What the press say about Sunflower Retreats Holidays
The Examiner, Los Angeles, USA. March 2012
Lauren Maher writes…
La Dolce Vita: Italy's Sunflower Retreats
'There are still corners of the world where time seems to stretch out, where life’s frantic pace slows down. Casperia, Italy is one of these places...'
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iPhone App - Yoga Holidays Worldwide
Sunflower Retreats is listed as one of the best worldwide retreats on this new iPhone and iPad app.
Just download it from the App Store for the best of yoga and relaxing breaks around the world.
Spirit and Destiny Magazine, October 2011
Spirit and Destiny Magazine and Sunflower Retreats teamed-up to offer a lucky winner a four night break for two people in spring 2012 with accommodation, breakfast, yoga and walking included and £500 to spend.
Spirit and Destiny Magazine, August 2011
'The tranquillity of foreign climes was the setting for the re-emergence from grief of Lisa Quish a charity HR manager from Dublin. The death of her inspiring mother from cancer had engulfed Lisa in a deep depression that affected her emotional, mental and physical health.
It was yoga - a discipline practised by her mother - that attracted Lisa to Sunflower Retreats. She picked Casperia, a hillside village nestling under the Sabina Mountains, its cobbled streets completely pedestrianised. Life in the slow lane of this traditional setting allowed Lisa the time and space to practise yoga, horse riding and healthy cooking, and have holistic treatments like chakra balancing. Lisa has returned since to Casperia and has now trained to teach yoga herself.'
Om Magazine, April 2011
The Sunday Times, January 2011
'The 100 Best Value Holidays for Summer 2011'
No 52: Yoga in Lazio
£££££
It's outrageous what some people charge for yoga breaks, so it's refreshing to find something that offers good teaching, unbeatable surroundings and great value. On a week in the dramatic medieval hill town of Casperia, you'll have daily yoga classes with qualified instructors and stay in a restored palazzo - it used to belong to the local count - for just £477, B&B.
Simply Woman Magazine, January 2009
'Although Yoga retreats are not unusual - this one has a special charm. Perhaps its the location, nestled deep in the breathtaking Sabina mountains, that draws your breath away, or maybe it's something to do with the relaxing timetable, outstanding local produce and the enjoyment of meeting new people...'
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Shape Magazine, Singapore Edition, Sept 2010
We were featured in the Singapore edition of "Shape Magazine", Singapore's leading health magazine for women, in fall 2010. This travel feature includes Sunflower yoga in their ten best places in the world to learn new sports, in Shape's "10 Spots, 10 Sports - Our pick of the best places in the world to pick up a new sporting skill and get your thrills", by Jeanette Wang.
From Dream of Italy, May 2010
'This quiet and enriching experience is tucked away in the ancient hilltop village of Casperia in the Lazio region north of Rome.....'
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Good Retreat Guide, May 2010
We were featured in The Good Retreat Guide, published by Hay House, in May 2010. This definitive guide features the very best retreats in the world and Sunflower Retreats is listed as one of the greatest.
Athens Airways In-Flight Magazine, April 2010
'A stone terrace decorated with sunflowers, surrounded by the wooded slopes of the Sabina mountains....'
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From the book '100 Places in Italy Every Woman Should Go by Susan Van Allen, winner the Gold Award for Best Travel Book of the Year in the prestigious Lowell Thomas Awards sponsored by the Society of American Travel Writers Foundation.
Featured in the top 10 on ABC News web site, February 2010
'The enchanting medieval village of Casperia, north of Rome, has a time-stands-still ambience. It's the home of Sunflower Retreats, created by Lucy Bremner, a British Hatha Yoga teacher and holistic practitioner, and her husband Alan Scheda, a Casperia native.
The couple has revitalized this hilltop oasis: renovating homes, employing locals, and promoting ecotourism. Sunflower Retreat packages include morning yoga classes and accommodations scattered around the village.
Participants style their retreats any way they wish - choosing to add options such as visits to hot springs, massages, guided walks, cooking or meditation classes. All this plus welcoming natives, wonderful food, and pine-scented air make for a perfect chill-out vacation, Italian style.'
Reviews from Responsible Travel's web site »
From Grape Occasions, April 2009
'This quiet and enriching experience is tucked away in the ancient hilltop village of Casperia in the Lazio region north of Rome.....'
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Yoga Journal, February 2007
'For our honeymoon, my husband and I spent a blissful week....'
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Article from The Italian Magazine, March 2006
Sunflower Retreats Holidays was founded in 1998 by Lucy Bremner and Alan Scheda. Alan is from Casperia, a beautiful medieval hilltop village in central Italy's Sabina area, 1 hour north of Rome...
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Joanne Heath,Yoga Teacher and writer, September 2004
'Casperia is a one thousand year old, magical medieval village built on the top of the Sabina Mountains, one hour north of Rome, surrounded by valleys and distant mountains, lush green fields and tiny farm houses scattered perfectly. The fresh crisp air is scented with open fires burning and wood-fired pizzas... '
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Beginners' Yoga
Christopher Mouze Yoga Magazine and Website Ireland
Written by Roy Peters
'Before I went to Casperia the only bit of yoga I had done was part of a class I do twice a week at my local gym which incorporates elements of Tai Chi with Pilates as well as yoga. I had chosen Sunflower from The Retreat Company's website partly because it was non-denominational as it were, and partly because the day started with an hour and three quarters of yoga...'
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Refreshing the parts other trips can't reach
The Times 12th of July 2003
David Smith discovered that occasionally stretching himself a little really wasn't that bad. 'I booked a yoga holiday in Italy in a fit of madness. Or guilt. Or optimism. The last time I touched my toes was back in the Seventies...'
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Sunflower Retreats
Sharon Jones, Tiscali
'Yoga. You've seen what it's done for celebs like Madonna and Geri....but would you go on a yoga holiday?....'
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Stretching a holiday
Elvira Cordileone, Toronto Star , 1 March 2003
'The tiny village of Casperia is just an hour outside Rome and the perfect place to unwind with yoga. For two weeks, time hovered as lightly as the morning mist over the surrounding Sabine mountains.'
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En Helsereise Til Italias Hemilige By (Norwegian magazine article)
By Charlotte Berrefjord Bergløff & Christopher Olssøn, 2008
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Suukkoja Resilihaksille
By Maria Miklas from Finnish magazine 'Kauneus' in May 2009
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