From high peaks to wild rivers: 10 European hotels for travellers who can't sit still
With phone addiction so rampant that many of us are turning to a physical device (The Brick) to stop us scrolling, suddenly a holiday full of activities that physically prevent us from picking up our phone feels incredibly appealing. Based on some of our recent trips, many members of the Condé Nast Traveller team are embracing a return to the wholesome holiday, swapping the classic sun lounger for a scenic bike ride, hiking in the hills or paddling on the water in a canoe. Wellness hotels are also following a similar wavelength, and while many are upping their high-tech longevity programmes, the benefits of back-to-basics wellness activities are a simultaneous focus – from horse riding to fly fishing and canyoning. And then there are the hotels offering more extreme adventures – heli-skiing, gorge scrambling and rock climbing – that can provide all the thrills along with the plush comforts of a smart bolthole. For a taste of the best, these are the top active hotels in Europe right now.
Editor's picks:
- For families: Sani Club, Greece
- For wellness: Siro Boka Place, Montenegro
- For extreme sports: The Brecon, Adelboden, Switzerland
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hotelThe Torridon, Scottish Highlands
Activities: Guided highland tours, fly fishing, sea kayaking, gorge scrambling, mountain bike guiding and snorkelling.
The Torridon is the epitome of remote – there’s a small village across the loch that can be seen from the hotel’s windows – and that’s the beauty of it. It’s a rare thing, to find yourself in a beautiful location with nothing but scenery for miles around, and those looking for an escape will treasure the silence found here. If you’re lucky, you might catch a first glimpse of the hotel’s herd of Highland cows on arrival, if you’re not too busy gawping at the picture-perfect image of Beinn Eighe mountain set against the vast loch. The main hotel has just 18 rooms, each one designed differently to create a unique experience for guests. Rooms with views are undoubtedly the most popular and colour is a big feature in the design – from the contemporary paint colours on the walls to the brightly patterned furniture.
With miles of countryside to explore, there’s a lot for guests to discover, and the hotel ensures those of all ages can make the most of nature. Guests can enjoy self-guided hikes on the signposted trails, or join guided activities including sea kayaking, snorkelling, fly fishing or hikes. We indulged in the latter, which turned out to be the highlight of our weekend; not only did we learn a lot about local nature and fauna and flora from our knowledgeable guide, but we also saw some incredible landscapes that can’t be accessed by car, and experienced a spectacular rainbow over the loch that I’ll remember for life. Abigail Malbon
Zoran Radonjic, www.zoan.photographyhotelSiro Boka Place, Montenegro
Activities: Canyoning, trail hiking, running, sailing, kayaking, wing foiling, waterskiing, wakesurfing and wakeboarding in summer, skiing, snowshoeing and guided hikes in winter.
Wellbeing is at the core of the Siro concept, but in a way that feels new and exciting. There's no spa here. Instead, fitness, recovery and the great outdoors are embedded in its ethos and getting outside in nature is not just encouraged but celebrated. Guests can tailor their own programme of activities to make the most of the Montenegrin countryside, starting with guided hikes and mountain biking tours, and adding in red light therapy treatments, compression boot sessions and water bed massage treatments in the Recovery Lab back at the hotel. Eating on site is a must if health is a priority, and after a body analysis session using the state-of-the-art TechnoGym equipment in the Fitness Lab (which is huge, by the way), and the chance for an hour with the resident nutritionist, the menu choices seem all the more intelligent. In the rooms, home-workout equipment, a wellness ball instead of a chair and a bed with a clever mattress designed to adjust with your body temperature and keep it optimum throughout the night, all play into the idea of rest being just as important as movement. Sarah Leigh Bannerman
Six SenseshotelSix Senses Douro Valley, Portugal
Activities: Tree climbing, mountain biking, water-skiing, kayaking and Stand-Up Paddleboarding.
The Six Senses brand is known for putting wellness at the forefront of its properties, and where better than the layered vineyards of Douro Valley to breathe fresh air? This property combines relaxation with wine (and plenty of port), making it a special stay for those who want a trip that's close to home, but feels as though it's on another planet. As with all Six Senses properties, wellness is a pillar and the Douro offering doesn’t disappoint. A huge space with 10 treatment rooms looks onto the garden, and there's an indoor pool with jets, an ice bath and jacuzzi, plus saunas and steam rooms. There’s a focus on locality within the 71 rooms and suites: Portuguese oak floors, cork accents, cosmetics displayed in ceramics made locally and a minibar stocked with products produced in nearby towns. The helpful control panel is a nice touch and allows you to open the blinds without leaving the comfort of your bed. There are also villas on site, away from the main building and nestled amongst the gardens. If the Douro Valley is on your bucket list, this hotel will not disappoint. Abigail Malbon
Eleven ExperiencehotelEleven Deplar Farm, Iceland
Activities: Hiking, e-biking, Stand-Up Paddleboarding, fishing and Icelandic horse rides in summer, heli-skiing, fat biking, cross country skiing,
This isn’t your typical farm. It’s owned by Eleven Experience, the Colorado-based high-end adventure-travel outfit. It has two helipads, an indoor-outdoor, swim-through geo-thermally heated pool, a bar with a pool table and drumkit, and a dining room with floor-to-ceiling windows, modern art, and sweeping views. In fact, there’s really nothing typical about Deplar, among the mountains on Iceland’s remote Troll Peninsula, a place of severe beauty.
It’s got some of the best heli-skiing and fishing right at its doorstep. You can roll out of bed and chopper up to the top of a snow-covered volcano which, in all likelihood, no one has ever skied before, zipping through fields dotted with tiny horses that look like toys, and finishing your run on the Arctic beach, where, if you do not mind the chill, you can simply kick off your skis and go fishing (then hightail it to the spa to recuperate in a flotation pod). It’s the sort of trip that confers bragging rights back home, from a company that understands such hyper-adventurous yet modern-luxe impulses perfectly. Steve King
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hotelSani Club, Halkidiki, Greece
Activities: Rafa Nadal Tennis Centre, football academy for children, family-friendly high-ropes course, climbing walls, sailing and scuba diving.
Sani Resort is one of Greece’s most prestigious escapes, spread across 1,000 acres of protected nature reserve on Halkidiki’s Kassandra peninsula. Think pine forests, ancient olive groves, cappuccino beaches, a private marina, five luxurious hotels and 26 restaurants to dip into. At its edge, on a peaceful hillside, lies Sani Club – the resort’s most recently refurbished hotel. Life feels effortlessly serene. And how could it not, when a stay combines panoramic sea views from a super king bed, a quiet stretch of sand and a line-up of exclusive activities.
For families, it’s a dream – connecting rooms, garden suites and private pools give everyone space to be together, yet still enjoy their own privacy. For little ones, there’s a fantastic OFSTED-standard creche, as well as the Kids’ Club and Ozone Teen Club, allowing parents to relax while their children are happily entertained. Then there are the academies. Young football fans can join the Chelsea FC Football Academy, budding tennis stars can visit the Rafa Nadal Tennis Centre, adventurers can try the Bear Grylls Survival Academy, or head to the Tree Top Adventure for a dose of wobbly thrills. There’s even sailing for aspiring captains, plus the KTM Biking, Scuba Diving, and Water Ski Academies. Teens and adults alike can try something new, learn a skill, or just escape – mentally and physically. Chelsea Hughes
hotelLopota Lake, Georgia
Activities: Horse riding, quad bike tours, cycling, fishing, tennis and hiking tours.
This sprawling resort is the ambassador of on a long-overlooked destination, where breathtaking nature is ever-present. What started out as a modest clutch of rooms in one traditional-looking building has grown over the years to an impressive 311 rooms. The different architectural styles are reflective of Lopota’s evolution – from the more traditional chalet-style architecture to the sleek and uber-modern buildings. Guests are spoiled with either lake or mountain views. You soon become accustomed to the sight of roaming geese right outside your bedroom window, the horses nickering in the distance, or the sight of Bobby, an elderly but amicable German Shepherd who stands sentry outside one of the villas.
For dining, guests can find anything from traditional Georgian cuisine to modern Asian fusion or Italian. Unsurprisingly, it’s the traditional restaurant, Khaketian Corner, that's the star. Located in an old-world feeling courtyard on the lake’s edge, platters and platters of delicious skewers are piled on our table, as well as Georgian classics such as Khachapuri (soft pillowy bread filled with oozing cheese). Nestled high in the treetops is the Forest Spa, a tranquil space with the most stunning birds-eye view. There's also a quaint Slavic Bathhouse where you can partake in an authentic spa experience. Perhaps not for the fainthearted, this involves being gently slapped with oak branches in the sauna before dipping into a bracing cold plunge (rinse and repeat). The extensive wellness amenities continue, with an impressive seven outdoor swimming pools and a fully equipped fitness centre, plus an indoor pool and sauna for cooler days. Lucy Bruton
hotelThe Brecon, Adelboden, Switzerland
Activities: Hiking, climbing, hiking, paragliding, mountain biking, road cycling in summer, skiing and ice climbing in winter.
The village of Adelboden is one of Switzerland’s loveliest, down-to-earth villages – ski-smart and mountain-sure, but a far cry from the glitz of Gstaad, and relatively off-piste for British visitors. As well as being adults-only, The Brecon is a rare all-inclusive hotel, with the room rate covering everything from breakfast to dinner and as many cocktails as you can put away. Considering how eye-wateringly expensive Switzerland can be, this seems rather good value. Behind the classic chalet façade, the ground-floor living space, which flows from breakfast tables to dining room and bar, ripples with texture – bouclé fabrics here, Nordic Knots rugs there, crazy paving underfoot – and showcases vintage furniture alongside woodcuts and brutalist sculptures. In the summer, there’s hiking in the mountains, taking the cable car up and walking past inquisitive cows – here for summer grazing – to the waterfalls, and stopping for lunch at Holiebenstübli, a restaurant set in an old farmhouse. A short drive away, Lake Blausee is a mesmerising mountain lake, while Lake Thun has waterside restaurants, a lido for swimming and scenic boat rides. The Brecon’s hotel pool is fine for a quick dip in between cocktails but for a morning constitutional you’ll need to walk down the steps, past the Huldi hotel and down to the Olympic-sized pool built here in the 1930s to encourage summer visitors. It’s an Art Deco surprise, all bright colours and concrete modernism amid the mountains. In the winter, Adelboden has all the winter sports you can throw a snowshoe at (this is where the World Cup giant slalom takes place), along with igloos high on the mountain plateau for DJs and fondue. Rick Jordan
November StudiohotelLily of the Valley, French Riviera
Activities: Canoeing, mountain biking, sunrise yoga, fitness classes and individual coaching
Located not in a valley but on a sunbathed hilltop, Philip Starck’s rustic-modernist vision feels like it was made for this spot on the glitzy French Riviera. A loafer-clad, blazer-wearing crowd leaves the Lambo in the driveway and enters a utopia spilling over with tumbling greenery, bright blue pools and richly-textured bohemian interiors for pick-me-ups of the highest order. Most come for one of the four signature health plans, drawn in by the promise of good food, daily movement programmes, and swish treatments, emerging a week later a better, glowier version of themselves. Treatments at the spa are Côte d'Azur lasciviousness with views over idyllic gardens – massages are two hour affairs with ankle weights, lavender-scented eye masks and thick heated duvets, in which iced metal globes are spun across skin, poultices applied to aching joints, and limbs painstakingly stretched and pulled back to life. To describe it as a backrub would be a crime. Unusually for the seasonal Côte d'Azur, this hotel is open year-round, allowing for on demand body tuneups whenever the mood strikes, swapping poolside lounging in summer for cosy fireside chats in restaurant Vista in chillier climes. Charley Ward
hotelSensoria Dolomites, Italy
Activities: Hiking, e-biking and golf in summer, skiing, snowshoeing, tobogganing and cross-country skiing in winter.
At the foot of the Alpe di Siusi, the highest alpine pasture in Europe, Sensoria Dolomites sits low, nestled beside a river in a South Tyrolean village. This is an adults-only all-inclusive retreat where rooms are minimalist, making way for maximalist views via large windows and wraparound balconies. Days ideally begin with a dip in the heated pool, with steam rising as the Dolomite peaks sharpen into view, or with a relaxing sound meditation in the spa before breakfast at Anima restaurant. From here, it’s a five-minute stroll to the cable car: in summer, a short ascent delivers you straight onto rolling alpine pasture; in winter, locals wander aboard with skis slung casually over their shoulders, bound for the wide, sunlit slopes.
In the summer, wellness guide Patrick Mauroner leads early-bird or afternoon hikes and e-bike rides through the Alpe di Siusi meadows. In winter, Mauroner hosts guided backcountry ski safaris which begin with a thrilling helicopter transfer to Siusi. If you prefer to stay on solid ground, the hotel offers a cultural programme with local artists including studio visits and drawing workshops. Guests meet back in the evening for supper which is a six-course feast, followed by a glass of Tyrolean wine at the bar or in the library. Rebecca Douglas-Home
Raphael FauxhotelLe Grand Bellevue, Gstaad, Switzerland
Activities: Heli-hiking, padel, tennis, yoga, pilates and access to the Gstaad Yacht Club.
The 1912-built Le Grand Bellevue is as classic as it gets, but the walls behind its grand entrance are anything but dated and evoke the feeling of being in a timelessly eclectic townhouse – with a better backdrop. It's set within the Bernese Oberland, a fairytale region whose architectural regulations have ensured that the postcard-perfect landscape will remain unchanged. Its wellbeing offering is the star of the show, and fitness facilities include everything from a light-filled Pilates studio to a SensoPro trainer, though it seems crazy to spend a second of cardio time inside. Luckily, the hotel’s Heli-hiking, padel court and exclusive access to the Swiss Open tennis centre court give guests many ways to break a sweat beyond the sauna. In an era of "the next best thing", what makes Le Grand Spa different is an unapologetic yet unstubborn homage to tradition. As the only Swiss Butterfly Mark-certified hotel with 100 per cent hydropower, Le Grand Bellevue is forward-thinking in the areas it should be – but pays a beautiful tribute to Alpine practices, albeit by using tried and tested brands of the zeitgeist, through a spa where the past, present and future coexist calmly. Tamara Southward
