Fitness holidays for your 2026 New Year health kick

If you always seem to return from holidays feeling sluggish and tired after overindulging and under-moving, a trip that puts fitness at the forefront might be on your agenda in the New Year.

From packing fitness classes into your daily holiday schedule or doing a marathon mid-trip, to cycling off-road Down Under, here are some great options for trips that focus on your health.

Take a holistic approach in Spain

Some 50km northeast of Alicante is ZEM Wellness Clinic – a five-star resort that takes ‘luxury wellbeing’ to a whole new level. The hotel has launched a new ‘Fusion Fitness’ retreat for 2026 to kick start a health journey or get you back on track in the New Year. It’s a mix of integrative medicine and treatments, alongside strength training, functional movement, cardio, yoga, HIIT, Pilates, core conditioning and mindfulness – with a holistic approach to what fitness and wellness really means. The retreat aims to provide guests with better endurance, flexibility and mental clarity. It’s all done alongside nutritious, five-star food and beautiful surroundings.

Health and Fitness Travel (0203 397 8891, healthandfitnesstravel.com) offers four nights at ZEM Wellness Clinic Fusion Fitness from £2,900pp (£3,950 for single occupancy) including full board, the program, private transfers and €300 (£263) of wellness credit.

Run a marathon in Marrakech

Combine running and culture with a trip that involves taking part in a marathon., with it’s famous souk, picturesque riads and mild winter temperatures. The marathon and half marathons take place in the city in late January, and the flat, scenic course makes it ideal for possible PBs, along with the atmosphere.

Marathon Tours & Travel (marathontours.com) offer a four-night running getaway (January 22-26) including five-star accommodation at the Kenzi Rose Garden Hotel in the Hivernage district (where you’ll find a spa with hammam and a huge garden to chill in after all that running), a guided tour of Marrakech, pre- and post-race dinner and race entry. Prices from £729 pp (based on two sharing).

Choose from 30 daily fitness classes in St Lucia

With the philosophy, ‘Give us your body and we’ll give you back your mind’, The BodyHoliday offers a full fitness programme on its luxury Cariblue Beach resort, which dates back to 1988. Over 30 daily fitness classes, yoga, Pilates, tennis, water sports and a daily 50-minute spa treatment included, as well as nutritious food and drink and nightly entertainment.

St Lucia itself is a gem of the Caribbean, with its iconic Piton mountains, rainforest, pristine beaches and natural volcanic landscapes – and there are direct flights from London Gatwick in around nine hours.

Rates start from USD 676 (single) and USD 888 (double) per night, all-inclusive. Book directly at thebodyholiday.com.

Try Hyrox in Portugal

Just west of Faro in the Algarve, Quinta do Lago may be best known as a world-class golf resort, but it also has a multi-sports hub called The Campus (thecampusqdl.com/en, +351 289 381 22), a new HYROX training programme and 10-12 weekly classes.

If you haven’t heard of Hyrox yet, it combines endurance and strength with 8km of running and eight workout stations (but split up, so 1km runs are followed by one workout, eight times). It seems the popular trend has made its way into the travel sector and now you can spend a holiday trying it out and being part of the growing global fitness community built around it.

Play golf alongside the programme and use the Recovery Suite after a long day of physical pursuits, where you’ll find hot and cold plunge pools, saunas and steam rooms. There are also water sports on a lake, cycling opportunities through the Ria Formosa Natural Park.

Prices at The Magnolia Hotel (themagnoliahotelqdl.com ; +351 289 005301) – within the Quinto do Lago – start from €116/£98 on a B&B basis. Family cottages are available from €188/£159 per night on a B&B basis.

Perfect your tennis game in Greece

Tennis has long been one of the staple activities at Mark Warner with all properties in Greece and Turkey offering courts and social tennis, but for anyone looking to perfect their game, Paleros Beach Resort on the Ionian coast and Kamari Beach Resort on the island of Rhodes offer intensive tennis weeks. With 20 hours of on-court tennis instruction and game playing, the courses are led by pro coach Andrew Parsons, and are aimed at regular players.

Programmes (available for the weeks of May 16 and October 12 at Kamari, and October 12 at Paleros) include lessons in groundstrokes, net play, serving, tactics, match play, a 45-minute private session, evening social play and an end-of-the-week tournament.

Mark Warner (markwarner.co.uk, 0845 322 5037 ) offers a week at Kamari Beach Resort from £1,224pp (based on two sharing) including the Intensive Tennis Week (£829pp without). Price includes return flights from Gatwick, seven-nights half-board accommodation and transfers, plus a wide range of other sports activities, tuition, and fitness classes.

Cycle the Munda Biddi Trail in Western Australia

For something further afield, the world-renowned Munda Biddi Trail is a 1,000km off-road cycling trail, starting at Mundaring near Perth and ending in Albany on the south-west coast. You can take on a shorter portion – from Walpole to Manjimup with the travel company Intrepid, over the course of a seven-day group trip (approximately 40km per day). Ride through the Karri and Tingle Forest, river, coastlines, valleys and scenic views on quiet roads and trails. There’s a dedicated support vehicle transporting your luggage between accommodation and meals are included.

Cycle the Munda Biddi Trail: Walpole to Manjimup (seven days, £1,436pp) (www.intrepidtravel.com/uk)