Frolicking in a field or walking through woodland delivers a slump of the shoulders matched only by taking off your bra after a long day. Yet, how often do you actually do it? Get back to nature – and yourself – on one of these alfresco adventures
01 Switzerland
What: Magic in the mountains
Where: TCS Pop-Up Glamping in Laax (runs June to September)
How much: From £175 per night, including breakfast and dinner (tcs-glamping.ch/glamping)
Who: Amanda Statham, WH contributing travel editor
Mountains: not just for winter? Far from it. Laax is in the eastern Graubunden region of Switzerland and it’s true that it’s best known as a ski resort. But it’s arguably even more stunning during the offseason, when it’s easily reached via a couple of cheap, always-on-time trains from Zurich Airport. And if Switzerland isn’t high on your bucket list, it really should be. Not only is it under two hours by plane from the UK, but it has some of the most spectacular (and unspoiled) scenery in the world.
I’m listening... You will be after an hour with Sandra Schmidt. Laax’s resident wellbeing expert is so committed to her cause of helping you hear the forest that she’s willing to blindfold you in the name of wellness (more on this later). Sandra runs forest bathing sessions from the Wes Anderson-esque Schweizerhof Flims Hotel (it’s well worth a Google) and within minutes of meeting her in the hotel reception, she’s guiding me through the trees and helping me coordinate my breath with my steps. Next, we try a standing meditation – removing our shoes to experience the forest floor and the icy chill of a stream. So I’m already feeling pretty chill when the blindfold comes out. Sandra carefully places it over my eyes before handing me moss and leaves to smell. And once the fear of being abandoned on a Swiss mountain subsides, my other senses kick in. I can hear birds, a breeze whistling through the trees and a brook that can only be described as babbling. At the risk of being all Disney about it, when the blindfold comes off and I see the sunlight streaming through the trees, I feel a profound sense of awe.
Anything else for me to do on the mountain? Plenty. After our forest bathing session, Sandra and I walk down to Lake Cauma. Fed by glacier water warmed in underground springs, the water is Caribbean blue. It’s been affectionately (or otherwise) coined TikTok Lake by locals thanks to all the influencers flocking there for selfies. But I’m here to rewild, not regram. I join an outdoor yoga class at the edge of the water and shake off savasana with a dip in the lake. The water’s cool, but not unbearably so (no Wim Hof-style breathing to see here). And the platform in the middle of the lake is an achievable distance for a swim.
Where shall I stay? Set high on
