Spring Yoga and Meditation Week in Cappadocia, Turkey

A typical day starts at 7.30am with a 90-minute yoga class, followed by brunch. After that the group heads out: a hike through one of the valleys around the village, an afternoon at the Göreme Open Air Museum with its rock-carved Byzantine churches and frescos, or a trip to one of Cappadocia's underground cities, where tunnels drop up to 100 metres below ground. You're back for a one-hour yoga class at 6pm and dinner at 7.30pm.

One morning runs differently. You leave before dawn for a hot air balloon flight over the fairy chimneys, watching the sun come up from the air. There's no morning yoga that day. The group can also book a scrub and massage at a hammam, and go horse riding through the valleys and villages — both at your own cost.

What separates this from a generic yoga week is the setting. Cappadocia is an open-air museum: stone dwellings cut into fairy chimneys, around 250 underground cities, Byzantine rock churches, and a wine and pottery tradition that goes back through Hittite, Persian, Macedonian, Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk and Ottoman rule. The hotel sits in Mustafapaşa, close enough to the UNESCO site for day trips but far enough to be quiet at night.

Marija teaches Hatha yoga focused on mindful movement, body awareness and correct alignment. The aim, in her classes, is understanding how your body works and what underpins yoga and meditation practice, not achieving a particular posture. Every class includes pranayama and meditation alongside asana, and sessions are structured as workshops so you work through the physical, mental and spiritual sides of the practice.

The spring timing is deliberate. The week is framed around starting a new cycle — what you keep, what you drop, what you want to redo — and the natural landscape at the start of the season carries that theme. The tone stays gentle; nothing is forced.

Food is a genuine part of the week. Two meals a day, cooked fresh on site from local ingredients, all vegetarian, drawing on traditional Turkish and Mediterranean cooking. Note that this particular retreat cannot cater for vegans, so talk to the organisers before booking if that's you.

What's included

- All yoga and meditation classes - 7 nights accommodation - Two meals per day (brunch and dinner) - Vegetarian Turkish and Mediterranean food, freshly prepared on site

What's not included

- Any additional food or drinks - Personal expenses - Day trips and entry tickets - Other activities such as the hot air balloon flight and horse riding - Airport transfers - Travel to and from Turkey