More and more spa fans are travelling to Greece every year to relish a plenitude of excellent spa facilities and treatments on offer across the land, as wellness is now officially a leading travel trend.  Here we direct you to some of the most alluring wintertime options for you to try (or simply fantasize about) on your next trip.

In Athens:

Electra Metropolis Hotel
At the spanking new spa, which even has a glass floor revealing the ruins of the Themistoclean wall, you can let go with aromatherapy, deep tissue and lymphatic massages as well as beautifying flash treatments. Try the signature Cretan massage, in which warm raki (60% alcohol) is vigorously rubbed on the body to relax the muscles and clear the respiratory system. Next, gently heated olive oil is used for a (very) deep tissue massage to loosen every knot of tension throughout the entire body.
INFO
15 Mitropoleos, Syntagma.
Tel: 214 1006200

GB Spa
By far the city’s most luxurious spa, and right on Syntagma Square. Spend at least 5-15 minutes in the steam rooms such as the Amethystos Grotto, followed by a dip in the ozone-rich pool. To re-balance after the holidays, try a two hour Ayurvedic therapy, which encourages a profound rebalancing and regeneration of the mind and emotions using sensual, floral and exotic oils massaged on the marma points (mini chakras as defined in ancient Indian medicine).
INFO
Grande Bretagne Hotel, Syntagma Square.
Tel: 210 3330799 / 772.

Hiltonia
The Hiltonia Spa (http://www.hiltonia.gr/spa.html) has a progressive treatment menu, with treatments such as the Cleopatra Sperience Jacuzzi Therapy, which includes milk proteins and seaweed collagen, a Vit C+ facial that is based on pure vitamin C combined with extract of Ume, an anti-ageing Japanese plum, Diamond Noir facial exfoliation, and Golden Sensation body sea weed wrap. Try the Exceptional Anti-Wrinkle Therapy and Lift Facial Therapy to start the year as a fresh-faced, bedazzling you.
INFO:
Athens Hilton, 46 Vas. Sofias Ave.
Tel: 210 7281812 / 210 7281801.

Hammam Baths
Hammam is inspired by the baths of ancient Greece and Rome and more recently Constantinople. Start with a steam session in the circular, marble-benched bathing room, letting your skin, muscles and lungs ‘open up’, as you occasionally pour cool water on yourself from brass bowls and lather yourself with soap. Follow this with a deep tissue, exfoliating or beautifying massage in which therapists use Savon noir  black soap made with olive oil paste, Dead Sea black mud, and loofahs and silk Ketsea ‘brushes’ for scrubbing the body and face.
INFO:
17 Agion Asomaton Str. & 1 Melidoni Str. Thissio.
Tel. 210 3231073.

Le Hammam, Kifissia
A pampering escape in the verdant northern suburb of Kifissia, Le Hammam (http://www.lehammam.gr/) is inspired by therapies and products from the world’s most exotic destinations, such as Bali, Polynesia, Morocco, Hawaii, the Himalayas and Thailand. Try the Queen Nefertiti, in which Balinese jasmine, lotus flowers and 18 karat gold powder are used to activate the feminine energy, or Shirodhara, an Ayrvedic therapy in which a mixture of essential oils is poured slowly on the forehead to clear the third eye and induce deep tranquility.
INFO:
8 Aghiou Trifonos, Kifisia.
Tel: 210 623 3143.

Beehive Spa
Obeying the Hippocratic philosophy of holistic wellness and making the best of Greece’s purest bee products (honey, pollen, royal jelly), Apivita’s Beehive Spa offers a sumptuous series of face and body treatments and two types of massage. Try the Queen Bee Firming Treatment, a luxurious anti-ageing therapy inspired by the bee dance that helps firm and lift the skin while increasing elasticity and glow.
INFO:
Apivita Experience Store, 6 Solonos & Kanari, Kolonaki.
Tel: 210 3640560.

Cocoon Urban Spa
A unique mix of therapies here, such as Chavutti, an ancient southern Indian massage performed in a rhythmical motion by the therapist’s…feet! Try also the Spice Market Hammam, which starts with a deep scrub in the marble steam room, after which you will be lathered up with savon noir and then slathered in rassoul clay while your face drinks up a royal jelly mask. That’s only the begining, as after that comes a full body massage using rose, pomegranate and sandalwood oils.
INFO:
9 Souliou & Eryfilis, Ag. Paraskevi.
Tel. 210 6561975.

Greece-wide:

Thermea Sylla, Evia
A luxurious accommodation complex offering a highly sophisticated, in some cases high-tech range of curative, aesthetic and soul-blissing treatments. Most of the therapies revolve around and make the very most out of the famous benefits of Edipsos’ thermal waters. Try the Oriental Rasul experience with a partner: in a herbal steam sauna, you can slather each other using different kinds of Rugen island mud, and then have it all washed away by warm rain that falls from a ceiling vaulted with LED stars.
INFO
2 Posidonos Str., Edipsos, Evia.
Tel: 22260 60 100.

Anazoe Spa, Costa Navarino
Discover the wisdom of ancient Greek healing philosophies and techniques that soothingly enfold guests in a curative, restorative and relaxing experience enhanced by calming music, a form of sound healing that’s based on ancient Greek modes and scales at Anazoe. Try any of the Oleotherapy® Signature Treatments, which, intriguingly, are based on local practices inscribed on clay tablets that were discovered at the nearby Palace of Nestor. As their name suggests, they are based on the use of pure, virgin olive oil, but also include ingredients and application techniques inspired by modern science.
INFO:
Navarino Dunes, Messinia, Costa Navarino.
Tel: +272 309 6000.

Imaret
At Imaret, housed in a Koranic school founded in 1813 by Mohamed Ali Pasha, escape to the “hidden” Hammam that offers therapies derived from traditional eastern rituals, using ingredients like curative muds, exotic oils, herbs, flowers, honey and milk. Try the Harem Massage, a deeply pacifying  therapy in which aromatic poultices filled with fresh chamomile and mint that are dipped into warm essential oils of myrrh and applied to relieve tired muscles, nourishing the skin and boosting circulation.
INFO
30-32 Th. Poulidou, Kavala.
Tel: 2510 620151.

Mikro Papingo 1700 Hotel & Spa
This eco-friendly gem of a boutique hotel, restored from 1700, is actually within the lush Vikos gorge. It’s Spa menu is not long and fancy, but its treatments are top quality and it uses fresh mineral water sourced from the nearby mountains. After a long day exploring the 20km gorge, try the energizing and muscle-relaxing Deep Trail Hiker’s Stretch Massage, while if you need to clear out from your urban lifestyle try the aromatic Mountain Massage.
INFO
Zagori, Epirus.
Tel: 2653 041179.

Asian Spa Ayurvedic & City Retreat
Eastern sensuality reigns supreme at the Asian Spa with treatments that celebrate the touch, smell and sight involved in relishing inventive treatments like Apricots and Cream or Chocolatier, the latter being a romantic ‘flowers & chocolate’ couple’s massage involving an antioxidant cacao scrub and choco-massage, followed by a blissful soak in an aromatic floral bath. Then there’s Glittering Prize, in which the therapist applies a gold scrub and mask, followed by gold dust powders. Several sophisticated Ayurvedic treatments are also available.
INFO
Hyatt Regency Thessaloniki, 13 kilometres Thessaloniki-Perea.
Tel: +211 40 40 115.

Polis Hammam
Modelled on the traditional Turkish Hamam, this boutiquey haven of peace, cleansing and restorative therapies bang in the heart of Thessaloniki encourages you to lie back in the marble sauna, where you can bathe and then enjoy a re-energising and purifying signature massage such as the Aritma Polis massage, which thoroughly works on the entire body and includes the application of brushes and essential oils with stimulating fragrances.
INFO
40 Karamanli St., Kalamaria
Tel: 2310488216.

 As also published in Greece Is