For quiet
Euphoria Retreat
Mystras · Laconia · Peloponnese
Carved into the pine-clad foothills of Mount Taygetos, beside the Byzantine ghost-city of Mystras, Euphoria Retreat is Greece's first true destination spa. It opened in July 2018 as the vision of Marina Efraimoglou — a former investment banker who turned to holistic healing after surviving illness and burnout, and who studied Chinese medicine before building this place.
The philosophy deliberately marries two traditions — ancient Greek thought and Chinese medicine — organised around the five elements of water, wood, fire, earth and metal. The result is a retreat that feels closer to a small monastery of wellbeing than a resort.
A 3,000-square-metre spa sinks into the mountainside across four levels, anchored by the dramatic Sphere Pool — a stone dome over thermal water that drops to four metres at its centre — alongside a Byzantine hammam, saunas and a 25-metre Waterwell.
Dining happens at Gaia, where contemporary Greek and Mediterranean cooking leans on organic, seasonal Peloponnese produce — much of it grown in the property's own garden.
Greece has spas; this is the rare one built around an idea rather than a menu of treatments. You leave lighter, and the table doesn't undo the point.
