Top 7 Airbnb wellness experiences around the world

Airbnb’s new range of wellness experiences offer travellers local-approved adventures at wallet-friendly prices. From shamanic healing ceremonies to guided running tours, here, we round up seven of our top picks.

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Any healthy traveller worth their compression tights will tell you the best way to experience a new place is to get out and do something active.

But when you don’t know where you’re going or which way to run, the treadmill in your hotel gym can be about as good as it gets.

Enter Airbnb Experiences. This new arm to the travel behemoth’s business offers experiences hosted by locals with insider knowledge or specialist training — and wellness experiences are leading the charge.

Wellness holidays to places like Bali are gaining in popularity. Picture: Supplied

The range of activities on offer is epic — from shamanic healing ceremonies to guided running tours — but one thing they all have in common is that they’re about as far from a dingy hotel gym or cringy hop-on hop-off bus tour as you can get.

Here, we round up seven of our top picks.

For more information, go to airbnb.com.au/experiences

DO A SPIRITUAL CLEANSE

Bali

Bali has long been a mecca for the spiritually curious, but if you’re keen to try something beyond the usual Ubud yoga break, why not give a shamanic ritual and guidance session a go?

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The full-day Meditate with a Shaman experience includes basking in the sacred waters of Mengening, a Balinese water temple, while a local shaman leads a ritual designed to clear blocked energy and shift negativity from your body and mind.

There are a number of wellness experiences on offer in Bali. Picture: Como Hotels

After the ceremony, the shaman offers spiritual guidance (translated by your guide Luh) to help guide guests in living their best life.

COST: About $125 per person

RUN THE CITY

London

Get to grips with the city while you work up a sweat on the London Palaces and Power Running Tour.

Hosted by an accredited fitness instructor, this two-hour trot takes you past some of the UK’s most famous landmarks, including Buckingham Palace, Downing St and the Houses of Parliament.

Take part in the London Palaces and Power Running Tour. Picture: AP/Sang Tan

Guide Nikki also offers travel advice and fitness tips throughout the run to help keep you on track with your health and fitness while you’re in Ol’ Blighty.

COST: About $65 per person

SNORKEL WITH AN EXPERT

Sydney

Did you know that the breathing rhythms used when snorkelling are similar to those used in meditative techniques that calm your mind and relax your body?

The Snorkel in Manly experience takes this to a whole new — ahem, low — level as local expert James takes you to the best-possible spots for spectacular marine-life viewing, and he can tell you all about the sealife, too!

Snorkel in Manly.

Enjoy the calming effect of gliding through the water while your host takes care of all the details — including taking pictures for you throughout the tour.

COST: $65 per person

TRY FOREST BATHING

Portugal

It’s no longer just Japan offering the calming ritual of shinrin-yoku (a.k.a. forest bathing).

Over the past decade, this natural therapy has gone global, and one of the best offerings is the Forest Therapy Walk through the Serra da Sintra National Park in Portugal.

Try forest bathing in picturesque Portugal.

Local host Maria guides you through the three-hour experience, which combines a leisurely walk with meditation and that promises to leave you feeling relaxed and more connected to nature and yourself.

COST: About $40 per person

MEDITATE

Byron Bay

Capitalise on the good vibes during your next Byron break with Private Meditation Classes in Paradise.

Teacher Sally has spent more than 10 years studying different holistic and spiritual modalities and will tailor tuition to suit your needs.

For a more local wellness break, head to Byron Bay.

Anxiety, concentration, confidence … you name it, Sally can create a class that’ll give you skills to take back to real life.

COST: $88 per person

GO TRAIL-RIDING

Cuba

See beyond Havana’s much-Instagrammed locales by taking a horse ride Through the Countryside. Host Hernan leads groups of 10 on a breathtaking trail ride through the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Viñales Valley, a couple of hours west of Havana.

Try trail-riding in Cuba. Picture: Annie Boyd

The four-and-a-half-hour trek spans some of the country’s most beautiful countryside and provides first-hand insight into the history and culture of the region.

COST: About $30 per person

TRY ACROYOGA

Lake Tahoe

If you’re travelling the west coast of the US, learn how to do airborne yoga with this private Acroyoga Experience.

Acroyoga is an option in Lake Tahoe. Picture: Nikkos Daskalakis

Overlooking Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, hosts Dana and Jax first demonstrate, then gently guide you through, the basic postures, core work and balance needed to perfect this fun yoga hybrid.

Leave your ego at the door and be prepared to wobble, laugh and maybe even pull off a few Insta-worthy poses.

COST: About $50 per person