Return to each other:
Portugal Couples Retreat
For couples wanting to prioritise quality time and re-ignite the spark
18–23 September | 5 nights off-grid in the Serra da Estrela, Portugal with optional Lisbon add-on.
Space to breathe. Adventures to share. Time to soften, play, reconnect, and remember what brought you together.
A RETREAT FOR COUPLES
Set in the wild beauty of the Serra da Estrela, central Portugal. This retreat is for couples who want to step away from the noise of everyday life and spend meaningful time together — just the two of you.
Not just passing each other in the kitchen.
Not just coordinating diaries, responsibilities, or the next thing on the list.
But real time.
Intentional time.
The kind that lets you exhale, look at each other properly again, and remember who you are underneath the busyness of life.
A Taste of the Wild
“Sometimes you need to leave the familiar, to remember who you are.”
– Wild with Clare
This is for couples who love each other deeply, but know that modern life can make real connection harder than it should be.
Busy schedules. Work. Family. Responsibilities. The endless to-do list.
Sometimes it’s not that the love has gone — it’s that the space around it has.
This retreat is an invitation to pause. To soften. To play. To explore. To remember what it feels like to really be together.
Whether you feel like you’ve started drifting and want to light the fire again… or whether the spark is already there and you simply love the idea of doing something new together… this space is for you.
Shared experiences matter.
Quality time is one of the five love languages, popularised by Gary Chapman, and for many couples it is the very thing that helps love feel alive, felt, and nourished. This retreat is built around exactly that: intentional time together, away from distraction, in a beautiful setting that invites presence
Retreat HighlightsThis retreat is a blend of connection, rest, adventure, nourishment, and space for whatever wants to unfold naturally during our time together.
Expect a beautiful mix of:
Gentle yoga for beginners and beyond
Fun partner movement practices
Sound baths and deep relaxation snuggled up beside each other
Divine massages
Clay soaks in the local creek
Passadiços do Mondego half day excursion, a 12-kilometer, scenic hiking trail featuring wooden pathways and suspension bridges along the Mondego River
Hikes to the local waterfall and ancient dolmen monument
Pottery session
Optional plant medicine journey’s with master plant ayahuasca
Sauna, hot tub, and swimming in the natural pool
Release rituals
Fire pit gatherings
Spacious down-time to simply enjoy each other and the land
Optional Lisbon Extension at the end of the retreat.
This is not about forcing connection.
It’s about creating the conditions for it.
Why this retreat matters to me
For me, quality time is everything. It’s my number one.Having experienced the heartbreak of a long-term relationship ending, and then the joy of finding love again, I’ve come to see connection as something we cannot afford to take for granted. Love needs tending. It needs presence, care, intention, and time.
Keeping the fire alive. Deepening the bond. Choosing each other again and again.
That is what this retreat is about.
I’m a romantic at heart, and one of the deepest callings behind this work is to help couples truly treasure each other and what they have. I know how beautiful a relationship can feel when it is nurtured well, and I also know how heartbreaking it is when life pulls two people apart because those efforts are no longer being made.
That is one of the biggest reasons I feel so called to hold couples retreats.
Who This Retreat Is For?
This retreat is for couples who:
want to prioritise quality time
crave more presence and closeness
would love a mix of adventure and rest
want to create beautiful shared memories
feel they’ve drifted a little and want to reconnect
are already in a good place and want to deepen what’s there
feel nourished by nature, meaningful experiences, and heartfelt connection
You do not need to be in crisis to come.
You do not need to be experienced in retreats, yoga, or any of the practices offered.
You simply need a willingness to show up for yourself, your partner, and the experience.
Location
Cara Creek Eco Lodge is tucked into a majestic valley in Central Portugal, where life slows down and nature sets the pace. The land sits among trees, river, and open skies, offering a deeply peaceful setting to unplug from the noise of everyday life and reconnect with what matters most. Cara Creek describes the place as a few hours from Lisbon and Porto, yet feeling like a different world entirely, where guests wake to birdsong, sleep beneath starry skies, and are cared for from the moment they arrive.
This fits so naturally with Wild With Clare — retreats rooted in nature, authenticity, meaningful connection, and coming back to yourself through experience rather than performance.
This is not polished, performative wellness.
It’s something deeper. Simpler. More real.
A chance to be immersed in nature and in each other.
The Venue
Cara Creek is an off-grid eco retreat venue built with care, creativity, and deep respect for the land. The venue runs on solar power and water from the land, and Cara Creek says it has been built using natural and local materials to complement the beauty of the surroundings. Their story speaks about creating a space that supports depth without overwhelming the nature that makes it powerful.
The off-grid setting is part of the magic.
There is no excess here.
No rush.
No unnecessary distraction.
Just a softer rhythm of living that invites you back into presence.
It is a place for those who are drawn to natural living, simplicity, beauty, and conscious connection.
With no light pollution, the night skies are extraordinary. Think campfire evenings, wood-fired hot tub soaks, stars overhead, and the kind of dark-sky quiet that helps the nervous system unwind. Cara Creek’s facilities include a wood-fired sauna, biological swimming pool, river beaches, clay river bath, communal spaces, and hiking routes to a waterfall and neolithic dolmen site.
Your stay is part of the experience.
Cara Creek’s eco pods are every nature lover’s dream — designed to help you sleep close to nature from the comfort of a cozy bed.
The pods were designed and built by drawing inspiration from sacred geometry.
For this retreat, we’ll be focusing on the pod options with double beds, ideal for couples wanting their own cozy nest in nature with quality Portuguese-made mattresses with memory-foam toppers, good pillows, duvets, and cotton sheets.
Accommodation types include:
Tetra-Pods
4 pods, each with a double bed. Cara Creek describes these as inspired by the tetrahedron, with high walls and a large window with amazing views.
Tri-Pods
3 pods with double beds. These triangular pods each have a small deck out front, with views across the pool and treetops.
Cabanas
4 pods, each with a double bed, with stunning views over the valley.
These are not generic hotel rooms. They are beautiful, simple, thoughtfully crafted spaces that let you feel part of the land. You’ll sleep tucked into nature, under dark skies, in a bed that invites deep rest after full, heart-opening days.
The Journey
18-23 September | Sample Itinerary
Friday 18 Sept
Check in, opening circle, gentle movement to ease out travel tension, dinner, and evening around the fire pit
Saturday 19 Sept
Guided activities, dips in the natural pool, sauna, massages, local walks, breakfast, lunch, and dinner
*Optional evening plant medicine ceremony
Sunday 20 Sept
Guided activities, dips in the natural pool, sauna, massages, local walks, breakfast, lunch, and dinner
Monday 21 Sept
Half day excursion to Passadiços do Mondego, dips in the natural pool, sauna, massages, afternoon workshop, breakfast, lunch, and dinner
*Optional evening plant medicine ceremony
Tuesday 22 Sept
Guided activities, dips in the natural pool, sauna, massages, local walks, breakfast, lunch, and dinner
Wednesday 23 Sept
Closing circle, breakfast, and departure
Food
Food is a cherished part of the Cara Creek experience. Cara Creek says meals are prepared by retreat chef Hannah using seasonal and organic ingredients, with much of the produce connected to their seasonal garden and local growers. Meals are vegetarian, and tea, coffee, fruit, nuts, and toast are available throughout the stay. Dietary requirements can be catered for when communicated in advance.
Expect nourishing, vibrant food that supports rest, vitality, and feeling well in your body — all part of being deeply cared for during your stay.
*Optional Plant Medicine
For those who feel called, there will be an optional opportunity to sit in ceremony with ayahuasca during the retreat.
This is not the main focus of the retreat, and the retreat is a full and beautiful experience whether you choose this or not. It is simply an invitation — one possible doorway into self-inquiry, healing, insight, and perhaps a deeper shared experience.
If one partner feels called and the other does not, that is completely welcome.
This offering is suitable for beginners and first-timers as well as those with previous experience. Ceremonies are held with care, humility, and respect, blending ancient wisdom with grounded preparation, support, and integration.
A few important things to know
This is entirely optional
Beginners are welcome
One partner can participate without the other
Some medications are contraindicated, so please check with us first
This is a spiritual and personal growth experience, not a replacement for medical treatment
Contact us directly for more information or if you’re interested.
Can plant medicine support connection as a couple?
For some couples, ceremony can be a meaningful shared experience that brings insight, healing, and a deeper sense of connection. Łukasz has even seen two couples go on to renew their vows after experiencing ceremony together.
At the same time, every journey is unique, and there is no expectation for both partners to take part. If one of you feels called and the other does not, that is completely welcome too.
About Your Hosts
Clare
Clare is an experienced yoga teacher, wellness and empowerment mentor with a wealth of knowledge, a fun, dynamic energy, and a warm, open heart.
A full-time yoga teacher since 2009, Clare has hosted numerous yoga classes, retreats, and workshops, and founded The Quaives Retreat Centre in 2016. Her expertise lies in women’s wellness, and her sessions are all-inclusive, non-judgemental, and welcoming to people of all levels and life stages.
Clare is qualified in Sunpower Yoga, Kundalini Yoga, Women’s Wellness Yoga Therapy, Yoga Nidra, sound healing, Ayurvedic massage and currently training to be a Trauma-Informed Somatic Teacher + Coach. Her mission is to support you in finding inner peace, joy, and self-confidence, offering a safe, compassionate, and supportive space for personal growth and deeper trust in your body and life choices.
Łukasz
Łukasz comes from a background in hospitality, having formally cheffed in some of the top restaurants and hotels in Edinburgh.
He is now the founder of Whispers of the Jungle, a retreat centre in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon, where he leads groups on transformational experiences and plant medicine dietas. He believes that playfulness and creativity are essential to healing, helping foster deeper connection with oneself and others.
His passions include plants, storytelling, voice activation, sound healing, and movement practices such as martial arts, dance and fire spinning — some of which he will no doubt weave into our time together in his own unique way.
Together, Clare and Łukasz bring a beautiful balance of grounded care, warmth, depth, creativity, and play.
Optional Lisbon Add-On
If you’re not quite ready to go home after the retreat, there will be an optional chance to extend the magic with Clare and Łukasz in Lisbon.
Think delicious food, dancing, wandering the city, and soaking up a few more pleasures of Portugal together.
This is not a formally hosted part of the retreat, but an informal add-on for those who’d enjoy continuing the adventure a little longer.
Clare will share where she and Łukasz are staying, and you’re welcome to join the wider plans in whatever way feels right for you.
All Lisbon costs are separate and self-funded, and a WhatsApp group will be created to help everyone coordinate accommodation, meet-ups, and ideas.
The Details
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Your Couples Retreat to Cara Creek, Portugal
🌿 Guided experiences and facilitation with Clare and Łukasz throughout the 6 days
💫 Opening and closing circles
🌸 Use of the natural swimming pool and sauna
⋆˚꩜｡ Movement mats, bolsters, and straps provided
🥾 Neolithic dolmen site excursion and hike to the local waterfall
⚱️ Pottery workshop, including hand-sculpting and wheel
🍽️ All meals included, from arrival snack and dinner to departure brunch. Tea, coffee, fruit, nuts, and toast are always available
🔥 Fire pit gatherings
📖 Down-time and quality-time with your beloved and other like-minded couples — whether that’s reading on the private river beach, exploring the Mondego River by stand up paddle board, or trying the locally sourced clay before a leisurely swim in the creek
🤎 Cacao ceremony and sound bath
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✘ Flights
✘ Airport transfers (Clare will co-ordinate to keep costs down)
✘ Transfers to and from Passadiços do Mondego for our half day excursion - we will share taxi’s, the journey each way is approximately 1hour 20 minutes.
✘ Optional extras: massages and plant medicine ceremony
✘ Optional Lisbon add-on
✘ Alcohol
✘ Travel insurance (required)
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Group size is limited to 8–10 couples.
Prices are per person, not per couple, and include your stay in an eco pod with double bed, all meals, and all included retreat activities, excluding optional extras such as massage and plant medicine ceremony.
Investment 💫
✨ Early bird ticket: £955pp
Ends 10th May✨ Standard ticket: £1090pp
Optional Extras
✨ Massages: £80 / hour
✨ Plant medicine ceremony: £111 per person
Available Saturday or Monday night
⸻
Payment Plans
To make the retreat more accessible, payment can be spread out:
💫 Deposit: £350pp to secure your places
💫 Remaining Balance: Split into monthly instalments (flexible to suit you, to be completed by August 2026)
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Travel & Transfers
Please aim to be in Portugal by the morning of arrival day at the latest, and depart Portugal on the afternoon of departure day at the earliest, to allow enough time for travel to and from Cara Creek.
Once everyone has booked flights, Cara Creek can begin organising shared shuttles for the most affordable options. Final transfer organising usually happens the week of arrival.
Main travel points
Lisbon Airport — around 3 hours by car
Porto Airport — around 2 hours by car
Coimbra B Station — around 1 hour by car, with bus and train connections from Lisbon and Porto
Transfer pricing to and from Cara Creek Eco Lodge
Coimbra to Cara Creek: €120 for an 8 passenger van
Coimbra to Cara Creek: €100 for a 4 passenger car
Porto to Cara Creek: €220 for an 8 passenger van
Porto to Cara Creek: €200 for a 4 passenger car
Lisbon to Cara Creek: €320 for an 8 passenger van
Lisbon to Cara Creek: €300 for a 4 passenger van
We will link passengers up so you can share transfers and costs.
Alternatively, buses and trains arrive at Carregal do Sal, and complimentary pick up by Cara Creek can be arranged from there.
Travel Note for the Lisbon Add-On
If you would like to join the optional Lisbon add-on, you may wish to book your return flight from Lisbon two days after the retreat ends.
It is absolutely possible to fly into one airport and out of another, so you could arrive for the retreat via Porto or Lisbon and then fly home from Lisbon after the extension.
As the group forms and I get a clearer idea of who would like to join the Lisbon add-on, I’ll help coordinate travel plans and set up a WhatsApp group so it’s easy to organise together.