The 10 Best Spas in Europe

From high-altitude clinics in the Alps to breezy beachside retreats, there are few regions as packed with world-class spas as Europe. Across all four corners of the continent, you’ll find a dazzling variety of wellness getaways, whether you’re in the market for a week-long detox or just a classic deep tissue massage.

Here, in alphabetical order, find Vogue’s pick of the 10 best spas in Europe.

Chenot Palace Weggis

Half a century ago, Italian doctor Henri Chenot set out to answer an age-old question: How can we live forever? Though immortality may, alas, not be possible (in this lifetime, at least), he did conclude that the human body could live to 120, if taken seriously. But how? Enter: “The Chenot Method,” a preventative medical approach vitalizing human life for longer. Thousands of people—some curious to see if the hype really is true, some being annual returnees (Naomi Campbell is among fans)—flock to the flagship spa, Chenot Palace Weggis. From its attentive eye to detail to the sweeping views of the Swiss Alps and Lake Lucerne, there’s a reason the medical spa is widely recognized as being among the world’s best detox program. On the standard seven-day retreat, your stay is bookended by in depth consultations with various doctors, nutritionists and therapists, to explain the program—really, Chenot is less like a spa but more a scientific retreat. Visiting is an opportunity to learn more about your body, its immune responses, and how to take your learnings beyond your stay and into life. Of course, there’s the lovely massages and facials involved, and other ways to relax like yoga sessions and aqua therapy. You’ll come out feeling like you’ve shed your deadweight like a snake. —Giles Hattersley

Dior Spa Eden-Roc

There’s quiet luxury, and then there’s the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc. The spa itself is on the periphery of the hotel, beyond a century-old rose garden and an array of stately pine trees. Decorated in shades that evoke the rocky coastline, it’s an oasis of pale, sandy shades, punctuated with white furniture. The treatment rooms have been outfitted in Dior’s signature textiles, with splashes of blue offering a visual echo to the sparkling sea. (Super fans of the brand will love the Cabine Dior, which has every detail outfitted in the brand’s iconic animale toile.) There, guests can experience four “Dioriginel” rituals that borrow from the surrounding elements—taking inspiration (and ingredients) from the adjacent garden’s flowers. In further tribute to the flora that enraptured Christian Dior, whose beloved Château de La Colle Noire is just a 45-minute drive up a windy mountain road, there are also six holistic wellness “bouquets”—treatments involving a suite of individualized protocols. When Dior renovating the treatment menu, there was an effort to lean into touch as well as technology: An exfoliating Hydrafacial machine, for instance, is loaded with Dior’s proprietary Floral Peeling Lotion; and three different full-body lymphatic drainage systems—featuring electrostimulation, micro-​vibration, and infrared light—depuff after a long-haul flight or before a cold plunge into the Mediterranean. It’s a magical experience unlike any other. —Margaux Anbouba

Euphoria Retreat

Tucked up on a hillside in the Peloponnese, Euphoria is miles away from Greece’s coastal party scene, the ideal place to really immerse yourself in the ritual of relaxation, sans temptation to party. There is so much on offer here that you won’t need to leave, whether you’ve booked one of their 3-day Well-Being Detox packages or opted into the 21-day Weight Metabolic Management Program. Staff offer complete guidance on what program will serve your needs, whether it’s emotional rebalancing, fitness enhancement, or spiritual centering, and then plan a complete schedule for your stay. This might mean an early morning guided forest walk, followed by reflexology, with a Biologique Recherche lifting facial in the afternoon, and a private sound bath in the evening. There are custom smoothies each afternoon (ingredients are determined by a blood analysis) and a menu entirely attuned to an individual’s dietary quirks. Meetings with nutritionists and trainers are translated into reports for guests, a real perk for those who want to take home their newfound self-knowledge. What you can’t bring back, however, are the impeccable amenities, including an indoor/outdoor pool where you can paddle from the solitude of a domed deep water section to the open views of the Taygetus Mountains.

Forestis

Within the state-of-the-art spa complex—spread across over 2,000 square meters and two floors—you’ll find a kind of sleek Nordic Disneyland for rest and recuperation. There are all your standard spa mod cons, of course, but also briny steam baths, hot rooms scented with local herbs, and saunas set at a perfectly calibrated temperature. As is custom in this corner of Europe, inside the cabins, nudity is expected, but there is a sauna and steam room by the pool where the less brave can keep their swimwear on. And for those feeling especially plucky, there’s an outdoor Finnish sauna with a giant tub for cold plunging afterwards, refilled by a wood tube plugged straight into the side of the mountain to release its glacial waters. Forestis’ unfussy approach to wellness stems from its illustrious history as a place for recovery—the more adventurously inclined can even try out a Wyda session, a millennia-old energetic stretching practice nicknamed the “yoga of the Celts”—but within the spa, the emphasis is firmly on healing methodologies absorbed from the resort’s natural surroundings. Here, you’ll truly feel at one with the forest. —Liam Hess

Le Grand Spa at La Grand Bellevue

Set in the heart of Gstaad, Switzerland, Le Grand Bellevue is a postcard-picture destination for anyone seeking a luxury getaway. The name ‘Grand’ aptly mirrors the grandeur of the historic hotel which is surrounded by manicured grounds dotted with idyllic wooden chalets, that are a mountain air haven come winter or summer. At 3000 square meters, the expansive spa, Le Grand Spa, at 3,000 square meters is one of the largest in the region and offers an unbelievable assortment of 17 different wellness “zones” including an ice fountain, salt inhalation grotto, and Turkish steam bath. When it comes to sauna, you can take your pick: herbal, bio, infrared, hay, or Finnish. With its seemingly endless facilities, fragranced relaxation pools, and individually tailored wellness packages that focus on relaxation, it’s tempting to stay inside the spa. The Kneipp Walk (which involves walking through alternating hot and cold water therapy baths) is incredible for the circulation, and a wonder for ski-sore muscles, as are the hot stone and deep tissues massages. Come summer though, venture beyond the hotel walls and explore the skiing and hiking trails on the doorstep for breathtaking views and fresh mountain air. —Laura Ingham

RoseBar

A dedicated longevity clinic, RoseBar sits within the five-star Six Senses Ibiza on the island’s northern tip and caters to a growing appetite for functional medicine, biohacking, and genetic screening. The clinic—all jute rugs and minimalist cream furniture—boasts state-of-the-art equipment and a deeply seductive tagline: “Defy the concept of aging.” Customers might spend a half hour breathing pure oxygen in a hyperbaric chamber, submerge themselves in the world’s only automated ice bath, take a snooze under cell-rejuvenating red-light panels, or have their very DNA sent off to be assessed in a laboratory. All with the goal of staying healthy, strong, and vital for longer. RoseBar can’t stop the relentless march of time—but it can, it insists, help to prevent it from leaving its footprints on your body. The brainchild of American physician Mark Hyman, the spa reflects a new face of the White Isle, and its patrons are far less preoccupied by wild parties than they are with the very latest in wellness. Here, the cocktails are administered via IV drip (your Inner Glow cocktail won’t taste of anything, but it will make your skin pop), and the only shots being lined up are of energy-boosting B12. The focus here is on positive—and tangible—lifestyle outcomes, rather than, say, a relaxing deep-tissue massage after an afternoon by the pool. You can expect to leave feeling more informed about your overall well-being than you were going in. —Kerry McDermott

SHA Wellness Clinic Spain

Longevity—the pursuit of living not only longer but better—may seem to be having a moment, but this clinic has been a temple of wellness for over 15 years. As Dr. Vicente Mera, one of the most prestigious experts in anti-aging and an active participant in the development of the SHA Wellness project explains, "it is possible to age without illness and suffer from illness without being old." This is the key learning that you will take away from staying at SHA—cultivating good habits is the key to ageing in a healthy, beautiful way. The clinic receives an average of 4,500 people every year, and in 2023, the rate of returning customers was 53 percent. They can’t all be wrong. It is important to understand that SHA Wellness is anything but your average spa, with their medicinal waters or relaxing massages; it’s a school of longevity, and you must embrace it with a learning spirit—but the rewards of doing so are undeniable. —Ana Morales

Surrenne Spa at the Emory

If the pursuit of longevity in the most luxurious of surroundings is high on the agenda, then Surrenne is the place for you. It’s an urban medi-spa that, in the words of its creative director, Inge Theron, “is the stop gap before going to the doctor. It’s the front line of medicine and wellbeing, with smart functional doctors that see things in a new way.” Surrenne is a members’ club with a hefty price tag, but what membership unlocks is more than worth its weight in wellness gold. Upon signing up, you will have access to wellbeing on tap, including a dedicated doctor focused on functional diagnostics ranging from blood work to cardiovascular and hormone tests, to microbiome mapping and epigenetic testing. The café has a juice and food menu developed by nutritionist Rosemary Ferguson, it hosts Tracy Anderson first London workout studio and a state-of-the-art gym. Weather permitting, wild swimming in the nearby Serpentine and run clubs in Hyde Park are an extension of its offerings. It’s a wellness paradise in the heart of the big city. —Jessica Diner

The Bothy at Heckfield Place

The Bothy by Wildsmith is the recently opened spa within the sprawling 438-acre estate of Heckfield Place, in Hampshire, just an hour from London. Years in the making, the spa carefully fuses the Georgian history of the stately house with the type of impressive architecture that transports you away from the world. The underground spa was the vision of Heckfield’s owner, Gerald Chan, and curated carefully by Wildsmith Skin’s general manager Katherine Pye. Based around nature’s circadian rhythm—there’s no cliché spa music but rather the sounds recorded over the course of a week from the grounds of the estate during lockdown. From the regenerative treatments that utilize the estate’s farm equipment (milk churns for its functional Farm Fit workout sessions), to cold-water immersion therapy in the lake, you’ll feel instantly grounded amid the landscape. In addition to phones, children and alcohol are not permitted. The total number of spa guests is capped at 52, ensuring tranquillity and focus, while also avoiding the crunch of back-to-back treatments—for both guests and practitioners and therapists. —Lauren Murdoch-Smith

Vair Spa at Borgo Egnazia

Located in the heart of Borgo Egnazia, a beautiful Puglian resort surrounded by millenary olive trees, Vair Spa welcomes you with hundreds of candles that stay lit all day and night. Every material is raw and natural: stone, wood, huge lemons at the center of the tables, ceramic everywhere. (The nearby town of Fasano is known for its handmade ceramics.) The staff at Borgo Egnazia are “artists of wellness” and, as such, the treatments are not the conventional ones—you’re more likely to find treatments honoring the power of the olive oil or the strength of the maritime winds. At Vair Spa you will enjoy a fully bespoke intimate experience that is about much more than wellness. There’s even a treatment known as “fruscè,” which translates as “rustle”—or the sound the canopy of olive trees near the cliff makes when it’s moved by the sea breeze. The treatment involves very delicate gestures, as though the wind and nature are sweeping over the skin. Pure Puglian bliss. —Veronica Cristino

Read more from Vogue's Global Spa Guide.