This year, Austria’s wellness industry attracted high-profile visitors seeking luxurious ways to enhance their health. Celebrities like Nicole Kidman, Rebel Wilson, and Elizabeth Hurley visited Austria for treatments focused on metabolism, detoxification, and other wellness and medical needs.
But celebrities aren’t the only ones interested in Austria’s wellness offerings. Booking.com’s Travel Predictions for 2025 reveal more than half of American travelers would pay for a vacation to extend their lifespan and well-being, highlighting a growing interest in longevity-focused activities.
Adding to the appeal of Austria, Simply Red, Sting, and Bryan Adams will visit the country for a ski season kickoff event in the Schladming-Dachstein region — the highest mountain peak in Austria — from Dec. 6-8, 2024.
But even for those coming primarily for winter activities or concerts, wellness opportunities remain in focus. The Global Wellness Institute’s (GWI) data shows secondary wellness travel accounts for 88% of all wellness trips. These travelers actively seek healthy accommodations, food, and wellness experiences even though their primary trip purpose is something else.
While Austria is not one of the “Blue Zones” (yet), is the country becoming a new hotspot for wellness travelers? These unconventional options certainly make for unique wellness spots.
Find Inner Peace With Forest Bathing in Leogang
Forest bathing was first introduced by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries in 1982 to encourage citizens to visit nature. Since then, its popularity led to countless scientific studies showing the emotional, restorative, and vitalizing effects of time in forests.
Asitz Mountain in Leogang emerges as the heart of forest-focused wellness in Austria. This “Mountain of Senses” is a popular ski resort home to Europe’s largest bike park.
Asitz features a “Senses Park” with 30 unique installations that engage visitors’ senses of sight, smell, sound, and touch. Its 5-mile-long forest bathing trail boasts 14 stations, including a wooden bridge, yoga platform, treetop bed, nature swing, and more. Guests can also experience “Peaceful Water,” with Kneipp hydrotherapy facilities, or relax among the TONspuren Islands’ nature and music.
Naturhotel Forsthofgut lies at the foot of Asitz Mountain and offers immersive nature-focused wellness experiences like forest bathing. The surrounding forests are the property’s “most precious place of power,” says Naturhotel Forsthofgut owner Christoph Schmuck. Staff aim to share nature’s peace and energy with all guests.
Guests can relax in the massive 61,000 sq ft spa facilities or choose one of their signature experiences. Among them is “waldHARMONIE,” a 110-minute treatment that begins with a mindfulness hike and includes stretching and breathing exercises, followed by an open-air full-body massage in the forest clearing.
Radon Therapy in Bad Gastein’s Healing Cave
There are a handful of locations in the world that offer radon therapy. Gastein Heilstollen (in English, “Gastein Healing Gallery”) in Bad Gastein, located in Austria’s Salzburg region, is one of them. Its radon therapy is unique because visitors take a 1.2-mile train ride down a tunnel beneath Radhausberg Mountain before the treatment begins.
This therapy combines natural radon gas, high humidity, and heat to provide significant pain relief and immune system benefits. Participants spend approximately 60 minutes in the therapy area, where the temperature is 98.6 F with a relative humidity of around 70%.
Studies show radon therapy aids in rheumatic-inflammatory diseases, respiratory conditions, skin ailments, and more. The treatment at Gastein Healing Gallery is recognized by Austrian and German health insurance providers, highlighting its medical credibility and effectiveness.
Austrian Phytobalneotherapy: Traditional Healing Hay Baths
Hay baths are a traditional wellness treatment in Austria’s Alpine region, especially popular in the Tyrolean Alps. Its origins go back centuries to Seiser Alm in Italy, the German-speaking region of South Tyrol, and the largest high-altitude Alpine meadow in Europe.
This therapy combines the benefits of fermented plants (phytotherapy), thermal bathing (balneotherapy), and the positive health effects of high-altitude environments (climatotherapy), making it a unique and holistic approach to relaxation and healing.
Hay bath involves soaking in warm, fermented alpine hay. The hay, harvested at high altitudes, contains herbs like arnica and chamomile, known for their therapeutic properties.
Several eco-hotels around Austria offer hay baths: Landhotel Schermer in Westendorf, Alpenresort Schwarz in Obermieming, and Bio-hotel Stanglwirt in Going am Wilden Kaiser.
Boosting Your Immune System the Austrian Way
The Mayr Cure is a gut-health cleanse developed by Viennese doctor Francis Xavier Mayr over a century ago, long before gut health became trendy.
The Mayr Method focuses on detoxing the digestive system through three main pillars: rest (including fasting), detoxification (avoiding alcohol, caffeine, refined sugars, and fatty foods), and mindful eating (like chewing each bite thoroughly and eating in silence).
VIVAMAYR Health Resorts have become famous for developing a new approach based on the Mayr Method, which they call “Modern Mayr Medicine” for gut health and overall wellness.
Research shows about two-thirds of the immune system resides in the gut microbiome. The more diverse your gut flora, the stronger your immune defenses. Fasting can be a vital tool in boosting immune health, maintaining an alkaline-based diet, focusing on relaxation, and even adding some cuddle time between outdoor exercises — all of which are part of VIVAMAYR’s approach to supporting a resilient immune system.
From forest bathing in Leogang’s serene alpine woods to phytobalneotherapy in Tyrol, the country of Austria invites you to relax, unwind, and recharge. Radon therapy at Bad Gastein’s underground caves or VIVAMAYR’s holistic therapies set against the stunning backdrop of the Alps are prime examples of why Austria is renowned for wellness tourism.
