps that I greet this milestone while basking at Six Senses Laamu. And my stay on the remote island in the Maldives includes the resort’s wellness screening.
Mine begins with a practitioner (there are two at the resort, and they specialize in osteopathy and physiotherapy) administering an overall wellness index. I place my hands and feet on metal plates that measure heart rate patterns and vascular function as I follow breathing cues. Next comes a conversation about how I sleep, what I eat, and how often I move.
Under different circumstances, I might have shrugged off such health assessments, but turning 40 in the same year my father recovered from a heart attack makes it impossible to ignore what aging really means.
Following the session, the practitioner develops a plan for my stay and beyond, focusing on rest and recovery. Others might get recommendations centered on exercise routines, diet, meditation, and sleep.
Combined with my practitioner’s prescription, surfing turquoise waters and spotting the island’s protected turtles gliding among coral reefs result in a wellness experience no meditation app could replicate. The resort says a portion of revenue from each stay supports its Sustainability Fund. One more reason to feel at ease.
How to do it: Request a pre-trip consultation when you book a stay, or schedule a screening upon arrival. It takes about an hour and should be completed at the beginning of your visit so practitioners can tailor a program for your entire stay. Rates at Laamu start at around $1,065 for a Lagoon Water Villa. — Stacey Leasca
Why go in 2026: This Edwardian trend is making a comeback in Ireland, with lots of places to try seaweed’s purported health benefits.
I’m in a garden, soaking in a warm bath, but instead of flowers, I smell the briny ocean. That’s because my bath contains a large clump of seaweed. I’m indulging in a type of thalassotherapy that was popular in Ireland in Edwardian times.
Seaweed grows plentifully around the Irish coast and has played a big part in Irish life. Rich in minerals and nutrients like fiber, potassium, iron, magnesium, and omega-3 fatty acids, it was (and sometimes still is) used as a fertilizer on crops, especially along the coast. It was eaten as a vegetable and as a sweet pudding. It was incorporatedin cosmetics and helped clarify beer during the brewing process.
Today wellness seekers are rediscovering its health benefits, touted at places like Sneem Seaweed Baths off Kenmare Bay, where toothed wrack harvested from the shore is swirled into wooden whiskey barrels filled with hot water.
After a few minutes, the bath is ready, and bathers steep while enjoying views of the sea, mountains, and wildlife, including seals, otters, and the endangered curlew. This year, travelers can follow a new walkway for a dip in the ocean following their soak.
Indoor seaweed baths have long been popular too. In the seaside village of Enniscrone, Kilcullen’s Bath House, opened in 1912, has vintage tiled bathrooms with porcelain tubs outfitted with brass taps. A light, pore-opening steam and invigorating cold shower round out each session.
How to do it: Dips at Sneem cost about $56 and last an hour. In Tralee, soaking tubs are set in the gardens of Nádúr spa, surrounded by fields and mountains at around $88 for 45 minutes. Cap the experience with a glass of prosecco and a seaweed hair mask or eye patches for an additional fee.
Kilcullen Bath House’s indoor soak and steam costs about $35. Voya Seaweed Baths in Strandhill offers indoor baths in rooms with twin tubs for couples or friends, starting at about $93. — Yvonne Gordon
Why go in 2026: After a 13-year restoration, the Ottoman-era Zeyrek Çinili Hamam, an architectural stunner of a spa, is once more welcoming bathers.
Istanbul’s bustling Zeyrek quarter is known for its raucous market, lined with butchers and with restaurants serving Turkey’s version of pit barbecue. But it’s also home to one of the country’s most storied hammams, or traditional steam baths.
Built in the 16th century, Zeyrek Çinili Hamam fully reopened in 2024 after a lengthy restoration.
Inside the multidomed complex, a Byzantine-era cistern holds exhibitions of contemporary art. Aboveground, an expansive area of the building displays the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman artifacts unearthed during the hammam’s excavation. Among the rediscovered treasures are some 3,000 pieces of the intricate Iznik tiles that originally adorned the hammam.
After admiring them, I change into a peştemal, the ubiquitous thin, yet highly absorbent, quick-drying towel. I sip a glass of rose sherbet before entering the steamy marbled bath chamber.
There I spend 20 minutes dousing myself with tin bowls of fountain-fed water, alternating between hot and cold. The rhythmic pouring immediately relaxes me—and just in time for a much needed exfoliation. My attentive masseur scrubs me from head to toe with a loofah, then rinses me.
I lie face down on a large circular slab of marble and succumb to a frothy blanket of bubbles. It’s as soothing as the ensuing full-body massage is invigorating. After, I’m wrapped in several towels and escorted back to the main chamber for tea and biscuits.
Before my treatment, I was one of many tourists exploring the cistern. Now, as I sit with mostly locals beneath the luminous dome, I’m taken back half a millennium. I feel rejuvenated and enriched by a place that proudly reflects Istanbul’s inimitable history.
How to do it: Book treatments by gender online. Options start at about $125 for the 50-minute original, which includes tea, and go up to $350 for the 125-minute “reborn” package, which adds a cotton bathrobe for the session, extended massages, and a gift bag. Museum entry/tours are separate and can be reserved online, starting at under five dollars (discounts available). — Paul Osterlund
Why go now: From May 9-Sept. 27, 30 large-scale sculptures by the late British artist Henry Moore dot the gardens in the largest-ever outdoor exhibition of his works.
For TV host Antoni Porowski, connecting with nature and engaging in mindful practices are integral to traveling, especially as experts document Americans’ rising stress levels. For Porowski, yoga is a tried-and-true way to ease stress and joint inflammation from long flights.
“Nothing promotes mobility and stretching for my body like yoga does,” he writes in an email. “While often it’s a Peloton yoga class from my app in my hotel room, it’s so much more interesting to meet people and take a class in a very unique and stunning environment whenever I can.”
A new favorite place to roll out a mat: London’s Kew Gardens, featured in his National Geographic show, Best of the World with Antoni Porowski, premiering in the summer of 2026. Founded in 1759 by Princess Augusta, Kew Gardens opened to the public in 1840. Today it’s a renowned institute for botanical research with 50,000 plants and a historic seed bank. Perhaps less well-known, it’s a wellness gem in the city, with winding trails and tons of health-promoting activities, from group runs to tai chi and sound baths.
During his visit, Porowski toured the gardens and took a yoga class in the Temperate House conservatory, where visitors are surrounded by some 3,000 plants. “It is quite special for a place to hold so much history yet make its stake as one of, if not the most, important places for the study of biodiversity in our planet’s flora,” he says. “Also, one deep breath of that oxygen-rich air will help you through an extended standing Shiva squat!”
How to do it: Kew Gardens is about 30 minutes from central London and has four entry gates. The most direct route is on the Tube’s District Line to Kew Gardens Station. Other ways include train (Kew Bridge and Richmond stations) and Thames River Boats (Westminster to Kew piers, Elizabeth Gate). Ticket prices to enter Kew Gardens vary but are cheapest when booked online. Many themed trails wind through different areas of the gardens, but the 1.5-mile Mindfulness and Wellbeing Trail is a solid bet for wellness seekers. Check the website for the most updated schedule of events and classes. — Anne Kim-Dannibale
Why go: Readers’ Choice Winner
Our readers have voted and chosen Astungkara Way Trail in Bali as their favorite wellness experience in 2026. Before paved roads stitched Bali together and tourism reshaped its coasts, movement across the island followed the logic of water and seasons. Footpaths traced irrigation channels, crossed rice terraces, and connected villages where daily life unfolded in rhythm with the land. Trail experiences with Astungkara Way, an organization dedicated to both restorative farming and cultural tourism, return travelers to these routes, offering guided hikes through the villages and a way to experience Bali slowly—on foot and in conversation with the landscapes that sustain it.
Journeys range from day hikes to multi-day walks, each unfolding at a measured pace that mirrors the Balinese way of life. The countryside reveals itself in small but telling details: water flowing through an ancient network of irrigation canals, flower offerings at doorways, farmers tending their rice crops and fields of marigolds. In the evenings, hikers gather around the kitchen table to share home-cooked meals.
Walking the trail means being welcomed into village life. Local families open their homes, inviting guests to sit, observe, and participate respectfully. Through shared meals, hands-on farming, and time with elders, travelers gain insight into land stewardship, ritual life, and regenerative farming practices that continue in Bali’s rural communities.
How to do it: Experiences may include a half-day regenerative farm experience, full-day hiking trails, two-day overnight hiking trails, longer five- to 10-day coast-to-coast pilgrimage walks, a visit to a permaculture farm, or immerse yourself in a sacred water purification ceremony guided by a priest. — Stephanie Brookes
