Hungary Yoga & Ayurveda Discovery: Budapest, Lake Balaton and Forest Retreat

The retreat runs for 13 days and 13 nights, and each day has a morning yoga class and an afternoon session. The first week's morning classes are hatha/vinyasa flow built around the five main elements, and they deliberately ease you out of everyday momentum. Afternoon classes are split into 60 minutes of slow asana and 30 minutes of breathing and concentration practice. The second week keeps the morning classes challenging but shifts the focus to how the practice feels in your body rather than alignment alone, working towards a style that suits your ayurvedic constitution. Afternoon asana drops to 40 minutes with more fascia release, yin and restorative poses, followed by 20 minutes of pranayama or concentration.

Ayurveda workshops take place on six afternoons in the second week. Day one is an introduction to Ayurveda and its history. Day two is about your own constitution and how to keep ayurvedic practices in daily life. Day three covers what "eating healthy" actually means in this system. Days four to six are hands-on cooking sessions where you make quick breakfasts and lunches/dinners for your constitution. By the end you should know your constitution, your posture patterns and the areas of your body that need attention, and you'll leave with a 20-minute breathing or concentration practice you can keep doing at home.

The food follows the same split as the schedule. In the first week only vegetarian or vegan breakfast/brunch is provided, so you eat your other meals out in Budapest and Balatonfüred with recommendations from Orsi. In the second week vegetarian or vegan brunch and dinner are served, with healthy snacks available through the day. Day nine is an optional fasting day with juice or a rice-and-lentil diet depending on your constitution.

Accommodation changes three times. In Budapest you stay in a modernised early-20th-century apartment house in the centre, quiet despite the location. In Balatonfüred a local family hosts the group in a villa a few metres from the lake. In Alsópere the group stays in a renovated 19th-century homestead complex in the forest, 6 km from the nearest village. Wi-Fi is available at all three.

What makes this different from a single-location yoga retreat is the structure: two weeks, three bases, and a mix of city sightseeing, lake time and forest quiet. It also assumes you want to learn something you can use afterwards rather than just attend classes — the Ayurveda workshops and cooking sessions take up a real part of the second week, and the body analysis work is specific to each participant. Orsi has taught the styles she uses here before and the classes are open to complete beginners as well as experienced practitioners.

What's included

- 13 days / 13 nights accommodation in apartment house, villa or pension - Vegetarian or vegan breakfast/brunch for the first 6 days - Vegetarian or vegan brunch and dinner for the second week (8 days) - Healthy snacks throughout the day - 24 yoga classes - 6 Ayurveda workshops and cooking sessions - Transportation Budapest – Balatonfüred – Alsópere – Budapest (train and/or taxi) - Budapest sightseeing program - Gellért Spa visit with massage - One sailing trip on Lake Balaton - Trip to Tihany - Wi-Fi at all locations

What's not included

- Travel to and from Hungary (air, bus or train) - Taxis to/from the hotel in Budapest on arrival and departure - Travel insurance - Visa costs if joining from outside the EU - Meals not listed as included (lunches and dinners in the first week, for example) - Additional sightseeing or programs - Additional nights' stay - Personal expenses