Alpine Yoga & Hiking Weekend at 1,936m: Move, Groove & Flow in the Dolomites

The retreat runs Thursday 28 to Sunday 31 May 2026 and starts with an optional group hike up from the Zumis parking lot in Rodeneck at 11:00 — 5.6km, 1.5 to 2 hours, 251m of climbing. You can hand your luggage to the hut's van and walk up with a day bag, or drive yourself, or take the van transfer the whole way. The Welcome Circle at 16:15 is the one mandatory item on the whole schedule. After that it's Freedom Flow yoga, dinner, then Restorative Yin and pranayama from 20:30.

Day 2 starts at 08:00 with circuit training and stretching, breakfast at 09:00, then a group hike from 10:30 to 15:00 with lunch out. You're back at the hut by mid-afternoon with three and a half hours of free time before dinner, and the evening session is partner Thai yoga massage, 20:30 to 21:45. Day 3 begins with a yoga-dance class, then five hours to yourself — lunch is on your own that day. The afternoon session is chair yoga plus an inversion workshop, and after dinner the evening is free. Day 4 has breakfast, packing, then a closing circle with Mandala Yoga Flow and quiet creativity, an optional final lunch and hike down at 11:30, and departure by 14:30.

What separates this from a standard yoga retreat is where it sits and how much of the day it leaves alone. Class time totals around 9.5 hours of yoga and workshops across the weekend, and the rest is open — the free blocks are hours long, not 45-minute gaps. Hikes with the group are informal and not professionally guided; the instructor has researched the routes and carries offline maps, and everyone walks at their own risk.

The accommodation is the other difference. The Starkenfeld Hütte was fully renovated after a fire in 2016 and is run as a proper alpine hut with a bit of luxury added — every room has an en-suite bathroom, the suite has a bathtub facing the mountains, and the wellness area (sauna, infrared cabin, outdoor hot tub) is open to retreat guests. Spring evenings on the plateau are cold, but the days are made for sitting outside in high-altitude sun. There's also an Almkäserei (alpine dairy) tour available.

Erin Wilson, who owns and runs The Third Place in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, leads the retreat. She teaches the classes and she is the one who'll drive coordination of carpools from Garmisch and run a group information call about two months before the trip. A retreat group chat opens a month out. Erin's classes are tailored to whoever is in the room — no yoga or fitness experience is required, and she'll tell you to scale anything that doesn't suit your body.

What's included

- 9.5 hours of yoga and workshops across the weekend - Varying movement styles: vinyasa-style flow, restorative yin, pranayama, yoga-dance, chair yoga, inversion workshop - Circuit training and stretch session - Partner Thai yoga massage session - Daily breakfast buffet at the hut - Daily three-course dinner at the hut - Access to the wellness area: sauna, infrared cabin, outdoor hot tub - Spa robe - Van transfer for people and luggage to the hut - Welcome goodie bag - Personalised retreat journal - Group information call before the retreat - Assistance organising carpooling from Garmisch - Optional Almkäserei (alpine dairy) tour

What's not included

- Travel to and from your home country - Extra van transfers to and from the Zumis parking lot - Lunch (Day 2 lunch is out; Day 3 lunch on your own) - All drinks at lunch and dinner - Accommodation and meals at the hut (paid directly to the hut on departure, from €79 per night) - Parking fees at the Zumis lot - Dog fee at the hut (€25 per day)