Wellness & Longevity in the Austrian Alps

Fly into Salzburg, clear customs, and hail a taxi to make your way to artHotel Blaue Gans, the city’s oldest inn, dating back to 1350. This distinctive 4-star boutique hotel pairs medieval character with contemporary design, boasting more than 120 original works of art thoughtfully woven throughout its historic interiors.

Check in and settle into your room. Around 6 pm, we’ll gather in the hotel bar for a welcome drink and a chance to get to know one another before dinner.

Since our stay coincides with the Salzburg Opera Festival, there may also be an opportunity to attend a musical performance in the evening- what a treat!

Make your way downstairs to indulge in the hotel's hearty breakfast spread before we meet our local guide for a private walking tour of Salzburg. 

As we make our way around, we’ll soak in the city’s celebrated landmarks such as the Mirabell Palace and Gardens, the Salzburg Cathedral, and a visit to Mozart’s House, where we’ll gain a closer look at the life and work of Salzburg’s most famous son.

For lunch, we’ll settle into the historic Augustiner Brewery beer garden, a well-loved local eatery dating back to 1548. Make sure to try the beer; it's brewed by hand according to the original recipe, giving it a unique taste that's worth sampling. 

The afternoon is yours to enjoy Salzburg at your own pace, allowing you to peruse a few local shops, wander the narrow streets of the Old Town, or pause at a café that catches your eye to sip an espresso and watch the world go by. 

We'll come together around 4:30 to dive into Salzburg’s flavors on a private food tour, sampling local specialties while learning the stories and traditions behind the city’s cuisine. 

If you’re flying into Salzburg today, a private transfer will be waiting for you after customs to whisk you away to our retreat, a journey of about 1.5 hours. Please plan to arrive no later than 10:30 at the airport, so we can all arrive at Mayrlife in time for the beginning of our program. If you’ve joined us for the pre-trip extension, we’ll arrange a mid-morning group transfer from the hotel in Salzburg.

As we make our way into the countryside, we’ll stop for lunch at the Strand Café overlooking lovely Lake Altaussee.

Once we arrive, we’ll settle into Mayrlife, tucked away on the shores of the lake and surrounded by the towering peaks of the Austrian Alps. Widely regarded as one of the world’s leading medical spas, Mayrlife has welcomed guests for more than a decade, with many returning year after year. 

Its approach is rooted in the teachings of Austrian physician Dr. Franz Xaver Mayr, who believed that the digestive tract, or gut, is fundamental to human health, immunity, and long-term vitality—a philosophy that was remarkably ahead of its time when he developed it more than a century ago. 

We’ll check into our rooms, tour the property, and get acquainted with what the week will look like before gathering for an opening ceremony. Together, we’ll share our intentions for the following days and begin settling into the slower pace of life at Mayrlife, where our own doctor will guide our individual progress, treatments, and therapies throughout our stay.

We’ll enjoy our first healthy meal tonight to begin the restorative detox process amidst the fresh alpine air. 

Note: Mountain View rooms are included in the trip price; if you want to upgrade to a lakeside view, let us know.

The Mayrlife process begins with an individual examination by one of the on-site doctors, who will assess how your body is functioning and help determine the therapies best suited to you. 

Each initial diagnostic includes a 3-D Body Scan, metabolic rate e-scan, urinalysis, free radical and antioxidant analysis, acid-base and mineral nutrient analysis, and bioelectrical impedance analysis. 

These diagnostics give you a better understanding of your body and how it functions, while giving your doctor the information needed to personalize your experience throughout the week.

Every day, we’ll meet for lunch in a private space set aside just for us. Even though other guests are at the spa, we'll enjoy private guided experiences, classes, and workshops designed to meet our group's needs.

Everyone’s schedule will look different depending on what the doctors have ordered. However, everyone’s stay includes one cryotherapy cold chamber session, a hay detox wrap, and three therapeutic massages in addition to an array of other treatments. 

We'll meet for dinner to reflect on our first day while enjoying a nutritious meal customized to our needs. Of course, this week excludes wine and cocktails as we prioritize health and healing.

After breakfast, we’ll take a private guided walk to explore the surrounding area. This small town has evolved from a medieval salt-mining village into a favored summer sanctuary for Habsburg nobility, prominent writers, and classical composers. Breathe in the clean alpine air as we walk along.

Let’s meet for lunch back at the resort and check in on our individual treatments. Perhaps today you’ll receive the Glow Infusion, an IV therapy that delivers a targeted blend of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants to support cellular hydration, skin regeneration, and a healthy, radiant glow. Luckily, we’ll all have the opportunity to experience this rejuvenating treatment during our stay.

This afternoon, we'll join an easy, private yoga class tailored to our skill level. This will be a great practice for absolute beginners, with plenty of options to make it more challenging for more advanced yogis. 

As we wrap up a rejuvenating day of treatments with plenty of time to rest and relax, we’ll come together again for a relaxing meal to enjoy one another’s company.

By now, we’re settling into the retreat's rhythm and feeling the benefit of time dedicated entirely to our wellbeing. We’ll begin the day with a science-based movement session designed to support endurance, strength, and mobility while being accessible to all skill levels.

Then, it's time to explore therapies such as ozone and oxygen treatments while learning practical ways to support cognitive performance and manage the effects of stress.

Following some healthy movement and therapy, why not take a cooling dip in the lake and spend some time on a sun lounger on the pier, sipping in the fresh air and Vitamin D?

Let’s meet for our midday meal and check in on how everyone is doing. By now perhaps you’ve had a chance to try the electrolysis foot bath. This warm, salty foot soak gently supports your body's natural detoxification process as an electrical current flows through the water, your feet, and around your body. Watching the water change color makes for quite the conversation starter!

Tonight, we’ll gather for a private healthy cooking class and learn how to recreate some of Mayrlife’s delicious recipes at home. The philosophy here is simple: food can be a form of preventative medicine, with the potential to support our health for years to come. 

After breakfast, let’s set out for the picturesque town of Hallstatt, just a 30-minute ride from the resort. Set against the stunning Dachstein Alps, Hallstatt is as captivating as its scenery implies. 

Its pastel-colored houses date to the 16th century, while the tiny village itself traces its history back 7,000 years, with an important salt-mining past that helped shape the region. We’ll have time to wander along the waterfront, take in the views, and enjoy some shopping or a cup of tea before returning to the resort.

Back at Mayrlife, we’ll sit down for lunch before diving back into our daily treatments and therapies. We have a group session this afternoon, where we’ll focus on stress management with breathwork techniques designed to help us slow down, reconnect with ourselves, and carry a greater sense of calm into the days ahead.

The rest of the afternoon is yours to enjoy at the spa. Spend time in the spacious brine-steamed spa and swimming pool, unwind in the pine and Finnish saunas or infrared cabins, or try the saltwater pool and water shiatsu. Whether you choose movement, stillness, or simply time to breathe, this is a chance to rest, relax, rejuvenate, recuperate, and revive.

We’ll come together for our evening meal before stepping outside to gaze at the stars over this peaceful corner of the Austrian Alps.

Let’s ring in the new month with gentle movement, followed by a therapeutic massage to give the body time to release tension and set the tone for September.

Soon, lunch will be waiting, offering another chance to reconnect and check in on how we’re feeling.

Take a stroll through the resort’s vegetable garden and see what's growing on the property before visiting the graduation tower. This open-air inhalation feature allows mineral-rich brine to drip over fir and blackthorn branches, releasing natural essential oils and creating a salty, ocean-like microclimate. It’s a wonderfully simple way to pause, breathe deeply, and enjoy the alpine surroundings.

The afternoon can unfold according to what your body needs. Perhaps it’s time for a manual abdominal treatment or a warm bed wrap, or maybe you’ll choose a quiet hour alone with your journal to reflect on the progress you’ve made. 

When we give ourselves space to focus on our health and well-being, room opens for both positive and challenging emotions to surface. The regeneration, detoxification, and purification programs are designed to reactivate the body’s natural self-healing abilities and restore vitality, and many guests find themselves sleeping more soundly, feeling more relaxed and self-assured, and experiencing a renewed sense of creativity.

Let’s gather over dinner to reflect on the thoughts and feelings that have emerged throughout the week and begin thinking about how we can bring some of what we’ve learned home.

It’s hard to believe that a full week has passed. After breakfast, we’ll have our final medical consultation and complete our last treatments and therapies. There will still be time for one final visit to the spa, or perhaps a solo stroll through the surrounding landscape to let the week’s experiences settle in and enjoy one last breath of fresh alpine air.

We’ll gather for lunch before taking more time to rest and enjoy the quiet of the resort. This final afternoon is intentionally unhurried, giving us space to reflect, recharge, and savor the peaceful rhythm we’ve created over the past week.

We’ll come together for our closing ceremony to reflect on the intentions we set at the beginning of our stay and consider how we’ll keep that momentum going once we return home. Perhaps we’ll even find ourselves talking about meeting here again next year, but for now, we leave with new knowledge, renewed energy, and the encouragement of women who have shared this experience alongside us.

It’s time for our goodbyes, along with the promise to stay connected and carry the spirit of the week forward. 

After breakfast, we’ll depart Mayrlife for Salzburg Airport, with the drive taking just over an hour. Please plan flights for after 1:00 pm, so you have adequate time to clear customs and security before your onward travel.