Great Yoga Retreats

Looking for a vacation that leaves you relaxed, restored, and uplifted? In Great Escapes Yoga: The Retreat Book, 2020 Edition, Angelika Taschen compiles the most exquisite and inspirational yoga retreats around the world, from an exotic luxury hotel in Bhutan to a spiritual ashram in India, a beach resort in Mexico to a tucked-away treasure in Brazil’s tropical forests.

Highlights include the Parmarth Niketan Ashram in Rishikesh—one of the holy cities of the Ganges and a renowned pilgrimage site where the Beatles attended the Maharishi’s ashram in 1968; and Santani, a 48-acre former tea plantation in Sri Lanka where restorative bliss meets the highest sustainable and eco-standards. Italy is not just a destination for the cultural and culinary traveler but also for the dedicated yogi: Santa Maria del Sole in Puglia strike a balance between yoga and the sensual Italian lifestyle. A hidden gem in the high planes of Brazil, Alto Paraíso is nestled in lush tropical forest, home to some of the world’s most diverse flora and fauna. The Esalen Institute in Big Sur is a legendary New Age destination, offering yoga and much more, with over 500 spiritual and physical workshops; Kretashala, one of Europe’s most popular sites for Vinyasa Yoga, offers authentic Cretan cuisine and breathtaking views of the endless expanse of the Libyan sea; while Amansala’s Bikini Boot Camp in Tulum, Mexico, combines beach life with yoga classes.

The editor
Angelika Taschen studied art history and German literature in Heidelberg, gaining her doctorate in 1986. Working for TASCHEN from 1987, she has published numerous titles on art, architecture, photography, design, travel, and lifestyle.

Texts by
Kristin Rübesamen is a certified senior Yoga teacher and writer based in Berlin. She is the editor-in-chief of Yoga Easy, one of Europe’s foremost online yoga platforms. A former journalist, she is the author of Everyone Is Enlightened. Confessions of a Yoga Teacher, the first memoir on how to become a yoga teacher, as well as the book Das Yoga ABC and the novel Außer Atem (2019), a psychological thriller set in the world of yoga.