Budgetary bliss

Exotic foreign spas usually come with scattered orchid petals, lemongrass rubs and a price tag to seriously unbalance your chakra. Well there's now a solution that avoids long-haul flights and jet lag - and its cost shouldn't shatter your serenity.

Edinburgh's One Spa has been laden down with awards since opening three years ago. But it's not the rebalancing facial or salt and oil rub that let you cash in, it's the architecturally stunning spa's unique collection of global heat treatments.

For £55 you get four hours in the thermal suite, including an Italian laconium (dry sauna with heated seats), Turkish hammam and a tropical rain shower worthy of Bali. There's also an Alpine ice drench, Finnish sauna, herb-scented "aroma grotto" straight off a Thai island and cold mist drizzle found in Skegness in February.

It's not exactly scientific - but nor are heated stones and swinging crystals - but a quick back of the napkin calculation suggests you might spend £400 each on weekends in Rome, Helsinki, Istanbul and the French Alps, at least a grand on trips to Thailand and Bali, and about £50 getting to Skegness.

Use a budget airline to fly to the Edinburgh spa, and that's a saving of about £3,550 - or 118 multi-coloured mud treatments. And you won't have to splash out on a massage for jet lag or post-flight wrinkles. Bargain.

· One Spa: 0131 221 7777, one-spa.com.

Gym life - but not as we know it

You might have read about Wild Fitness. The antithesis of hermetically-sealed gyms, it takes exercise and healthy pursuits into the great outdoors under the watchful eyes of several top instructors. But if, like most people, you find the six-week course on Kenya's powder-white Indian Ocean beaches prohibitive on both time and cost - £5,500 not including flights - the company have just announced a cheaper Portuguese option for late spring/summer 2005.

While clearly not bargain basement, around £1,400 buys you a week's worth of stretching, running, cycling, circuit training, physical assessment, yoga and swimming in lakes, creeks and Atlantic surf. The price includes accommodation in the hills in the south of Portugal, full high-energy, low-fat board and transfers from Faro, accessible by budget flights.

The good news - unless you are blaming financial factors for your spreading waistline - is that Wild Fitness is also researching possible locations in Poland, so the figure may come down further in 2005. Watch this space.

· 020-7368 1632, wildfitness.com.

Wonder weed

This summer's beach holiday may already be a distant memory, but you can get a slightly alternative reminder of its health benefits with a quick-fire visit to Ireland's County Sligo. Celtic Seaweed Baths, in the picturesque coastal village of Strandhill, does exactly what it says on the tin bath - providing hour-long immersions in hot brine and seaweed. It's claimed the heat releases the weed's essential oils - and you thought it was just gunk - moisturising your skin, and helping with psoriasis and acne.

At the same time, the centre says the seaweed's minerals and gel extract ease aching muscles, rheumatism and arthritis, while its natural iodine and calcium alginate help to heal wounds and burns. Wrap it round your head, stand on one leg and whistle and it may boost your sex drive. Possibly.

The cost of a session with a bath of fresh seaweed is €18, or €25 for a couple.

· 00353 71916 8686, celticseaweedbaths.com.

Bath spa watch

98: The number of days to the opening of the long-awaited Thermae Spa. Possibly. 'It'll be some time around the end of the year,' said a spokesman. 'But the only way to keep up to date is to look at the website (bathspa.co.uk). We've been burnt before by announcing opening dates.' Something to do with three rather famous singers, the Royal Crescent, a stage and lots of opera fans turning up in black tie and posh frocks last summer.

1,362: The number of days the opening is delayed. Initially planned for 2000, multiple hitches have put the project behind schedule and over budget - doomsday predictions say the initial £16.5m estimate may eventually hit £35m. It's enough to make you take a long, therapeutic soak.