7 or 10-Day Juice Detox, Yoga & Meditation Retreat in the Algarve Hills, Portugal

Days run to a fixed rhythm. Gentle wake-up with lemon water around 07:00, as the valley comes up. All-levels yoga at 08:00 in the yoga temple. The first juice arrives at 10:00, pressed just before it reaches you. From 10:45 there are optional therapies — deep tissue massage, acupuncture, Bowen — and at 13:00 a second freshly pressed juice (they say no two are the same). The afternoon block of therapies covers Inspirational Healing, CQM and reflexology and Reiki. At 16:00 there's juice plus a daily nutrition and wellness workshop, then sauna time. At 19:00, warm mineral-rich vegetable broth, and at 19:45 meditation or a workshop under the temple roof. Guests are free to sit any session out and pick what they want from the schedule.

The non-juice extras are what distinguish this from a standard detox week: a QRS electromagnetic bed and clinic equipment on site, a fire ceremony and a spiral walk, and a day trip to a nearby beach or beauty spot once a week. You also get an initial health check with the retreat's own naturopath, who will flag anything that means the fast isn't safe for you.

The setting is the western Algarve, but not the coast you're thinking of. The property sits in a tranquil valley beside the Barragem da Bravura, about fifteen minutes from Lagos and an hour from Faro. There are twelve buildings, terraced gardens and a 160 m² greenhouse, plus a salt-water pool and a wood-fired Finnish sauna open year round. Quartz-laced hills, birdsong in the morning, no light pollution at night.

Accommodation is spread between the old mill, the main guesthouse and a row of twin cottages, with bell tents added in summer. The Mill holds two premium en-suite singles. The Main Guesthouse has twin rooms and a premium single opening onto the garden terrace. The Twin Cottages are timber, with two en-suite bathrooms so each guest gets their own.

Most guests come alone — roughly half, according to the retreat — and the groups are deliberately small. You can book a room to yourself or share a twin matched with another guest of the same sex. Couples and friends travelling together can share regardless of sex. The programme suits all ages and all yoga levels; beginners are welcome and there's no expectation that you've fasted before.

The team is the other reason people come back. Richard, Karen, Chris, Ivan and Bliss took over the centre after years working with its original founders, and the programme has run continuously for over three decades with the same core structure. Reviews are consistently strong — 4.9/5 on Google, 4.8/5 on TripAdvisor — and the retreat has been featured by The Sunday Times, The Guardian, the Daily Mail, The Daily Telegraph, Marie Claire and Vogue Portugal, with The Sunday Times calling it one of the ten best detox retreats in the world.

What's included

- 7 or 10 nights accommodation (room type of your choice) - Freshly pressed juices three times daily - Warm mineral-rich vegetable broth each evening - Lemon water on waking - Daily morning all-levels yoga - Daily evening meditation or workshop - Daily nutrition and wellness workshops - Initial health check with the resident naturopath - Salt-water pool access - Wood-fired Finnish sauna - Fire ceremony and spiral walk - Weekly beach or beauty-spot day trip - Use of the yoga temple and grounds

What's not included

- Flights to and from Faro - Airport transfers (can be arranged at extra cost) - Optional therapies: deep tissue massage, acupuncture, Bowen, reflexology, Reiki, Inspirational Healing, CQM - QRS electromagnetic bed and clinic equipment sessions - Travel insurance - Personal expenses - Additional nights outside the booked retreat dates