SPIRIT OF ADVENTURE

For those of you who think spa holidays are all about lying about on silken sofas in incense-infused relaxation rooms, think again.

Taking our lead from our Cover Story on Adventure Cruising, here is the on-land version.

These days, there are spa holidays for all preferences and needs and many of them involve all types of adventures.

WALK WITHIN - this is a gentle way to introduce your body and mind to a different type of spa experience. In fact, it is a whole new concept which a new company is offering - walking holidays in some of the most beautiful areas of Umbria, Majorca and Andalucia.

Described as "an insightful journey into yourself," the seven-day holiday is a mixture of walking, massages and counselling (the latter mostly to remove energy and psychological blocks, and allow each individual to realise his or her true potential).

Led by Stefania Piazzalunga, a psychotherapist whose passion is walking, they are the nearest thing to a spa for the soul. While the walking is not strenuous, it can be energetic and takes place every morning for between three and four hours, during which guests are encouraged to be contemplative in the stunning surroundings.

Accommodation is in seriously beautiful private houses with magnificent food.

For further information, visit www.walkwithin.co.uk or call 020 7584 7900; prices from £2,300.

IN:SPA RETREATS - here's where you can take the walking and hiking a stage further. But, again, these all take place in beautiful private houses in the Sierra Nevada in Spain or just outside Marrakech in Morocco.

The company takes over the house with its own chef, masseurs, yoga teachers, personal trainers and then has local guides to organise hikes in the mountains - the High Atlas in the case of Marrakech.

Each day begins with sun-rise yoga, followed by breakfast before guests pile into trucks to be taken off to the foothills of the said range for a fairly strenuous hike of three or four hours before the sun gets too hot. Water and nuts are provided for sustenance along the way.

After a delicious, healthy and organic lunch back at base, the afternoons are taken up with one-to-one sessions with a personal trainer, a yoga master or a masseur. Each breaks last six days and guests are guaranteed to arrive home fitter and, in many cases, lighter.

For further information, visit www.inspa-retreats.com or call 0845 458 0723.

WILD FITNESS - this is exactly what it says. Its purpose is to restore the strength, speed and agility that animals in the wild enjoy and which we humans seem to have lost in the millennia since we stopped having to catch our own meals.

Hence some of the most accomplished trainers around accompany you to the beach, the jungle and the forests off the Kenyan coast where you learn to swing through the trees (great for upper arms, biceps, et al). Canoeing along mangrove swamps (great for balance and speed), swimming, diving, sunning and weight-training are all thrown into the mix, alongside kick-boxing and a type of kung fu.

You can choose either a 9, 14 or 21-day break. The location, Watamu Beach, just half an hour from Malindi on the Indian Ocean, is glorious, the food is terrific and �ber healthy.

For more information, look up www.wildfitness.com doubles cost from £4,410 for 9 nights, including full board, all flights and training. Call Africa Travel Centre on 0845 450 1541.

SURFING SPA - If you've always looked at those surfers and thought how wonderful it would be to ride the waves, then this is the place for you on the south west coast of Bali.

While learning any new sport or discipline can be scary, here, with great and patient instruction, you could be standing up on that board in no time at all, as these retreats are specifically for beginners.

And, wow, will you feel great when you ride that first wave, no matter how wobbly you may feel!

Then, to get rid of any aches and pains from pecs to bums via arms and thighs, there are massages on hand to ease the muscles and terrific yoga classes to keep you flexible and moving.

Better still, it's for girls only, so you won't have your beloved standing by urging you to go faster, etc, when you really don't want him to watch your humiliation. No wonder they are called Surf Goddess retreats.

For more information, visit www.surfgoddessretreats.com or call +656 491 5097; they cost from £975 (doubles) for seven nights, excluding flights

CALIFORNIA ACTION - the Ashram prides itself on being the toughest, roughest, meanest and leanest health retreat ever. And it all takes place deep in the foothills of the Santa Monica mountains in California.

This is not for wimps, with a minimum of five hours of hiking, three hours of yoga, an hour of fitness training plus swimming, kick-boxing and jujitsu every day. Food is healthy and organic, with plenty of leaves and seeds but no sweeties or chocolates.

It promises that you will be up and active from six in the morning until ten at night and that, over the entire week, you will have hiked a minimum of 60 miles.

Sounds like fun? In a weird way - once the pain stops - it is. For there are just 12 inmates in each week's intake and a bonding occurs with everybody looking out for, and helping, each other.

On the pampering side, there is respite for your aching muscles with some great treatments, from sports massage to watsu and, at the end of the week, you too will be fitter, leaner and meaner than you have ever been.

If Oprah and Jane Fonda can hack it (although Julia Roberts couldn't!), perhaps you can, too.

For further information, call +1 818 222 6900 or visit www.theashram.com the cost is $4,000 per week, excluding transatlantic flights.

WILDERNESS RETREAT - head for Scotland and the Alladale Wilderness Lodge is in perfect highland scenery, ready to indulge the sporty you with clay-pigeon shooting, mountain biking, fly fishing, wilderness safaris and nature walks, as well as qi gong, tai chi and masses of yoga and some light meditation.

If the sun shines, you could almost be in paradise up here. The great thing is that you can do as much or as little as you like while the lodge is supremely comfortable and the food - although raw and macrobiotic - is plentiful and delicious.

They are all organised by Yogoloji, a company specialising in adventure and yoga breaks from Scotland to Brazil via Barbados and Cyprus.

For further information, call 0207 730 7473 or visit www.yogoloji.com cost is from £1,400 for everything excluding travel to Inverness.