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With its pretty, peaceful gardens, intimate chapels and gentle pace, Temenos Retreat is an alluring refuge for anyone longing to step back from life and enter a meditative state of mind. Created on a barren piece of veld some 20 years ago, the retreat's focus is to provide holistic care for its visitors. Here you can simply be, enjoying the quiet atmosphere, comfortable cottages, and aura of spirituality. Attend one of its many wellness retreats, or simply stop over if you're exploring the area – Temenos is one of our favourite local retreats from city life.
From $60 person/night
Meandering through surrounding villages, such as Robertson (where excellent wine is made), or along the country's beautiful interior scenic route, the R62.
The Little Way chapel, which embodies the spirit of Temenos – this simple, tree-shaded retreat welcomes people from all paths of life.
Enjoying really good cuisine (vegetarian and vegan options have been added to the traditional organic menu) in the farm-fresh restaurant, Tebaldi’s. Look around you – you're sitting in the property's original homestead, built of clay in 1856.
The butter-coloured restaurant is a rustic but stately structure, housed in the property's original homestead. Dinner is usually served here, beneath chandeliers and a reed ceiling; when the weather is good, breakfast and lunch are served outdoors on the patio or terrace. Various sanctuaries dot the garden, including the chapel and workshop venue, and a circular space created for meditating. Wander along the garden's winding paths, listening out for birdsong and stopping in shady arbours. Or browse the garden library.
Fourteen charming Cape Dutch-style cottages dot the property. Most sleep two, although single rates are available. Four library suites near the garden library have private patios; four thatched cottages overlook the duck pond; the secluded Beni Abbes hermitage cottage (named for a small monastery in the heart of the Sahara Desert) is serene, and two cosy spiral cottages lie near the garden well. The separate house has two bright bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms, a living room/dining area, and garden views.
Temenos, in typical retreat style, is designed for contemplation and restoration, so the pace of life is slow. Rest, wander through the garden, settle in a green arbour with a good book, or watch the birds. Join a yoga, tai chi or qi gong session, have a relaxing body treatment, or take an early-morning hike to Bushmans Kloof waterfall. Enjoy sumptuous homemade dishes at the restaurant, or in McGregor itself, which offers fine eateries, artisan gift shops and antique stores.