If you feel like you're in need of a little self-care this spring, you're not alone. Taking a break from normal life to relax and indulge can have benefits for your physical and mental health. But if the thought of reclining in a spa with a towel wrapped around your head and cucumber slices over your eyes seems a little stale, what can you do instead?
All over the country, spas are regenerating and renewing. Today, it's about going back to basics. Gone are the days of rushing through your two-hour slot and avoiding eye contact with that overly comfortable old man in the sauna. Instead, head to the great outdoors where you can soak away your stress in your own private hot tub under the stars, or swap the stuffiness of a steam room for fresh woodland air.
Click through for our pick of the UK's natural spas.
Chiltern Yurt Retreat
Just a 45-minute train ride from London and a short walk from Wendover's bustling high street (and a couple of truly excellent pubs), this retreat is nevertheless secluded enough that the only sounds are birdsong and a nearby babbling brook. You can choose from three kinds of accommodation, including a reclaimed wooden tabernacle complete with double bathtub.
Alternatively, plump for a light-filled cabin with stream-side terrace or spend your break in a traditional yurt with its own kitchen and bathroom (in case you don't want to get too close to nature). Whichever you go for, you'll have your own wood-fired hot tub as well as a choice of traditional and alternative therapies. Book yourself in for a treatment or simply kick back beside the fire pit, stare up at the stars and indulge in a little forest bathing.
Chiltern Yurt Retreat Buckinghamshire, from £62.50 per person, per night. Treatments available: aromatherapy, remedial massage, reiki and reflexology.
North Star Club
Set among Yorkshire's rolling dales, North Star Club is the ideal place to get away from it all while remaining in the lap of luxury. You'll find each American rustic-inspired suite complete with a four-poster bed and wood-burning stove, surrounded by a large covered veranda and decorated with gorgeous vintage finds. Take your friends and book into a larger cabin so you can enjoy your treatments together before cosying up around the canopied campfire each evening.
Alternatively, if you're really in need of a break, book into the Star Suite with your SO or for some ultra indulgent me-time. Here you can soak away the day in the copper bathtub and warm up in your private infrared sauna. If too much introspection leaves you hankering for company, head to the communal chill-out space to stargaze with your fellow campers.
North Star Club Yorkshire, from £45 per person, per night. Treatments available: manicures, massage and alternative therapies on request.
Brambells
This is camping but not as you know it. Forget struggling to erect a semi-waterproof two-man tent in the drizzle; when you arrive at Brambells you'll be welcomed into a luxurious bell tent with four-poster bed, crisp white sheets and your own wood-burning stove. Choose to wake up to dappled sunlight through your tent walls each morning or bathe in moonlight in one of the aptly named Stargazer tents, which have clear ceilings.
Forget, too, about grim concrete shower blocks; each tent has a bathroom as well as the shared woodland spa. Relax your muscles in the sauna pod, then take a turn beneath the outdoor rainfall shower. You can even book a treatment beneath the trees, using only ethical, natural products free from harsh chemicals and sourced from the UK. Good for the planet; excellent for you.
Brambells Norfolk, from £42 per person, per night. Treatments available: massage, exfoliation and facial.
Crafty Camping
This 'woodland hotel' is an ideal place to get back to nature, but it's far more about self-care than roughing it. The design is so polished it's won architectural awards and between the trees there are hidden luxuries, like the yurt with a secret sauna and showers made from woven willow branches which are available to all guests. You can even dip your feet into the calm waters of the site's fishing pond. There's also a communal pizza oven, because what does you more good than pizza?
Accommodation options range from bell tents to shepherd huts, but for a really fancy break we suggest you explore their treehouse. Perched amid the treetops is a private spa deck, fully furnished sauna and hot tub. Downstairs you'll find a rotating fireplace and an extra large copper tub – accessed from above by a stainless steel slide! Sit back and relax in the knowledge that this treehouse was designed to impact the local ecosystem as little as possible.
Crafty Camping Dorset, from £44 per person, per night. Treatments available: none.
Secret Cloud House
Secret Cloud House's meadowside yurts are good for groups of all sizes. Relax with friends in their larger yurts, which offer three single beds alongside a luxurious double, plus a private dining area. Or if you're looking for something more romantic, book into the yurt with an antique French kingsize bed. All yurts come with a private outdoor wood-fired hot tub.
Head to the communal sauna and take your R&R to the next level. With a menu of essential oils, each visit can be tailored to your mood. Secret Cloud House also offers a fully equipped treatment suite, lit by candlelight and warmed by a roaring fire. You can choose from facials using organic products infused with local beeswax and floral waters, as well as hot stone massages and foot treatments. When you're done, walk through the wildflowers back to your yurt and watch the stars come out from your private terrace.
Secret Cloud House Staffordshire , from £63 per person, per night. Treatments available: massage, foot treatments and facials.
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