Yoga & Wellness Getaway in the French Alps: 3-Day Ayurveda-Inspired Cooking Retreat

The retreat takes place at Chalet Clair, a real mountain home run by Claire and her husband Rob, who go by the name Mountain Oaks. Claire teaches yoga and has been doing so since 2012, after training with Duncan Hulin at the Devon School of Yoga. She's also a therapeutic-style teacher, having used yoga herself to recover from period of poor health in her teens. She lives in the Alps with her family and weaves a lot of ahimsa (non-harming) into how she runs the house and the retreats, from the mostly vegetarian food to the general ethos of the place.

Days begin around 9am with a short meditation and a yoga practice that varies across the weekend — expect a mix of vinyasa flow, a longer yin session, pranayama (breathing work), and a yoga nidra for deep rest. Between the morning practice and lunch, there's an Ayurveda-informed cooking workshop. This isn't a passive demonstration; it's hands-on. You'll learn about your dominant dosha (the Ayurvedic body-mind type), and how to balance it through food, using seasonal ingredients from the alpine region. Together, you'll prepare a proper lunch — think nourishing soups and salads, vegetable dishes, fresh bread — which you then all sit down to share.

Afternoons are a bit lighter. There's time for a short digestive walk, maybe a self-Ayurveda survey that helps you understand your own constitution better, and a final yoga class or a kirtan (chanting) session in the evening for those staying on. The cooking workshops are the kind of thing that feels genuinely useful — you're gathering recipes and practical knowledge you can actually take home with you, not just watching someone else cook. On the last day, you'll prepare the final lunch together, and Claire gives you the recipes to keep.

The chalet itself is very much a home, not a wellness hotel. It's comfortable, cosy, and practical, with rooms that can be set up as doubles or twins. There's a hot tub outside, which is lovely after a walk or a yoga session, and the common areas feel warm and lived-in. The location in the Serre Chevalier valley means plenty of options for walks — there's a guided mountain walk of about an hour and a half included. You're also just a short walk from the lifts and village, so if you want to combine the retreat with a little skiing or sightseeing before or after, it's easy to do.

What makes this different from a generic wellness break is the genuine smallness of it and the food-focused angle. It's not a big retreat centre with a huge group; it's a weekend in someone's home with six other people, which changes the dynamic a lot. You'll probably leave knowing everyone's name, and Claire makes a point of adapting the week to whoever's there. The Ayurveda-informed cooking is a nice differentiator too — you'll learn specific things about balancing your own digestion and energy, and how to translate that into everyday cooking.

What's included

- 3 nights accommodation at Chalet Clair - 3 daily healthy and nutritious meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) - Free access to water, tea, and coffee throughout the day - 6 yoga sessions (Yin, flow, nidra, pranayama) - Daily morning meditation - Ayurveda-informed cooking workshop - Ayurveda dosha self-study session - 1.5-hour guided mountain walk - Access to the chalet hot tub - Free parking on-site - Free WiFi

What's not included

- Flights and airport transfers - Travel insurance - Visa fees - Additional holistic treatments or spa packages - Extra activities not included in the itinerary - Optional extra nights before/after the retreat