Grounding, forest bathing, outdoor meditations — the list of travel and wellness trends that revolve around nature goes on and on.
It’s no secret that embracing the outdoors can benefit your health, both physically and mentally. But if “touching grass” and planting your feet in your backyard aren’t cutting it for you, visiting a designated “healing forest” could do the trick. Since 2018, the International Society of Forest Therapy (ISFT) has worked to define “a catalog of quality standards” for the “basis for certification” for those places as “medicinal forests.”
Below, read more on what to know about healing forests, where they are, and details on what makes them stand out when it comes to their therapeutic offerings.
What Defines An Official “Healing Forest?”
The Germany-based Healing Forest International Certification Office awards eligible wooded areas that meet its standards an official Healing Forest Certificate. The German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern federally funds the organization, and it works in alignment with the ISFT. On its website, the Healing Forest International Certification Office notes, “In contrast to an ordinary forest, the suitability for therapeutic use is guaranteed in a healing forest.”
To be designated a healing forest, the area must meet four minimum requirements. Each site must have trails that vary in difficulty, and designated areas for “therapeutic applications” and relaxation. Additionally, each site must regularly host trained service-providing forest therapists and have reduced noise and wind.
After a site applies to be a healing forest, the approval process includes consideration from forestry and “medical-therapeutic” experts.
Where Are They?
As of this reporting, there are four designated healing forests, all of which are in Europe. The most recently certified is Buçaco National Forest (Mata Nacional do Buçaco) in Luso, a town in central Portugal. The lush 260-acre wooded area received its designation in August 2026. The site offers the chance to be grounded amid immense biodiversity, with an astonishing 400 plant species native to Portugal’s Atlantic coast, as well as 300 others from other climates, according to the Center of Portugal. Additionally, Buçaco National Forest has six walking paths. And as a cultural destination, the forest boasts historical routes and a literal palace for royalty that now serves as a hotel (the Bussaco Palace, now the Bussaco Palace Hotel).
Other Certified Healing Forests
Certified in 2022, Benediktinerstift Göttweig in Krems, Austria, is the first healing forest named by the Healing Forest International Certification Office. Located in the lower part of the country, with views of the Danube River, the 130-acre area has nearly 150-year-old sequoia trees for contemplative, mindful grounding nearby. The site also has a spiritual connection, having been managed and inhabited by Benedictine monks for many centuries.
Kur- und Heilwald Lahnstein in Lahnstein, Germany, has been a healing forest since 2023. Its therapeutic programming is extensive, making it an ideal place for nature lovers and seekers to visit. There, you’ll find over 50 designated stations where you can tap into physical or mental well-being, including a 4.3-mile mindfulness trail and an area specifically for children.
Bad Nauheim is another official healing forest in Germany, located in a longtime spa and wellness destination of the same name. Also certified in 2023, the wooded area is another ideal destination option for travelers seeking forest therapies and activities that are clearly presented. On-site, you can forest bathe and meditate on one of the 80 benches, walk the roughly 2-mile forest bathing trail, go barefoot on the “Feetness” trail, or sit in a wooden bathtub, “which can be filled with leaves or tree fruits.”
