A Darkness Retreat in the Heart of Europe
Prague, Český Krumlov, Kutná Hora — and then three nights or a week in total darkness.
- All-inclusive week in the dark from 990 EUR
- Airport transfers, meals and guiding included
- Sightseeing arranged around your stay
- English-speaking hosts, guiding since 2013
Tomáš & Lenka — they will meet you at the airport
One trip, two halves
Most people who fly in from the United States do not want to land, get driven straight into a dark room, and fly home again. So the trip is built in two halves: a few days seeing the country, then the retreat itself.
The order matters more than it sounds. Sightseeing first means you arrive at the cabin already adjusted to the time zone, already tired in the right way, and with something to think about. Coming out of a week of darkness into a packed tourist itinerary is, by most accounts, a bad idea.
- You land in Prague. We meet you at the airport. Airport transfers are part of the all-inclusive package.
- You see the country. Prague, Český Krumlov and Kutná Hora, at whatever pace suits you. We arrange it; it is quoted separately from the retreat.
- You go into the dark. Three nights or seven, in a purpose-built cabin an hour from Prague.
- You come back out at dawn, spend the day on the grounds, and we drive you back to the airport.
Prague
Prague came through the twentieth century without being bombed flat, which is why the old town still looks the way it does. Gothic, Baroque and Art Nouveau buildings stand next to each other on the same street, and the castle above the river is the largest ancient castle complex in the world.
Two or three days is enough to see the Charles Bridge, the castle, the astronomical clock and the Jewish Quarter without rushing. The city is compact and walkable, English is widely spoken, and it is roughly an hour from there to the retreat.
Český Krumlov
Three hours south of Prague, a medieval town sits inside a horseshoe bend of the Vltava, under a castle with a Baroque theatre that still has its original stage machinery. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site and small enough to walk across in twenty minutes.
It is worth an overnight rather than a day trip. The day crowds thin out in the evening, and the town at night, lit and almost empty, is the version people remember.
Kutná Hora
Kutná Hora was built on silver. In the fourteenth century it minted the coinage of central Europe and rivalled Prague for wealth, and the Gothic Church of St Barbara — paid for by miners, and dedicated to their patron saint — is what that money bought.
A short walk away is the Sedlec Ossuary, a chapel decorated with the bones of some 40,000 people. It is not a horror attraction; it is a medieval memento mori, and standing in it tends to reorder your sense of proportion. Which, a day or two before going into the dark, is not the worst preparation.
The retreat is a fifteen-minute drive from here.
Then the dark
Five wooden cabins stand in a one-hectare orchard, in a village of thirty people. They were built for this and nothing else: 20 cm of insulation, heat-recovery ventilation, underfloor heating, a private hydro-massage shower and toilet, solar electricity, and water from a hand-dug well that is 120 years old.
- You turn the light off yourself. Nobody locks anything. The latch is on your side of the door and you can walk out at any hour.
- The first day or two, you sleep. Almost everyone does, and most say they have not slept like that in years.
- Food arrives once a day. Vegetarian meals, fruit and herbal tea, left in the entrance hall. Talking to your guide is offered, never imposed.
- Nothing is scheduled. No teacher, no program, no technique to practice. That is the whole design.
Three nights is a real experience rather than a taster. Seven is what most people choose, and it is the length the all-inclusive package is built around.
Why come this far to sit in the dark?
There are darkness retreats in the United States, and they are not cheap. A week typically runs into several thousand dollars, and it buys you a week in a room in a state you can drive to.
The all-inclusive week here is 990 EUR. That covers a consultation before you book, help choosing dates, airport transfers both ways, an interview with your guide before and after, guiding throughout, vegetarian meals with fruit and drinks, sleep monitoring with the data afterwards, a video record if you want one, and an internationally recognised certificate. Flights and any hotel before or after the retreat are paid separately — we can book them for you, and we will always tell you the price first.
Two other things worth saying plainly. This place has been running since 2013 and has guided more than 3,000 people, and it has taken part in research with the University of Ostrava. And there is no religion, no ideology and no guru attached to any of it — your hosts are not spiritual teachers or life coaches, and they will tell you so themselves.
What people say afterwards
Thank you very much Tomas for making this amazing transformative experience possible! The space, the food, the warm welcome, the care, everything was exactly as I was hoping for. Top notch. And the dark, oh my god! I will never ever regret having overcome my fears.
Philippe Mallet, June 2026
The centre holds a rating of 4.9 out of 5 from 136 Google reviews, written mostly in Czech by people who came from across Europe.
Good to know before you book
Getting here
Direct flights run to Prague from several US cities, and one-stop connections through European hubs are easy from anywhere else. From the airport it is about an hour by car to the retreat. US citizens do not need a visa for stays under 90 days, though from 2026 you will need ETIAS travel authorisation — check the current requirements before you fly. The currency is the Czech koruna, not the euro, and cards work almost everywhere.
Who this is not for
Please do not book if you are in an acute mental health crisis or have a history of psychosis, severe depression, strong anxiety or panic attacks, thoughts of self-harm, severe insomnia, epilepsy or a seizure disorder, an acute infection or fever, a serious heart condition, active alcohol or substance use, or marked claustrophobia.
Talk to us first if you take psychiatric medication, are in ongoing psychotherapy, are pregnant, live with a chronic illness, or are in the middle of a bereavement, divorce or job loss. That second list is a conversation, not a refusal — write to us and we will give you an honest answer about whether now is the right time.
A darkness retreat is not a medical service and does not replace medical care. Nothing on this page is medical advice, diagnosis or treatment, and no claim is made that time in the dark cures, treats or prevents any condition. If you are being treated for a physical or mental health condition, talk to your own doctor before you book.
Questions we get from the US
How long should the whole trip be?
Around two weeks works well: three or four days of sightseeing, seven nights in the dark, a day to come back to normal, and travel either side. If you only have a week, take three nights in the dark and see Prague. If you have three weeks, take your time in the south of the country.
What exactly is included in the 990 EUR?
A consultation before booking, help choosing dates, airport transfers both ways, an interview with your guide before and after the stay, guiding for the whole retreat, vegetarian meals with fruit and drinks, sleep monitoring with your data and charts afterwards, an optional video record, and an internationally recognised certificate of completion. Flights and hotels outside the retreat itself are not included and are quoted separately.
What does the sightseeing cost?
It depends entirely on what you want — which cities, how many nights, what standard of hotel, whether you want a guide. We quote it individually once we know. Tell us what interests you in the form below and we will send you a price.
How are dates arranged?
Individually, by email. There is no fixed calendar of sessions to book into. You tell us roughly when you want to come, we tell you what is actually free, and we agree from there. For a trip from the US we would suggest starting the conversation two to three months ahead.
Do I need to speak Czech?
No. Tomáš and Lenka both speak English, and everything is arranged in English before you travel. In Prague and the tourist towns English is widely spoken. In the village around the retreat it is not, but you will not need it there.
Can I bring my partner?
Yes. You can share one cabin or take one each — genuinely different experiences, and neither is better. Couples often do it separately the first time and together the next.
Plan your trip
Nothing here is binding and nothing is charged. Tell us roughly what you have in mind and we will write back with the dates that are free, a price for whatever sightseeing interests you, and honest answers to anything you want to ask before you commit to flying across an ocean.