Readers can take a journey through the rich and varied wellness cultures of Eastern and Central Europe in a new book being published in December.

‘Healing Sources - Spas and Wellbeing from the Baltic to the Black Sea’ aims to reveal the holistic approaches to wellbeing being taken in each region, in cultures that author Sophie Benge says are authentic, potent – and affordable.

A number of the wellbeing approaches are based on the power of natural resources, such as respiratory healing in Poland’s salt mines, mineral water therapies in Hungary, smoke saunas in Estonia and mud pools in Slovakia. Benge has written a series of reports on natural spa therapies in Spa Business magazine based on the book.

The book combines tales from history and of famous visitors with photographs of the region’s architecture, landscape, food and natural remedies.

Healing Sources has been researched and produced by Alla Sokolova, and features photography from Christian Banfield and Helen Abraham. It will be published on 3 December.