Women's Yoga & Ski Retreats in the Italian Alps — Small-Group Wellness Weeks in the Aosta Valley

The retreats are based in the Aosta Valley, the Italian region that borders France and Switzerland and contains Mont Blanc, the Matterhorn and the Gran Paradiso National Park. Each week runs from a specific village — Valtournenche and Cervinia in the Cervinia Valley, Brusson and Champoluc in the Monterosa Ski area, Pila above Aosta, and Rhemes-Notre-Dame inside the Gran Paradiso park. Which one you get depends on the date you book. The autumn departures are built around the foliage — golden larch, silver birch and chestnut — and include a visit to the historic town of Aosta and a wine tasting during the grape harvest. The winter ones are built around snow: alpine skiing, freeride, snowshoe walks and the cross-country trails at Brusson.

A typical day on a ski week starts with breakfast at the hotel, then heading out on the slopes or onto snowshoe trails for the morning. You come back for lunch, and the afternoon is yoga and meditation — yin, restorative, Yoga Nidra, sound baths, depending on the day — followed by spa time, then dinner together. The summer and autumn hiking weeks swap the skiing for guided walks among the trees and up mountain trails, with the same two-sessions-a-day yoga pattern. On the 7-day September retreat there are also workshops on Ayurveda, essential oils and forest bathing, plus an indoor pool and spa rituals at the hotel.

The main thing that separates these from a standard ski holiday or a bigger yoga retreat is the size and the fact that they're run by the two women who live there. Anita and Virna are both based in the Aosta Valley and lead the retreats themselves rather than handing them to staff. Groups are capped small, so the pace stays unhurried and the yoga can be pitched at whoever is actually in the room. Both ski weeks and hiking weeks are designed so that beginners and experienced people can be in the same group — skiing is arranged around your level, and the yoga is adapted.

Food is homemade Italian mountain cooking, much of it from local ingredients, with breakfast and dinner included at the hotel restaurant. Guests regularly mention the dinners and the local wine in reviews. Dietary needs can be accommodated if you flag them at booking. Rooms are in the partner hotels and vary by departure — most are double rooms available for single occupancy or for two women sharing. The September Cervinia Valley retreat, for example, had two double rooms left at the time of listing, each bookable as a single or as a share. The 6-night Alpine Awakening week in May runs from a 4-star hotel with a spa, outdoor jacuzzi and vegetarian cuisine, at the foot of the Matterhorn.

Practical detail: retreats generally run from a Thursday or Wednesday afternoon arrival to a Sunday or Monday morning departure, so you'll want to fly into Turin or Milan and arrange a transfer or hire a car — the hosts can advise. Everything on the daily schedule is optional, and plenty of women take an afternoon off to read, use the spa or wander into the village. The December and Christmas-market weeks are the most festive, the February and March weeks usually have the best snow, and the June and October hiking weeks are the ones to book if you want the mountains without the skis.

What's included

- Accommodation at the partner alpine hotel (2 to 6 nights depending on departure) - Daily breakfast and dinner at the hotel restaurant - Two daily yoga or meditation sessions - Guided hikes, snowshoe walks or ski guiding - Spa access where the hotel has one - Seasonal extras such as wine tasting, mountain lunches or a Christmas market visit - Yoga mats and props - Hosted throughout by Anita and Virna - Workshop sessions on selected retreats (Ayurveda, essential oils, forest bathing)

What's not included

- Flights to and from Italy - Airport transfers - Travel insurance - Ski passes, ski or snowboard hire - Lunches (except where specified as part of an excursion) - Spa treatments and massages - Personal expenses, drinks outside of meals - Optional extra activities