New Year Yoga and Walking Retreat, Atlas Mountains, Morocco
December 29, 2024 - January 3, 2025
‘I wanted to say how absolutely chuffed I am that I booked Satvada’s New Year Yoga & Walking retreat in Morocco. It was such a great few days with an amazing back-drop, super, like-minded people; and the loveliest yoga I've experienced. The accommodation and food were great and the hikes a perfect tonic to the yoga, each walk so different and enjoyable. Afterwards I felt completely refreshed and re-set. Thanks so much.’
- Carol G
Welcome
A truly Moroccan New Year at our trusted mountain retreat: an eco-consious Berber castle surrounded by panoramic Atlas views. Soak up garden and mountain vistas and luminous winter sunshine from the pool, terraces & bedrooms. Blow away cobwebs with twice-daily Mindful Yoga and optional guided walks. New Year’s eve features a gala dinner and live music from local musicians!
“Thank you to Satvada for such a wonderful New Year's Yoga and Hiking holiday in the Atlas Mountains. I had an absolutely wonderful time - it was a beautiful venue, I made amazing new friends and got to enjoy incredible Yoga and Walking. I feel like a new person! I can't recommend you highly enough.” - Tamsin A
New Year Yoga and Walking Retreat, Atlas Mountains, Morocco
December 29, 2024 - January 3, 2025
Your retreat experience
We are thrilled to be returning to the incredible Atlas Mountains for New Year 2024/25 and to again be staying at this very special Berber castle-inspired hotel spectacularly perched on a hill-top. Marrakech is just a 40-minute drive away.
Soak up some winter sun (average daytime temperatures are 20 degrees celsius with crisp, evocative nights) and join us for a burst of Moroccan sunshine, light and colour as you begin your new year having had time to re-set and perhaps find fresh perspectives. Yoga beginners are extremely welcome, as are those with an established practice.
Our five-night New Year Yoga and Walking retreat offers an open schedule of mindful yoga, walking and relaxation that can be as active or relaxed as you choose (and need).
Our host venue is owned and run by a Brit who, 15 years ago, had a vision for a boutique hotel that integrated traditional Berber design. The result is a very special Kasbah (castle) retreat nestling in lush landscaped gardens ripe with olives, almonds, figs and pomegranates.
Five years in the making the love and care poured into this project is tangible. Breathtaking views of the surrounding High Atlas Mountains, which stretch for almost 1,000 km across the middle of Morocco, are present from the terraces and bedrooms, vistas sharpened by brilliant winter light.
These extensive mountain vistas contribute to a sense of space and light where colours and textures are constantly changing. It’s against this expansive backdrop that we practice our twice-daily Mindful Yoga sessions, enjoy three meals a day and perhaps opt to stride out in guided group hikes, all of which are led from the door (see below) and change each day.
Whether you are travelling solo or with a partner or friend, expect to live and eat well, nurturing mind and body with mountain air, Yoga and Relaxation and your own choice of balance between alone time and socialising.
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En-suite twin room shared by two female travellers (solo travellers booking to share a room will be matched with another solo female traveller): £1299 per person
En-suite twin or double room shared by two people travelling together: £1299 per person
Solo occupancy of en-suite room: £1899
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The retreat runs December 29, 2024 - January 3, 2025.
Guests are welcome to arrive at any time on December 29 and leave at any time on January 3 (unless guests are staying extra nights). Airport transfers will be arranged to meet all flights.
On arrival day, December 29, the retreat will start with an evening practice session (if enough people have arrived!) and meal; and the first morning yoga session on Dec 30.
On departure day, January 3, there will be a morning yoga session and breakfast.
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Twice-daily yoga classes
En-suite accommodation
All food (breakfast, lunch and dinner).
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Guided 2.5 / 3-hour hikes from the door: the approx cost of 15 euros pp is based on an average of six people. The figure could be more or less than this depending on the group size on any particular day.
Flights
Full travel insurance
Return taxi transfers from the airport (price TBC) and any extra nights
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Guests often opt to extend their break (either arriving before or staying on after the retreat has ended) by a night or more, depending on the hotel's availability. Please email us to enquire. Or stay in central Marrakech where we can recommend, and put you in touch with, a few Riads.
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Taxi transfers from Marrakech Menara airport to our retreat venue cost 28 euros return, payable to the venue (by card or cash) on departure. Unless otherwise informed we arrange all taxi transfers to meet flights.
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Guests may arrive at any time on December 29 and leave at any time on January 3 (unless extra nights have been arranged).
Flights are not included as part of the retreat. London to Marrakech flights are usually direct and take 3.5 hours. They are operated by:
Ryanair (from Stansted)
Easyjet (from Luton or Gatwick)
Wizz Air (from Gatwick)
British Airways (from Heathrow)
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Approx daily schedule (subject to change):
7.15am coffee, tea available
7.45 - 9am mindful yoga
9.15am breakfast
10.30am-1.30pm optional hikes from the door
1.45pm light lunch
5.30 - 6.45pm gentle evening practice
7.15pm dinner
Price:
En-suite twin room shared by two female travellers (solo travellers booking to share a room will be matched with another solo female traveller): £1299 per person
En-suite twin or double room shared by two people travelling together: £1299 per person
Solo occupancy of en-suite room: £1899
Booking:
Please select booking button below.
“I was a little apprehensive about the daily yoga sessions as I'm not a regular practitioner - but this retreat was just the perfect combination of relaxation, yoga and sightseeing. I'll never forget the warmth of Moroccan hospitality, the vivid colours of the souk or practising Sun Salutations under a cloudless blue sky. Thank you!” - Karen H
Our Yoga and Meditation
Twice-daily Mindful Yoga and Meditation classes will be held in the Kasbah’s studio or, weather depending, on the sweeping roof terrace where views of the High Atlas Mountains are at their most spectacular.
Our morning sessions will be more dynamic and flowing though suitable for most, whilst evening classes will be soft and reflective, comprising meditation and very gentle postures drawn from restorative and yin yoga. Complete yoga beginners are welcome: guests should be able to get on and off the floor with ease. Please do contact us before booking to discuss if you are unsure.
We are delighted to welcome Yoga Teacher and Ayurvedic practitioner Magali Swift to teach this retreat for us. See below for more about Magali.
“Why go? To completely reboot your mind and body. Satvada Retreats runs a variety of three and five-day yoga and meditation breaks in beautiful locations.... Whether you’re a yoga buff or a newbie, travelling solo or with a friend, these retreats - run by yoga teacher Lucia Cockcroft and her partner Darren Cooper - are super-friendly. Every day is properly structured but also very relaxed, so you can join in as much or as little as you like.” - Trish Halpin, editor, Marie-Claire Magazine
Optional hikes from the door
Whilst guided walks are not included as part of the retreat guests are very welcome to organise this direct with the hotel’s reception team by a certain time the previous day. Payment to be settled direct with the hotel on departure.
Hikes are around three hours’ long and, given the precipitous terrain, can be described as moderately challenging. Most guests tell us - and we heartily agree! - that hikes are a highlight of a stay here, crossing streams, woodland and pastures, through a patchwork of emerald-green fields sprinkled with cacti, olive and argan trees.
Morocco’s vivid colours are present in the contrast of the blues of the sky and the burnt orange base of the rock. It is common to meet shepherds tending to their goats and we skirt ancient Berber villages with our brilliant guide, Abdel, pointing out native birds, plants and trees along the way.
Our food offering
We include three nourishing meals a day, rustled up by the Kasbah’s chefs! Food is wholesome and balanced: expect lots of delicious local breads, cereal and eggs (or our favourite, eggs Berber) for breakfast, buffet-style soups and salads for lunch and a hearty stew for example) with rice or couscous for dinner. Local Moroccan wine is available at guests’ expense for those choosing to enjoy!
Both vegetarian and meat options will be available. It may not be possible to cater for vegan diets or special requirements - please check before booking.
“I stand in a portico hung with gentian-blue ipomeas … and look out on a land of mists and mysteries; a land of trailing silver veils through which domes and minarets, mighty towers and ramparts of flushed stone, hot palm groves and Atlas snows, peer and disappear at the will of the Atlantic cloud drifts.”
– Edith Wharton, In Morocco
Your home away from home
Accommodation is comfortable, peaceful and spacious (rather than luxurious) with a boutique yet rustic feel befitting the rural setting.
Rooms, all of which are en-suite, are traditionally designed with Moroccan materials: cedar and eucalyptus wood, red sandstone, hand-made clay tiles, locally-made furniture with Berber motifs.
Rooms are separate from the main building and boast a small terrace with beautiful views of either the gardens or the valley below.
A word about our teacher
French-born Magali Swift will teach our New Year Atlas Mountains retreat. Magali initially trained as a Yoga teacher in India in 2017 before embarking on an 18-month period teaching yoga retreats around the world.
She loves to lead groups and facilitate the retreat process, describing her style of practising and teaching as ‘free flow movement’ that invoices aspects of qigong, body tapping, meditation, breath and energy work.
She says about leading the New Year 2024/25 Atlas Mountains retreat: ‘I can’t wait to see you all and give you a big warm hug! No obligation, but be warned - I’m a hugger!
Magali is also a popular teacher for our sister company Yoga at the Mill.
