Vale de Moses

The Winter family found Vale de Moses in September 2007, six months into a year-long motor-home trip around Southern Europe with their children Joshua and Eloise, then ten and eight, and a golden retriever named Moses. They had left a fast-paced life in south east London to see whether a more sustainable, nature-connected life was possible. In Portugal they came upon an old abandoned farm in the remote forested foothills of the Serra da Estrela, below the village of Amieira. The valley shared the dog's name; in Portuguese, they write, it means a place of many millstones. They took it as a divine coincidence, and the dog, by their account, led them down the forest tracks to the houses.

They arrived to stay in 2008 and set about restoring the four Xisto stone houses with the old local building traditions of clay, lime, stone and wood. Five years of restoration and landscaping followed before the first yoga retreat guests came in 2012. In 2017 the retreat was featured by National Geographic as one of the top 5 retreats in Europe.

The site now offers private double rooms in the farmhouse, shared open-plan stone cottages in the river valley, and belle tents on stone terraces beneath strawberry trees. Yoga happens in a wooden and glass shala floating above the herb gardens. Below are a cob domed sweat lodge by the cascading river pools and a bamboo-roofed fire pit space for ceremony and circles. Days begin with an invitation to silence in the courtyard at 7:30, and the three daily meals are vegetarian and usually vegan, cooked along Ayurvedic principles. Traditional Chinese Medicine treatments are offered.

After years of running their own retreats, the family now hires Vale de Moses to visiting teachers and facilitators, with summer retreats running Monday to Saturday for groups of up to 25. The 2026 calendar includes Forrest Yoga, breathwork, a Pilates retreat, Clinical Somatic Education, and the Conscious Arts Retreat, with ceramics, ballet-based movement, journal binding and silversmithing. In September 2024 Vonetta Winter died, and the family say they are dedicated to continuing her desire for a more beautiful and just world.