Ayahuasca Retreats Europe: The Complete 2023 Guide

Ayahuasca retreats are serious adventures that can be emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually challenging. But the potent psychedelic brew has a long and trusted history. Additionally, a guide at your side ensures everything goes smoothly during your ayahuasca journey, so you have nothing to fear!

Amazonian shamans have long used the ancient tea to heal the mind and body. The mixture comes from the sacred ayahuasca vine and other psychoactive plants combined with dimethyltryptamine (DMT). DMT is a naturally occurring hallucinogenic produced by plants and animals. The shaman has to blend the plants just right to create a highly concentrated and potent solution. 

Guests use ayahuasca under the supervision of a shaman or experienced facilitator, who guides you through your experience. The brew is often consumed at night for better clarity and insights into the past, present, and future.

The shaman, healer, or shamanic practitioner you choose will determine the style of the ceremony. If you are interested in spiritual guidance it is wise to choose a facilitator who focuses on helping individuals develop their own intuitive abilities and open up to external spiritual energy. Ceremonies often include chanting and music during the consumption of sacred plant medicines.

For more information on how to chose your ayahuasca retreat check out our ULTIMATE GUIDE.

Wondering where you can find ayahuasca retreats in Europe? You can experience a spiritual journey through the use of ayahuasca in Spain and Portugal. Ayahuasca tourism is decriminalized in these countries, but it's not legal everywhere else. Additionally, retreat centers operate in the gray areas of the law where you can take part in this amazing experience!

Here are the areas in Spain and Portugal where psychedelic trips are decriminalized or unregulated. We suggest that you do your research and contact each retreat center regarding the risks associated with attending an ayahuasca retreat before you make your decision. 

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Behold Retreats Ayahuasca Retreat Europe

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Whether you're looking for a luxurious retreat or something more rustic, you can find these popular healing journeys in Europe, with many options available in legal ayahuasca countries. Behold Retreats has an experience that will meet your spiritual needs in the forests of Portugal or the beaches of Ibiza in Spain. Facilitators and guides tailor the excursion to fit your emotional and physical needs and abilities.

Behold offers spiritual journeys to European countries that are open-minded with ancient sacred plant blends developed by indigenous shamans in the Amazon jungle centuries ago. They work closely and expertly with shamans, healers, and their guests during each journey as they search for a greater understanding of themselves through psychedelic plant medicine.

Behold Retreats is a trusted leader in the emerging world of spiritual retreats. The company will go through an interview process to make sure your journey into self-discovery, healing, or enlightenment is safe and aligned with your personal goals. 

Most trips are all-inclusive, meaning they offer daily yoga lessons, massages, energy healing work, a healthy diet, and more during your retreat. The excursions often include one-on-one sessions with skilled healers and master shamans to help you reach the goals of your journey.

What makes Behold special compared to other ayahuasca retreats is that they offer a 7 week life-accelerator with either private or group coaching and an intensive preparation and integration program. Research shows that preparing and integrating psychedelic experiences helps to sustain long-term benefits and facilitate a deeper transformation. 

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Private Ayahuasca Retreat Europe

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Behold Retreats organizes private ayahuasca retreats in Portugal and Spain for individuals and small groups, perfect for friends, family, and colleagues. You choose the spiritual guide, guests, and location.  

The goal is to help those looking to rediscover themselves through mindful lessons in spirituality that combine yoga, meditation practices, and raṕe ceremonies, depending on the needs of each guest. The greatest benefit of working privately is that you can expedite your healing and transformation goals, with full support throughout your experience.

You can also schedule a Behold mindful yoga retreat with psilocybin, San Pedro, and Bufo Avalrius (5-Meo-DMT). An experienced healer or shaman presides over each ceremony. These plant-based journeys immerse your mind in nature for complete holistic wellness.

All locations go through thorough ayahuasca reviews to guarantee safety throughout each individual journey-whether it's meditating deep amongst the trees or taking part in one-on-one sessions with shamans.

Private retreats include a 7-week guided program to help you prepare for your retreat, as well as post-retreat support and integration to help solidify your ayahuasca experience and insights into daily life. Each retreat participant can anticipate to work 1-1 with one of their highly experienced coaches and join in weekly group coaching calls. 

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‍4 Ayahuasca Retreats in Spain and Portugal

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Ayahuasca retreats are becoming popular in Spain, as dozens of groups seek plant-based spiritual healing journeys every year. Many people come to learn about the sacred medicine and experience the healing powers of ayahuasca rituals. The life elevating events are helping participants forgive, change, and move forward. 

Shamans and other seasoned professionals who have the knowledge and skills, often lead ayahuasca gatherings in Spain. These events help people find inner strength and beauty to guide them towards a balanced mind, body, and spirit. 

Additionally, they include more than ayahuasca tea ceremonies. Guests take part in ancient dances, guided meditation, and yoga sessions facilitated by experienced yogis. 

Many participants travel from all over the world to take part in these unforgettable trips. However, according to experts, ayahuasca is not for everyone. Participants should be ready to engage in spiritual and physical discipline to receive its benefits. 

Before leaving for an inner journey, individuals spend days preparing to receive the gift of mother ayahuasca. Retreat leaders ask guests to do the emotional and mental work ahead of their retreat. This often means working through negative thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. 

The retreat experience includes group activities designed to help participants get a better understanding of the sacred plant. Ayahuasca pilgrimages often have a cleansing ceremony with other medicinal plants, workshops, and private meetings with healers and shamans.

1. Sinchi Runa

One of the most notable retreats in Europe is located in Portugal. Sinchi Runa Retreat offers 8- and 23-day journeys with medicinal plants that provide spiritual guidance for those searching deep within themselves. 

Each retreat offers more than the plant ceremonies. Many begin with a flower bath and purge ceremony. Additionally, guests participate in Hatha yoga and meditation, discursive talks on shamanism and the awakening of consciousness, and end with an Agnihotra-Vedic fire ceremony to cleanse the soul.

The ayahuasca tea ceremonies are led by Maestro Sanango, a healer from Tarapoto, Peru. The tea contains powerful psychedelic properties that allow the participants to explore their innermost thoughts and feelings with greater understanding.

Sinchi Runa works with groups of 12. The small gatherings allow facilitators to create a safe space and provide individual attention to each guest. All psychedelic sacred plants come from Peru, where they're transported to Spain legally under religious protections. 

Ayahuasca is a plant medicine that leads to deep soul searching and healing. It's not for the faint of heart, but anyone who works with it will enjoy its benefits. Shamans and past participants suggest a  positive mindset helps participants achieve their blissful goals.

Every session includes private accommodations in spacious bell tents and daily homemade, organic meals. 

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2. Lighthouse Retreats

Nestled in the foothills of Portugal's Douro Valley, Lighthouse Retreats is a premier destination for travelers seeking a serene location for their ayahuasca experience. The spiritual area offers unforgettable views and tranquil settings perfect for everyone's decompressing and enlightening experience. The popular portugese vineyards are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In addition, Porto, one of Portugal's largest cities, can be found just 50 kilometers east of the ayahuasca center.

Ceremonies are a chance to dive in deep and get lost in the plant-based psychedelic experience. When you're standing at the edge, looking out over that new horizon, it feels like anything is possible. The facility focuses on ayahuasca ceremonies combined with other activities meant to connect you and nature. 

Guests can take part in yoga sessions with expert yogis and guided meditation under the watchful eye of spiritual advisors. These mind-expanding activities are designed for guests to explore their lives and ambitions at all-new levels of understanding. There's no better way to set yourself up for a new year or lifetime than by taking time out of your day-to-day life and diving deep into introspection.

This retreat offers an overabundance of healing opportunities and rejuvenating activities. Guests can enjoy over 35 different fruit trees, such as oranges, pears, plums, chestnut, and lemon. 

Additionally, the serene property offers a private vineyard, three water springs, and a spring water pool to soothe the body. The center includes spiritual activities to help create an atmosphere where one can relax deeply to find their focus again amidst all life's chaos.

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3. APL Journeys

If you're looking for a spiritual journey, APL Journeys offers the chance to experience traditional Amazonian ayahuasca ceremonies with master healers from the Loreto region of Peru. With excursions available throughout Spain, including near Portugal, this is your opportunity to immerse yourself in the purely spiritual rituals.

Ayahuasca retreat centres facilitated by APL Journeys are a six-day event with three ceremonies. The event guides provide detailed discussions before the first ceremony to make sure that you're ready for the unique and often life-changing internal observance. 

Also, guests experience flower baths prior to the ceremony to cleanse the mind and body. In addition, morning reflections and yoga after your ayahuasca ceremony are held to help reflect on what happened during the ritualistic encounter.

The APL Journeys retreat will also provide a cleansing ayahuasca diet to help you open your mind for the strongest experience possible. The healers ask guests to start their purifying tasks a few days before the journey to improve their excursion.

One of the many benefits of a profound spiritual healing session is discussing your experiences with a master shaman. Alongside ayahuasca ceremonies, you'll have access to Kambo sessions which involve venom from frogs like Phyllomedusa. The frog's poison strengthens the immune system and aids in detoxifying before your ayahuasca yoga holidays.

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4. Love Heal Forgive

Love Heal Forgive provides ayahuasca and Huachuca retreats in Portugal to reconnect people with nature and themselves. The four-day trips include two ayahuasca ceremonies and begin after dark on the first night.

 Participants can also enjoy nature treks in groups or by themselves and yoga sessions. In addition, the retreat offers shamanic journeys where the indigenous healer performs a spiritual dance while drinking the ayahuasca tea. During these rituals, guests can observe the traditional Santo Daime steps performed live.

To prepare for their ayahuasca vine experience, Love Heal Forgive's shaman recommends a diet that requires abstaining from some foods and activities. For example, they may ask people to stop all other drug and alcohol use, even cannabis and caffeine. The strict process helps cleanse the body before an intense spiritual journey. Additionally, it increases the mind's connection with the sacred plants. 

The private retreat provides a full exploration of the healing power of ayahuasca in both group and individual settings, with an expert shaman guide. Love Heal Forgive's facilities are in a secluded area with gorgeous natural scenery. 

The welcoming staff can help ayahuasca retreat center participants feel at home. They welcomed guests to take advantage of both guided meditation and time in nature's beauty, including soaking up some sun by the pool. Additionally, Love Heal Forgive is opening a retreat in Costa Rica in 2022.

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4 Ayahuasca Retreats in the Netherlands 

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Another option to experience ayahuasca journeys for spiritual development is in The Netherlands. The ayahuasca centers here use the sacred plant in ceremonies, but have been made illegal by the government recently, so attend at your own discretion. 

The choices vary from single-day mindful yoga retreats to several day excursions with guided mediation, ayahuasca tea, and other natural healing techniques. Here are the top five ayahuasca tourism locations in the Netherlands. 

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1. Acsauhaya Shamanic Retreat Center

An indigenous shaman from Peru guides ayahuasca ceremonies. One such spiritual advisor is Maestro Donaldo Antonio Roque Cumapa. The 53-year-old spiritual leader has been studying sacred plant medicine since he was 15 years old. He's a member of the Shipibo-Conibo ethnic group in Peru. The healer guides each ceremony using an original Icaros called "Songs for the Soul" that offers natural healing to those who participate in this ancient ritual.

Imagine waking up to the sounds of a dozen different bird species, each with their own unique sound that intertwines and echoes together. Combine that with fresh fruit during the summer for breakfast lounge by the pool. Additionally, on a cool evening, take in the surroundings from inside while curled up next to our woodstove. 

These are some of the sights you'll experience while staying at the retreat's old Dutch farmhouse. By participating in one of the retreats, individuals explore their own healing potential by engaging the power of ayahuasca while deepening their connection to nature and themselves. 

Each mother plant ceremony at the Ascauhaya Retreat in the Netherlands offers you a three or five-day spiritual experience that includes full accommodations and fresh vegetarian meals. The two ayahuasca ceremonies will last about four hours each and come with an integration toolkit to help enhance the experiences. Private circles are available for sharing memories and feelings after completing this life-changing journey into self-discovery.

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2. ICU Ayahuasca

ICU Ayahuasca is an intensive ayahuasca healing retreat in the Netherlands facilitated by Avigdor, a spiritual leader from Israel living and guiding guests through sacred plant journeys. The center is located near Rotterdam.

 Avigdor was born and raised in a kibbutz, which is a collective agricultural community in Israel. He has been practicing the art of ayahuasca for over a decade. Avigdor spent a few years managing large group ceremonies for another retreat before scaling down his sessions to individuals and small groups at his home. 

ICU Ayahuasca is committed to giving guests a life-altering experience. Participants who joined the retreats work individually to find their inner peace and balance. Additionally, the intimate atmosphere for each ayahuasca ceremony creates opportunities for introspection and growth. 

Avigdor offers two-, four-, and five-day retreats at his home in the Netherlands. Along with the sacred vine, guests take part in Holotropic breathwork in groups of four to release old energy to prepare for their meeting with the great mother ayahuasca.

Other activities include rapé ceremonies, nature walks, and inner child healing missions. All mind and body exercises are available in English. Accommodations are separate from the cost of the retreat's spiritual sessions.

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3. Innerlijke-reis

Innerlijke-reis, which translates to Journey Within in English, offers psilohuasca, truffle ceremonies, ayahuasca, and Kambo. The retreat safely guides participants through the different ceremonies to inspire personal and spiritual growth. 

Sessions are available at various locations, including Vierakker, a province of Gelderland. The excursions help connect people with their inner wisdom to find the core of their problems and resolve themselves.  

The journeys are made possible with the help of a facilitator experienced in the spiritual practice. Trained healers and spiritual guides work to provide a safe space for guests to heal and discover their purpose. Guests can expect one-on-one sessions throughout their stay in the Netherlands and other activities to complement their travels with ayahuasca. 

Additionally, most guides at the retreat centre have completed training in process therapy. Some have certification in psycho-trauma therapy education to further their ability to guide participants on their excursions with psychedelic plants. 

The maximum number of members for each group is 13. Additionally, smaller ceremonies are available for up to eight people. Private sessions are accessible upon request. All retreats include pre-care, a meal, and aftercare. These are single-day ceremonies with no overnights. 

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4. Maria Johanna

Maria Johanna is a spiritual guide for ayahuasca ceremonies in the Netherlands. She's a practitioner, organizer, and healer that helps people find themselves through mother ayahuasca. Maria Johanna has been leading groups and ceremonies in the Netherlands for several years. Additionally, she said using ayahuasca gave her an understanding of herself that involved self-love and compassion.

Two-and three-day intensive ayahuasca healing retreats are available with up to 16 people. Maria works with Om-Mij to facilitate ayahuasca tea ceremonies in the Netherlands. In addition to group excursions, she guides private outings with one or more participants. Also, individuals can participate in consecutive retreats to meet their goals. All options come with one ayahuasca ceremony, one spiritual leader, and up to four guides. 

The sacred plant journey begins with a cup of tea and getting to know each other. Guests get a brief tour, and the facilitators give directions and answer any questions. The ayahuasca session lasts four to six hours. 

Freshly prepared food is available after the experience. Breakfast is served in the morning, and aftercare is provided at the levels necessary for each individual. Each stay includes accommodation, vegetarian meals, and sharing and integration sessions. The sleeping arrangements are shared spaces. 

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Ayahuasca Retreat Sweden 

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Taita Inti

Taita Inti offers ayahuasca sessions for those wishing to expand their mind and explore the self in Stockholm, Sweden. Spiritual retreats are illegal in the Scandinavian country, so proceed with caution. 

The ayahuasca ceremonies are part of a religious practice that includes different sacred plants. Taita Inti continues its mission. The enlightening destination and facilitators don't break any laws locally or internationally with their partnerships with Peruvian shamans.

They hold psychedelic ayahuasca retreats in Europe and various locations in Sweden to set the perfect atmosphere for your journey. Guests should be prepared to take the time to get back to themselves and have a look at their life. The shamans use traditional ayahuasca vines to help participants gain insight into past and future expeditions.

Taita Inti is a spiritual retreat that provides ayahuasca ceremonies in Stockholm, similar to ones you will find in Iquitos in the Peruvian jungle. Shamans with decades of experience create potent brews and guide participants on their journey for life-changing visions by candlelight at night.

Group members have the chance to transform their lives by stepping into a world of vivid colors, sounds, and energies. The excursion comes with vegetarian meals and full accommodations for groups of up to 12 individuals. Couples are also welcome if there's room when booking.