Wellness world trip on your doorstep

Be transported to distant worlds with these addresses

Fall is here. High season for migratory birds. If you want to get away now, you can easily do so without a flight or visa. For southern India, for example, a good two hours' drive from Vienna is all it takes for a whole team of Ayurveda therapists to take over directly from Kerala and let your well-being do somersaults. Fancy a safari? The Land Rover is already waiting in the national park an hour's drive south of Vienna, and with a ranger and binoculars, you can get to the bottom of the wild chattering, chirping and fluttering. Or would you prefer a little Wild Wild West? You can relax wonderfully between wood and furs in front of the fireplace, with the Slovenian Rocky Mountains towering outside the door and bear ham on the plate. And those longing for the rising sun will find themselves in the Middle Kingdom - with healing massages and a perfect Chinese tea ceremony in the Pagoda Tower on the Turracher Höhe. World travel can be so easy.

Resort Svata Katerina

Ayurveda in the Czech Republic

Light falls through the glass walls onto the dark wooden panels on the walls. An unknown carving artist has immortalized countless vines, exotic fruits and birds - from his native India. Anyone filling out the medical questionnaire under the benevolently stern gaze of Dr. Nimi Rageshkumar will easily forget that they are here in the South Moravian highlands and not in Kerala. The millennia-old healing art of Ayurveda was developed on the grounds of the k.u.k. St. Catherine's Baths. A piece of extraordinary
of extraordinary architecture in the middle of a park with time-honored giant trees. So remarkable that the pavilion was even named "Building of the Year 2019" in the Czech Republic. Keyword awarded: The therapists all come from South India, the two Ayurveda doctors directly from Kerala. They are also experts in Western medicine. Ayurveda packages are offered for back pain, skin problems and annoying rolls of flab, as well as the three-week intensive Panchakarma program. And it's not just in the pavilion, but also in the kitchen that things get Indian, as nutrition is an important pillar of the Ayurvedic world view. For those who simply come to the Svata Katerina Resort for yoga, golf, horse riding, cycling or relaxation, there is also an Italian chef behind the stove, complemented by a fine selection of wines and, of course, the legendary Czech beer.
www.katerinaresort.cz

Hochschober

CHina flair in the Carinthian Nockberge

The varnish shines dark red, the matt gold of the carvings gleams, it smells of tea. The curved gables of the Pagoda Tower are reflected in the jade-green lake. China? Almost right. This little piece of the Middle Kingdom is located on the Turracher Höhe between Carinthia and Styria at around 1,800 meters above sea level. Karin Leeb inherited her love of Chinese culture and, above all, tea culture from her parents. In 2005, the hotelier and her husband Martin Klein opened the "Beautiful Teahouse on the Mountain" right next to their Hotel Hochschober. Built according to the plans of a Chinese heritage expert with the help of Chinese craftsmen. Simply authentic. Just like every point that Qingshu Yu presses. With or without meditation music on request. It feels good and is definitely healing, as the petite southern Chinese woman from Fujian province learned the traditional Tui Na massage at a center for the blind in her home country. Strictly according to classical Chinese medicine with its elements and twelve meridians.



Afterwards - we are, after all, in the teahouse on the mountain - a classic tea ceremony is best followed. According to tea master Sonja Steinwender, this is about "gaining distance from the outside world, mindfulness, love, warmth and compassion". What sounds so important, however, comes very easily when concentrating on each sip from the tiny cups, different types of tea and several infusions. And makes you feel as calm as the mountain lake outside the door.
www.hochschober.com

Vila Planinka

Rockies charm in Slovenia

Wood, stone, furs, felt and mountain giants right on the doorstep - even John Muir, the "father of American national parks", would feel at home in this extraordinary house in the high valley of Jezersko. The air and climate here, in the breathtaking Slovenian mountains, are healthy in themselves, and there is also a healing spring not far from Vila Planinka, which opened in 2019. Freshly bottled water is also available to guests at the hotel.



Those who follow the call of the mountains, on foot or by bike, will be happily exhausted afterwards in the spa, sauna or - even better - in the hands of the gifted masseurs. The house is homely, more chalet à la Rocky Mountains than just a hotel. The fact that you can relax here is also down to the staff - hosts full of warmth and conviction for the hotel's consistently sustainable concept. Plastic is frowned upon, "zero waste" is practiced here, stargazing instead of television is the order of the day. Wellness for the palate too: the ingredients for Jakob Jerala's seductively purist cuisine come from the surrounding forests and farmers: herbs, vegetables, mushrooms, lamb from the valley, organic beef and even bear ham. And if you really want to understand what Orange Wine is, Marko Koren takes you on a wine tasting tour across the country.
www.vilaplaninka.com

St. Martins Therme & Lodge

A touch of Africa in Burgenland

The call of the wild cannot be ignored here. The one that brings the stressed people of the 21st century back to their own inner clock and more serenity. The ingredients: Chirping, twittering, croaking and a Land Rover. On a Seewinkel safari with trained rangers, the African feeling is not far away. Hungarian steppe cattle instead of buffalo, white donkeys instead of zebras, ground squirrels instead of meerkats, great bustards instead of ostriches. Just under an hour's drive south of Vienna, St. Martins Therme & Lodge combines well-being and nature experiences. Like its African sisters, this extensive facility is located in the middle of untouched nature.
The qualified naturalists bring the magic of Lake Neusiedl - Seewinkel National Park to their safari guests with knowledge, wit and binoculars. But "staying at home" is also nice: relaxed exercise in the hotel's own eight-hectare swimming lake - the "Livingstone suites", for example, have their own swimming jetties -, relaxing moments in the spacious lakeside spa with a view as well as salt grass, reed and steppe herb saunas. The treatments are based on Pannonian treasures such as salt, grapes, yeast and sparkling wine. No less delicious: the culinary offerings. www.stmartins.at