CrossFit, Yoga & Sea Kayaking Retreat in the Mani Peninsula, Greece

Training days start early to beat the heat. You'll typically do a coached small-group session in the morning — this is where the skill work happens, things like Olympic lifting technique, gymnastics movements and mobility — before breakfast. The breakfast at Melitsina Village is a buffet, and it's included every day of your stay. Afternoons are either free or given over to whatever outdoor activity is on the schedule that day, and there's usually a WOD or Fitness Unboxed session in the evening, timed so you're training as the sun drops behind the mountains.

The Fitness Unboxed sessions are the core of the programme and are deliberately capped at a maximum of four people, so the coach can actually watch what you're doing rather than counting reps from across a field. The intensity is rated around 7 out of 10 for the Crosstraining package and 8 out of 10 for the Adventure week — hard enough to be worth the trip, not so hard that a returning beginner gets buried. Beginners, advanced lifters and competing athletes all come on these holidays and the programming gets scaled to whoever's standing in front of the coach.

What sets this apart from a standard European fitness camp is the equipment substitution. There are no rowing ergs — there are sea kayaks. No assault bikes — there are mountain bikes, and you ride them on the trails in the hills behind Kardamili. The recovery swim happens in the Messinian Gulf, which is warm and clear from late spring. The long hike on the Adventure week runs four to five hours through the paths of the Taygetos mountains, and the shorter one is about two and a half hours. The sunset bike tour is two hours and finishes as the light goes orange over the water.

Kardamili itself is a proper village, not a resort strip. It sits on the coast about 35km south of Kalamata, with pebble beaches, a handful of tavernas and a small harbour. The Mani region around it is rocky and relatively undeveloped compared with the rest of the Greek coast, which is exactly why the hotel was built here. You'll get a private transfer from Kalamata Airport both ways, arranged in advance, and a personal travel assistant who's reachable 24/7 for the length of your stay.

The yoga classes — three a week on both packages — are held on the property. They're not the main event and they're not pitched as a spiritual overhaul; they're there to keep you moving on the days your shoulders and hips are wrecked from the barbell work. If you want to add personal training sessions, massages or Ayurveda consultations, you can bolt them onto your package during booking.

One thing worth knowing before you book: because this runs on a come-and-go basis with no fixed group, your training partners change through the week as people arrive and leave. Some guests find that energising; if you specifically want a fixed cohort from day one to day seven, a dated retreat will suit you better.

What's included

- Private accommodation at Melitsina Village Hotel, Kardamili - Private round-trip airport transfer from Kalamata Airport - Healthy breakfast buffet daily - 3 hours of small-group coaching (max 4 people) — Crosstraining skills - Daily Fitness Unboxed sessions / WODs (Crosstraining package) - 3x Fitness Unboxed sessions / WODs per week (Adventure package) - 3x yoga classes per week - 1x sea kayaking excursion with picnic, 4 hours (Adventure package) - 1x long hike, 4–5 hours (Adventure package) - 1x short hike, 2.5 hours (Adventure package) - 1x sunset bike tour, 2 hours (Adventure package) - Personal travel assistant available 24/7 - Travel insurance - Goodie bag

What's not included

- International and domestic flights - Lunch and dinner - Optional add-ons (additional personal training, massages, Ayurveda consultations) - Personal expenses - Alcoholic drinks - Anything not listed under included services