Everything You Want to Know.

Il Sentiero is a private retreat sanctuary in Tricase Porto, Salento, Puglia, southern Italy. Founded and guided by Nikita Jaspers, it offers 5-day private retreats, duo retreats, a summer programme called Still Season, and multi-day company wellbeing retreats for leaders and teams. The retreat sits directly by the Adriatic Sea.

Via Vittorio Bottego 100, Tricase Porto, 73039, Salento, Puglia, southern Italy — directly by the Adriatic Sea. The nearest airports are Brindisi (BDS, ~1.5 hours) and Bari (BRI, ~2.5 hours).

Nikita Jaspers is a Dutch-Italian therapist, somatic practitioner and retreat guide. She holds a Bachelor of Social Work (Avans Hogeschool Breda), is a certified PSYCH-K® practitioner and Kundalini Activation practitioner, and has a professional background as a sociotherapist and group supervisor with experience in psychiatry. She founded Il Sentiero to offer deep personal retreats in southern Italy.

No alarm. You wake when your body is ready. Often a walk to the sea before breakfast. Breakfast outdoors, unhurried. 30 minutes of personal time. Then a guided journaling session (three questions, 20 minutes), followed by a one-on-one session with Nikita — at the cave, on a walk, or by the sea.

A long Italian lunch follows. Two hours of integration time in the afternoon. Then a bodywork session — soft light, music, somatic and energy work. The evening closes gently, sometimes with a fire.

Minimum five nights. Included: accommodation by the sea, all meals, daily one-on-one sessions, a personal journal, bodywork sessions, and 3 follow-up conversations after departure (at 2 weeks, 5–6 weeks, and 2–3 months). Nikita also writes a personal letter describing everything she observed during your time together.

People who feel something needs to change. Common profiles: professionals experiencing burnout or chronic stress; people feeling emotionally disconnected or stuck; women seeking to reconnect with themselves; individuals in life transitions; leaders who need to return to themselves before they can lead others well.

You do not need to be spiritual or have previous therapy experience. You only need to be willing to show up.

Yes. Many guests do not identify as spiritual. Nikita's approach is grounded and human first — emotions, nervous system regulation, honest conversation. You don't need to believe in anything to benefit. The cave and the sea are conditions, not rituals. The work happens between two people.

Somatic therapy is a body-based approach to emotional healing. It recognises that emotions, stress and unprocessed experiences are stored in the body — in tension, posture, breath and nervous system patterns. At Il Sentiero, somatic work means Nikita pays attention to what the body is doing as well as what is being said. Many guests find that things release in a somatic session that years of talk therapy could not reach.

Il Sentiero is open all year. Retreats run from mid-February to mid-July and from September to the end of November. The Still Season summer stay runs from mid-July to the end of August, and December and January are the Fire Season. Contact Nikita to ask about specific availability.

December and January at Il Sentiero. Winter in Salento is mild — usually between 12 and 15 degrees around midday — and the coast paths are empty. A fire is lit every day: writing, burning what is finished, long conversations and slow food around it. When it rains the work moves inside, to ceramics, the kitchen and the practice room. Retreats run as they do the rest of the year, solo or duo, minimum five nights.

A lighter summer stay in July and August. A room in Nikita's home, the sea at the door, days at the body's own rhythm. During the day everything slows. In the evenings Salento comes alive — dancing, music, long nights. Nikita knows the hidden beaches and local spots. Individual sessions available for those who want to go deeper. La dolce vita, lived.

The Salt and the Light is a seven-day group journey in Salento, from 25 October to 1 November 2026, for three people plus Nikita. Culture, food, the sea, a day on the boat with Nerea Escursioni, pasta making, ceramics, pizzica and painting — alongside deep one-to-one and group work. €3,960 per person, all inclusive except flights and travel insurance. Participants fly into Brindisi and Nikita collects them and brings them back. The week runs in Dutch or English.

The private retreat starts at €3,500 and is priced personally, because it is built around one person and the length varies. The October group journey, The Salt and the Light, is €3,960 per person, all inclusive apart from flights and travel insurance. Private retreat pricing is discussed on the free introduction call, once it is clear what the retreat would actually hold.

Dutch or English. Nikita is Dutch-Italian and also speaks Italian, so one-to-one work in Italian is possible on request. Sessions happen in whichever language you think and feel in most easily — for most people that is their mother tongue.

Fly to Brindisi (BDS), roughly an hour and forty minutes by car, or Bari (BRI), roughly two and a half hours. For the October group journey Nikita collects you at Brindisi and brings you back at the end. For private retreats, the transfer is arranged together on the introduction call.

No. The work is therapeutic and Nikita is trained in social work with a background in psychiatry, but a retreat is not medical or psychiatric treatment and does not replace it. If you are in acute crisis, or currently in treatment for something serious, say so on the introduction call. Sometimes the honest answer is that this is not the right moment, and Nikita will tell you that.

Yes. The duo retreat is built for two people who want to do this side by side — partners, friends, a parent and an adult child. You each get your own one-to-one sessions and there is shared work as well. It is not couples therapy, though couples do come.

All meals are included and cooked slowly, mostly from what grows here. Tell Nikita what you do not eat when you book — vegetarian, vegan, allergies, anything — and it is simply taken care of. Nobody has ever gone hungry at Il Sentiero.

Yes. For some people one retreat is the beginning rather than the end. That can simply mean coming back, or it can mean a year — three retreats across the seasons with online guidance in between, preparing for what is coming and integrating what happened. The retreat is where the deeper parts move; the weeks afterwards are where the change takes hold, and that work matters just as much. There is no fixed package, because the rhythm depends on you. What it could look like is worked out on the first call.

Fill in the contact form at ilsentiero.world/connect. Nikita reads every message personally and will reach out to schedule a free introduction call. No obligations. After the call, if it feels right for both, details and pricing are discussed personally.

Yes. Two programmes:

The Human Behind the Business — multi-day group retreat in Puglia for employees. Emotional intelligence work, somatic sessions, nature, honest conversation.

The Grounded Leader — 5-day one-on-one retreat for company leaders. Works with the specific weight and demands of leadership.

Both start with a free introduction call, followed by a tailored proposal.