It was 1845 when the American writer Henry Thoreau, aged 28, left his home town and went to live on the shores of Lake Walden in a hut he built himself and remained there for more than two years. Today his book Walden; or, Life in the Woods continues to be an inspiration for those who want to escape their hectic lives. Never before have we felt a greater need to get back to nature, back to basics, and what better place to do it in than a wooden cabin? Staying in a cottage is one of the latest travel trends for anyone wanting to connect with the forest and tap into its inspiration and energy. One such example are the lodges at Oasyhotel near Pistoia in the Dynamo Oasis Nature Reserve, a WWF-affiliated park. Here guests are immersed in a real oasis which offers a whole host of outdoor experiences: from biking to trekking, horse riding, orienteering, farming, yoga, kayaking and paddle-boarding on the lake and wildlife tours (oasyhotel.com).
The same philosophy can be found at Felizitas in South Tyrol, where solid wood mountain chalets have been built without glue and lifted off the ground to limit the impact on the forest floor. The highlight of your stay? Opening the window on your terrace in the morning and spotting deer (felizitas.it).
The eco lodges at the Chocolate Village, on the other hand, look straight out of a fairy tale, built with Nordic-style interiors and immersed in woodland near Maribor in Slovenia. They are a great starting point for bike rides along the Drava river, the ideal location for canoeing and kayaking. But what makes this village really special is its chocolate centre, where guests can sign up for courses that celebrate everything there is about chocolate (chocolatevillage.eu).
To get a taste of the real Finland, why not try a glass igloo at the Aurora Queen Resort, just over an hour from Helsinki? The glass takes you closer to your natural surroundings, to the blue of the water and the green of the trees, and you’ll be hard-pressed to find anywhere that instils greater inner peace (auroraqueenresort.fi).
Finally, for a true Walden experience, just head for the United States and the recently opened Eastwind Oliverea Valley. Located in the Catskill Mountains, three hours from New York, its cottages blend in effortlessly with the surrounding woods. Bicycles are available for guests to use and there are a number of excursions to choose from, including the McKenley Hallow Trail, the Hayes Mountain Trails and the Giant Ledge. When you get back, you can relax in the brightly coloured hammocks hung between the trees (eastwindhotels.com/oliverea-valley).
CABANON BY EFFE
Effe’s outdoor sauna was inspired by the cabin and, in particular, Le Corbusier’s cabin, Cabanon, a microcosm where the architectural genius spent the last few years of his life, living with nothing but the essentials. It was precisely this concept of the essential which inspired Rodolfo Dordoni’s Cabanon design, a perfectly proportioned outdoor sauna that will really let you get back to nature. Saunas in Scandinavia were traditionally built outdoors, the idea being that users transition, in almost a reverential tribute to the woods and lakes, from the cold outdoor temperature to the warmth inside. This new Effe product has a sophisticated, almost camouflaged exterior which allows it to blend into any environment. Its fittings are in long-lasting heat-treated aspen and dark heat-treated wood and it has a customisable outdoor deck, so you can enjoy your natural surroundings after the wellbeing of the sauna.
