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My boyfriend and I want to go camping (in style, if I get my way) preferably near home this summer, but we’d like to go somewhere we can also have some treatments. Any advice? Jane Weekes, Essex

Times Online Spas & Lifestyle Expert Caroline Sylger Jones responds:

There’s a new set up in Sussex that might appeal to you, especially if this rain continues and you’re looking to stay in something sturdier than a two-man tent. Woodland Yurting is reached down a long track from the hamlet of The Haven near Billingshurst, and has five comfy (and watertight!) yurts set in a clearing and surrounded by 80 acres of unspoilt forest. It’s highly affordable – from £40 per yurt, per night, midweek for two.

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My husband and I felt very relaxed here, even though I’m not usually someone who likes to walk to the shower in my wellies. I had a very soothing full body holistic massage with Amanda Porter, an attentive alternative therapist with an effective touch, carried out in an attractive little cottage warmed by a simple wood burner. The cottage is set at the edge of a peaceful wild flower meadow, and it was a lovely wind-me-down to walk through the woods to reach it.

You can certainly get back-to-nature here - you bring your own food, cook on your own fire bowl and can birdwatch from the eco-friendly compost loos - binoculars are provided on a hook. We really enjoyed a couple of bushcraft taster sessions with Clive Cobie, a qualified Bushcraft Instructor passionate about outdoor living who also happens to live in a self-built house in the forest. He taught Tom how to make me a piece of silver jewellery (for which of course I thanked him), while I learnt how to make decorative pottery tiles using clay harvested from the nearby woodland stream and some pretty silver moulds from India.

Elsewhere in the UK, I’d also recommend the two very comfortable Mongolian yurts at Botelet Farm near Herodsfoot in Cornwall (from £300 per week, www.botelet.com), where local therapist Rachel Fisher (www.bodhi-works.co.uk) offers treatments such as Swedish massage and reflexology. And Eco Retreats (www.ecoretreats.co.uk) near Machynlleth in Wales, where you can stay in well-decked-out Native American teepees on 36 acres of an organic farm. The price includes reiki and a session of guided meditation as well as tickets for Centre for Alternative Technology and an organic welcome hamper (from £305 for two people for two nights).

If this rain persists and threatens a deluge, you may feel inclined towards a short flight. If so, the solar-powered Hoopoe Yurt Hotel (www.yurthotel.com) in Andalucia, southern Spain will offer a balmier experience. Set in olive groves and cork oak forest, the yurts are gorgeously decorated, there’s a swimming pool, and you can have massage, reflexology or one-to-one yoga (from €130 per night for two including breakfast).

For more ideas on retreats, see Body & Soul Escapes: Britain & Ireland and Body & Soul Escapes (the worldwide guide) by Caroline Sylger Jones, published by Footprint Books (see carolinesylgerjones.co.uk).

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