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Atmosphere and feature ratings above are based on Best Retreats research (October 2026). They will be updated if Alegria Retreats submits its own information.

Alegria Retreats: An In-Depth Review for Psilocybin Retreats near Venlo, Netherlands

Alegria Retreats, also listed as Alegria Psychedelic Retreat, is a small psilocybin truffle operator run by Alan Da Silva and Nuria Salgado, who list themselves as based in Germany. It runs mostly private one-to-three-person sessions in rented bungalows near Venlo, in Dutch Limburg, plus occasional group retreats for up to eight at a farmhouse near Eindhoven, and also sells sessions in Tulum, Portugal and Rio de Janeiro. It does not offer ayahuasca. Its reviews are perfect, 5.00 on both Retreat Guru and BookRetreats, and we found no incidents. The concerns are about transparency: no legal entity or address on its website, a terms page that is still an unedited template, team photos with filenames suggesting they were generated by ChatGPT, a screening doctor whose license we could not confirm, and listings that contradict each other. Our earlier profile wrongly described it as an ayahuasca retreat and needs several other corrections.

🎯 At a Glance

• Locations: No fixed center. Private sessions take place in a rented bungalow at the edge of Maasduinen National Park near Venlo, or in a client’s chosen rental; group retreats use a converted farmhouse near Eindhoven, according to its Retreat Guru listings. Other listings name Amsterdam or Weert.
• Approach: Psilocybin truffle ceremonies with live music, breathwork, bodywork and coaching, framed as “trauma-informed” therapeutic work, with preparation and integration calls on Zoom. Alan Da Silva describes himself as a student of Brazilian indigenous traditions; there is no indigenous ceremony.
• Suitable For: People who want a private, legal psilocybin session in the Netherlands with a music-centered guide, and who are comfortable arranging their own meals and transport. Less suited to anyone looking for ayahuasca, a fixed retreat center or a medically staffed program.
• Costs: €1,200 for a one-day private session (€2,400 with two ceremonies); €800 to €1,000 for a two-day group retreat; from US$2,020 for a three-day private stay with no meals and US$6,726 for a five-day private “Full Reset,” according to Retreat Guru and BookRetreats. Deposits are about 20%, with the balance due on arrival. Our earlier profile’s €1,400 and €2,600 prices and 50% deposit are out of date.
• Overall Assessment: A legal, well-reviewed private psilocybin service with screening, a medication policy and integration calls, offset by no disclosed legal entity, template legal terms, apparently AI-generated team photos, an unverified medical credential, no medic during ceremonies and contradictory listings. Directory evaluation: B-.

💬 What Guests Are Saying

Here is how Alegria Retreats rates across review platforms in October 2026:

The positive picture. Reviewers on both platforms describe warm, safe and knowledgeable facilitators, a non-judgmental space, personal attention before, during and after the session, a peaceful setting and powerful live music, and several are repeat guests.

The negative feedback. None found on any platform.

Who is writing the reviews. Every review on both marketplaces is five stars, including every subcategory on BookRetreats, and BookRetreats reuses one pool of 26 reviews across products in two countries. The website claims more than 60 five-star reviews, more than the platforms show combined. Several team headshots carry filenames containing “ChatGPT Image,” which suggests AI-generated or placeholder photos. The site also claims a “73%” lasting-change rate and calls itself one of the safest psilocybin retreats, without evidence. We found no review incentives. If you have attended, we encourage you to share your experience through our submission form.

🚩 Incident Report

We searched review platforms, Dutch, German and English-language news, and legal sources for reports involving Alegria Retreats, Alan Da Silva and Nuria Salgado.

• Deaths and serious injuries: None found. A 2019 death at a “psychedelic healing session” in Zeeland, reported by NL Times, is unrelated.
• Sexual misconduct: No allegations found.
• Theft and crime: No reports found.
• Legal action: None found.

If you have experienced or witnessed an incident at Alegria Retreats, please report it confidentially.

🔍 Critical Notes

Not ayahuasca, and not So Alegria. Our earlier profile described “Dutch Ayahuasca” and titled the listing as an ayahuasca retreat. No Alegria source offers ayahuasca; it works only with psilocybin truffles. The claim probably came from confusion with So Alegria, a separate Dutch operator near Amsterdam that sells ayahuasca ceremonies. The distinction matters legally, because ayahuasca is illegal in the Netherlands.

The legal position. Psilocybin truffles, the underground form of the fungus, remain legal and are sold in Dutch smartshops, while magic mushrooms have been banned since 2008; the ban “did not outlaw the hallucinogenic species in sclerotium form,” as Wikipedia summarizes. Alegria says its truffles come from a local cultivation company. Ayahuasca falls under Dutch hard drugs law following a 2019 Supreme Court ruling, as DutchNews reported. Alegria’s sessions in Mexico, Portugal and Brazil fall under different laws, which we did not research.

Who are you paying? The website names no company, registration number, address or VAT number, and its terms and conditions page is an unedited template that says “This template is a guide, not legal advice.” The phone link on the site points to a placeholder number. Get the operator’s legal name and the refund terms in writing before paying.

Listings that contradict each other. The same products are placed in Venlo, Amsterdam, Eindhoven or Weert depending on the listing; one Netherlands listing uses Tulum photos and describes a retreat in Mexico; programs are called both “3-week” and “6-week”; and a BookRetreats page promises “free cancellation” above a table showing no refund inside 14 days. Group size is up to eight on Retreat Guru and 10 to 14 on Third Wave.

Corrections to our earlier profile. We found no source for Nuria Salgado being a psychologist with a PhD in neuropsychology from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam; her profile uses “Dr.” without naming a degree, and BookRetreats separately lists a “Dr. Mona,” a neuropsychologist. Sessions take place in rented bungalows and a farmhouse, not a “purpose-built” venue. The nearest airports are Düsseldorf and Cologne, about an hour to an hour and a half away, not Amsterdam. We found no source for transport arranged through WhatsApp groups, and the 1,500 figure on our earlier page is unexplained.

🆘 Screening & Mental Health Risks

Alegria says every applicant goes through “medical and psychological screening before acceptance, including a conversation about any medication,” with an intro call, a health questionnaire and a preparation call one to two weeks before. Its FAQ says SSRIs and SNRIs are “generally not recommended” and that some clients taper under a physician’s supervision, often one to two months beforehand; BookRetreats warns guests not to stop medication without a doctor. It recommends a minimum age of 25. A “Medical Dr. & Psychotherapist,” Dr. Sven Richter, is named for screening, but no license, country or registration number is given, and no source says a medic is present during ceremonies. The emergency plan is described only as “knowledge of nearby medical facilities,” and because venues change, no hospital distance can be given. Guests on the three-day product stay alone in a self-catering bungalow after the ceremony. The five-day program uses “up to five carefully calibrated psilocybin doses,” a protocol for which we found no published safety rationale. Psilocybin can interact with some psychiatric medications, including lithium, and is generally not advised for people with a personal or family history of psychosis or bipolar disorder. Never stop a psychiatric medication to qualify for a retreat without your prescriber’s guidance.

🧪 Brew Substance

Alegria uses psilocybin truffles, the sclerotia of psilocybin-containing fungi, which it says come from a local cultivation company using organic materials. Doses are not published. The five-day program starts with a microdose and builds to as many as five doses across two sessions. Ceremonies run about five hours, accompanied by live music and sound journeys, with breathwork and bodywork on some programs and an “herbal detox” on the five-day reset. No ayahuasca, kambo, rapé or dietas are offered. Ask how doses are set and what happens if a guest has a difficult reaction.

📍 Location, Setting & Style

• Private sessions: A holiday-park bungalow with a private bathroom, air conditioning, kitchen and terrace at the edge of Maasduinen National Park, about 10 minutes by taxi from Venlo station. Meals are not included on the three-day product.
• Group retreats: A converted farmhouse near Eindhoven, with shared meals, live music and a sound journey.
• Style: Modern and therapeutic, with coaching, Zoom preparation and integration calls, voice and movement workshops and music as the main tool. Sessions are in English, German and Dutch.

Practical guidance: Fly into Düsseldorf (DUS) or Cologne (CGN), about an hour to an hour and a half by road, or take the train to Venlo. Airport pickup is an optional US$224 upgrade on the five-day program and is not offered on the others.

Should You Book?

Alegria Retreats may suit you if you want a private, legal psilocybin session in the Netherlands with a warm, music-focused guide and good reviews. The trade-offs: no disclosed legal entity, template terms, apparently AI-generated team photos, an unverified screening doctor and no medic present, contradictory listings, and guests left on their own in self-catered rentals after some sessions. If you go, get the operator’s legal name, the doctor’s credentials, the venue address, the emergency plan and the refund terms in writing, and read our guide to verifying retreat facilitators.

The Team & Story

Alan Da Silva, head facilitator and founder, describes studying eastern spirituality, Jungian psychology, hypnotherapy, neo-shamanism and NLP, with music as his main tool, and Retreat Guru says he was mentored by Huni Kuin healers from the Brazilian Amazon. His bios give his experience as nine years in one place and more than a decade in another. Nuria Salgado, co-founder and lead facilitator, is described as a trauma-informed coach and somatic guide drawing on Mesoamerican and Brazilian indigenous teachings, yoga and breathwork. The team page also lists facilitators Stanley Amuzu, Sinja Bechthold and Merve Günes and the doctor Sven Richter. The site claims more than 10 years of experience and more than 300 people guided. No founding year or legal entity is published. We did not independently verify anyone’s credentials.

Prep & Integration Tips

Before you go: Complete the health questionnaire fully, list every medication and supplement, and talk with your own doctor about any taper well in advance. Plan your meals and transport, since many products include neither. After you return: The programs include one to three integration calls. Arrange support from a qualified therapist at home as well. Our guide on how to research ayahuasca incidents can help you check any center.

Pros & Cons

Book Your Ceremony

Bookings are made through alegria-retreats.com, its Retreat Guru pages and BookRetreats. A two-day group retreat in the Netherlands is listed for October 30 to 31, 2026, with a New Year’s ceremony on December 31, and private sessions are available on flexible dates. Before paying, confirm in writing the operator’s legal name, the venue, the doctor’s credentials, the emergency arrangements and the refund terms. Best Retreats does not take bookings; learn more about our mission.

Last reviewed October 2026.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice. Consult a qualified medical professional.