Orion Treehouses Unveils Its Forest for the 2026 Season: Canopy Yoga Deck and Forest Bathing
(c) Rivierao Agency
As it enters its twenty-second season, Orion Treehouses unveils two new experiences across its 7,000 m² of preserved forest, facing the medieval village of Saint-Paul-de-Vence: a yoga and meditation deck suspended at the canopy's edge, and a forest bathing practice guided by the founder herself.
As it enters its twenty-second season, Orion Treehouses, one of France's very first perched ecolodges, deepens its promise of an essential luxury. Hidden in the wooded hills above the French Riviera, twenty-five minutes from Nice, the estate unveils two new experiences across its 7,000 m² of preserved forest, facing the medieval village of Saint-Paul-de-Vence: a yoga and meditation deck suspended at the canopy's edge, and a forest bathing practice (Shinrin-yoku), guided by founder Diane Van den Berge herself.
A deck suspended between sky and canopy
Nestled on the hillside, in Orion's forest, the new yoga and meditation platform opens onto a rare perspective: the medieval village of Saint-Paul-de-Vence, floating above the treetops. The wooden deck, designed for two, has been conceived as a green alcove where silence and filtered light replace all artifice.
No walls, no roof. Only the vault of branches, the murmur of wind through the foliage and, in the distance, the ochre tones of the hilltop village. A world away from the bustle of the Côte d'Azur coastline, yet only fifteen kilometres from Nice. The experience is lived barefoot at daybreak or in the gentleness of twilight, when the forest exhales its scents of resin and damp earth.
The deck welcomes morning practice, sunset meditations and quiet moments of contemplation. It is open to all guests, and accommodates private sessions led by visiting yoga teachers on request.
Forest bathing, the gentle art of listening to the woods
Beyond the deck, Orion now offers an introduction to Shinrin-yoku, the Japanese practice of forest bathing. When the moment is right, Diane Van den Berge accompanies guests on an hour-long walk through the estate and the Colibri Forest (Orion's syntropic reforestation project), where native species have been planted in high density to regenerate the ecosystem.
Walking barefoot when comfort allows, hands brushing against the soil, the practice invites participants to feel what cannot be measured: the quiet energy that rises from the ground, the breath of the trees, the texture of bark and leaves. There is no performance, no instruction. Only attention, slowed down to the pace of the forest itself.
This optional accompaniment is offered free of charge to Orion's guests, on simple registration. It joins the discreet repertoire of small, unscheduled gestures that have shaped Orion since its creation: a ritual rather than a programme.
"Orion is a special place for families, where children don't need their tablets, where they find again the kind of childhood we used to know, and where parents reconnect with their own inner child. If there is one thing I want to pass on through this place, it's the understanding that caring for nature, on the smallest of scales, is what each of us should be doing for the planet."
Diane Van den Berge, founder
The energy of the sun
The installation of solar panels, completed for the 2026 season, marks a further step in Orion's environmental commitment. After the naturally filtered pool (purified by plants, sand and gravel, without chemicals) and the syntropic forest, the estate continues its trajectory towards energy self-sufficiency, with the same quiet conviction that has guided the place since its creation: doing its part, like the hummingbird of the legend that gave the forest its name.
A word from Diane Van den Berge, founder
"When I laid the first planks of Orion twenty years ago, the word 'glamping' was barely starting to circulate. What did exist was this intuition that true luxury is being enveloped by nature, not isolated from it. The yoga deck and the forest-bathing walks are the natural continuation of that story: giving our visitors more reasons to slow down, to listen and to reconnect. With the forest, with their children, with themselves."
About Orion Treehouses
Created in 2004 by Diane Van den Berge, Orion Treehouses is an independent ecolodge on the French Riviera, nestled in the forested hills facing the medieval village of Saint-Paul-de-Vence. Four treehouses built from red cedar (Bagheera, Shere Khan, King Louie & Mowgli, Colonel Hathi) welcome up to 14 guests across a 7,000 m² wooded estate, around a naturally filtered ecological pool and a barrel sauna.
A pioneer of suspended accommodation in France, Orion embodies a sustainable luxury where elegance and simplicity coexist in harmony with nature. The estate offers an alternative vision of the Côte d'Azur: wilder, slower, rooted in the landscapes of the hinterland rather than the glitter of the coast. It is committed to regenerating its environment through the Colibri Forest project and practises responsible resource management.
2026 season: April 1 to December 22. Rates from EUR 220 per night for 2 guests.
Website: www.oriontreehouses.com
Instagram: @oriontreehouses
Press contact
Orion Treehouses
Diane Van den Berge, founder
Email: welcome@oriontreehouses.com