Puglia Yoga, Cycling and Beach Week: A Wellness Escape in Southern Italy

The retreat base is a restored masseria about twenty minutes inland from the Adriatic coast, surrounded by olive groves and dry-stone walls. There's a shaded garden with a pool, a covered terrace where meals are served, and a yoga shala on the property. Rooms are spread across the main house and a couple of converted outbuildings.

A typical day starts around 7:30 with an hour and a quarter of yoga — usually a slow vinyasa flow in the morning and a longer stretch-and-mobility session later in the week. Breakfast is at 9. Rides leave between 10 and 10:30 on cycling days, covering roughly 30 to 45 km through small towns like Ostuni, Cisternino and the coastal road towards Torre Canne, with a coffee stop and a swim stop built in. A support van follows the route, so you can hop in whenever you've had enough.

What makes this one different from a lot of Italian yoga weeks is that the cycling is a genuine part of the programme, not a token add-on. The routes are planned, the bikes are properly maintained hybrid or road bikes, and the guide knows which lanes are quiet and which café does the best pasticciotto. Yoga and riding are run by two different people who both live in the region.

The group is capped, and that changes the feel of the week — you'll know everyone's name by day two. The crowd is usually a mix of solo travellers in their 30s to 60s, a few couples, and the occasional pair of friends. Some people come fit and ride hard, others potter along at the back with the van nearby. Both work.

Evenings are unhurried. Dinner is at 8, usually four courses, wine included, and most people are in bed by 10:30 because the mornings start early. There's one evening trip into Ostuni for dinner in town and one afternoon set aside for a cooking class making orecchiette by hand.

What's included

- 7 nights accommodation in the masseria - Daily breakfast - Lunch on cycling and activity days - Dinner every night except the Ostuni evening out - Wine with dinner - Daily yoga and mobility classes - Guided cycling with support van and route planning - Bike and helmet hire for the week - Pasta-making cooking class - Yoga mats, blocks and straps

What's not included

- Flights to Brindisi or Bari - Airport transfers (can be arranged for an extra cost) - Travel insurance - Dinner in Ostuni on the free evening - Massages and spa treatments - Personal expenses, drinks outside of dinner, tips