“So well thought out and planned… all trips were perfect”
Yoga and holistic treatments are at the heart of what we do, but if you're into yoga, the chances are that you like the active life too. We offer a range of activities on our holiday package to suit all budgets from free cycling and trekking to a visit to the Healing Sulfur water Terme & hot springs and a unforgettable Olive Oil and wine tasting experience.
There is also a wide range of other sport and learning opportunities such as watercolour painting classes and Traditional Italian cooking classes to experience if you choose, In this way, you can add to your experience or stick to your budget and still have a fantastic holiday with all that’s included in your stay.
Optional Activities and trips can be booked at breakfast time each day, when our staff are present to help plan your holiday and day.
Most of what guests pay goes direct to the local providers, with Sunflower Retreats taking a percentage for booking, advertising and promoting the service or activity for them.
Thermal baths and wild hot springs
Included in your retreat booking is a visit to the open-air pool in Viterbo Terme Dei Papi (The Terme of the popes ) within the excursion you will also visit the nearby wild hot sulfur water springs, where you can bathe in sulphur-rich water and mud. Viterbo's hot sulphurous spring water has been used since the Roman times and helps to draw impurities out of the skin, to stimulate skin cells & to increase natural collagen and secrete natural oils , it also helps to reduce blood pressure and rheumatism and inflammination. The huge pool has sun-loungers, palm trees and a restaurant and bar and the water of the pool has different depths and temperature zones. Combining sulphur-water bathing with yoga practice is extremely healing to the whole body and mind.
Please remember to pack flip-flops and a towel, or towelling dressing gown, for this excursion.
“A very enjoyable week spent in Casperia. Met some seriously inspiring people. I would recommend it to anyone, especially single people!”
Swim in our countryside pool and in wild streams
Our holidays include free use of a countryside swimming pool surrounded by olive groves and rolling hills. It is exclusive to our guests and is open from late May to the end of our season, subject to the weather.
Guests can walk to the pool, cycle or use our free shuttle service.
You may also use the swimming pool at the tennis club, for which a charge is made.
It is also possible to visit wild streams which run through mountains and valleys, where you can immerse yourself in the nature of the Sabina area.
Cycling
We highly recommend doing some cycling during your holiday in Sabina. We offer free use of bikes, modern and classic, including racers, explorers, mountain bikes and even a tandem! - It's a great way to see the location; it gives you time to take in the views and discover the countryside, breathe in the fresh air and taste the scents.
There is no hurry on a bicycle; you can just go at your own pace enjoying the views and feeling free to stop, say, at a beautiful field full of poppies, wild flowers and ancient olive trees in the springtime. Take a picnic, or maybe cycle your way to a hilltop village and have a wonderful traditional Italian lunch, eating delicious local organic ingredients such as fresh hand-picked tomatoes, freshly-picked basil, mozzarella and more.
It's a great way of meeting the local people too. Even in high summer when it tends to get hotter, you can cycle to wild streams and waterfalls and reward your effort by diving into in the fresh, cool, clean water of these beautiful natural sites.
We provide detailed maps of the area, as well as advice on interesting natural and historic sites to visit. There is a choice of routes, across quiet and low-traffic, hilly or mountain roads with spectacular scenery.
Walking
“Highly recommended; the guided walk… a refreshing, tranquil forest trail.
”
Each retreat stay there is a guided walk included . The Sabina mountains (1200 meters) surrounding Casperia, rich in flora and fauna, are rarely visited by walkers and offer astonishing trekking and scenery.
If you'd like to organise trips of your own, we can give you recommended walking routes and maps.
Climbing is very popular in the Sabina mountains too, but you'll need to bring your own equipment.
Cooking lessons
Lessons take place at the Gusto Borgo cooking school located inside the hilltop village of Casperia - a professional cooking school with its own home-grown organic produce.
You'll experience cooking with the finest ingredients; freshly picked organic vegetables, herbs and fruits straight form the farm. The menu of mouthwatering Italian vegetarian or non vegetarian cooking blends perfectly with the yoga and holistic treatments we offer at Sunflower Retreats. You'll come away feeling energised and with knowledge of delicious Italian organic cuisine as well as enjoying a delicious dinner with wine and water and dessert after the lesson.
The cost for Cooking classes range from €90 per person and includes a 2 to 3 hour cooking class and lunch or dinner served after the lesson. Cooking lessons tend to be for a minimum of 2 people.
Watercolour Painting
Enjoy an art class with us and tap into your creative self in Italy.
Watercolour painting lessons are with Giovanna Somai - a professional local artist and interior decorator who speaks English. Casperia is rich in history and the beauty of nature, the Sabina area being an ideal setting to learn about water colour painting.
The classes are held outdoors, in Casperia's streets or the beautiful countryside surrounding the village. Private Water colour painting classes cost €75 for a 2 hour session.
Olive picking
Join in with olive-picking in late October and November when you can pick olives with small organic producers and watch the milling process right through to getting your very own fresh extra virgin oil. No fancy labels; just the real, genuine product.
On request we can arrange evening apperitivi and olive oil tasting experiences with local producers in the Sabina countryside. Local organic extra virgin olive oil can be also bought all-year-round for about €8 - €15 per litre.
Italian classes
We offer grammar and conversational Italian classes with a fully bilingual mother-tongue Italian teacher.
Prices are from €15-per-student for 1-hour group lessons for two or more people, or €35/hour for private lessons.
Horse riding
Horse riding is available at several stables near Casperia with a selection of horses, rides and treks in the surrounding Sabina hills and countryside.
The riding is suitable for beginners and advanced riders and costs from €40.
Excursions
Trips with a private driver to historic sites such as Saint Francis' hermitage, Orvieto, Assisi and to thermal baths and other nature sites can be organised. Prices range from €6 to €100 per person, depending on the destination and the number of people travelling. Guests can also reach these towns by public transport: Bus and train times will given when you arrive in your arrival package.
Independent day trips to Rome
Our location makes it easy to travel to Rome and back by public transport for an exciting day at the shops and monuments... amonst them, the Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, St Peter's - the spiritual heart of Rome - and the Vatican Museums.
Wine & OLIVE OIL tasting
Included in your stay is a delicious Olive oil and wine tasting experience at the enoteca Osteria La Vigna in the village of Casperia and there are olive oil tours run by Johnny Madge these are usually available late season . For more details of these tours, visit www.johnnymadge.com.