Agriturismi in Europe

How to find agriturism opportunities—the chance to stay on a working farm—in Europe, from Provence and Tuscany to Ireland and Spain

The stone farmhouse of Il Poderuccio, an agriturismo near Montalcino in Tuscany.

Farm stays in...
Austria
The Baltics
Bulgaria
Croatia
Czech Republic
France
Germany
Greece
Ireland
Italy
Luxembourg
Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Scandinavia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Switzerland
The U.K.

General/worldwideEvery local tourist office in agriturism-packed countries like Italy, France, and Ireland has lists of local farm stays. Few are listed in English-language guidebooks.

There are usually agriturismo guides available in local bookshops—in Italian, French, or whatever the local lingo is, of course, but the important bits are easy enough: addresses, prices, and phone numbers, photographs, and icons for private baths, swimming pools, etc.

You can always just look for the ubiquitous agriturismo signs on country roads, pointing down rutted dirt tracks toward a farmhouse set among the vineyards, but if you want to find and book a few before you leave, here are the best resources for finding farm stays all across Europe. Not all site are available in English, but the pertinent details are usually pretty easy to figure out.

Farm stays in AUSTRIA

Urlaub am Bauernhof in Österreich (www.farmholidays.com) - Sprechen Sie farmstay? Some 3,400 farms across Austria do, and you can search them out here.

Farm stays in BELGIUM

Gites de Wallonie (www.gitesdewallonie.net) - The site ain't pretty, but it works—well, works with Wallonie (the Walloon is the southern, French-speaking half of Belgium).

Flemish Federation for Country Tourism in Flanders (www.hoevetoerisme.be) - Plattelandstoerisme in Vlaanderen covers rural tourism in the northern, Flemish half of Belgium, with 309 guest rooms in farms and villages across Flanders.

Farm stays in THE BALTICS

Baltic Country Holidays (www.celotajs.lv) - About 80 "Country houses" spread across Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania.

Lithuania: Countryside Tourism Association of Lithuania (www.countryside.lt) - Farm accommodations (370 of them) across Lithuania, with beds starting at 20lt ($8) and rooms from 50lt ($20). The site helpfully allows you to to an "extended search" where you can tick off services and entertainment desired—"sports and active recreation" "extreme activities," "Internet access," "fireplace" "bathhouse," etc.

Farm stays in BULGARIA

Rural Bulgaria (www.ruralbulgaria.com) - A bit over 100 rural accommodations alternatives in Bulgaria. Only one is classified as a "farm," but many others are at least in the countryside. And get this: that one farm? It costs a whopping €65 per week.

Farm stays in CROATIA

Istria Country Tourist Association (www.istra.com/agroturizam) - About 30 farmstay joints on the Istrian Peninsula (the northern strip of Croatia's coast, up near Italy)—I stayed at one of these once, and it was fabulous. Unfortunately, while you can pick up a printed brochure of farmstays at any tourist office once you're in Istria, the website simply dumps you into Istria tourism's main site, which doesn't offer an agroturizam ("farmstay") search option, so you have to dig through the existing categories of "Private apartments" and "rooms" to find farms.

Farm stays in the CZECH REPUBLIC

Holidays in the Countryside (www.prazdninynavenkove.cz/en) - Czech out these great Czech agritourism resources. There are about two dozen all told in Bohemia, another dozen farms in the Highlands, five around Prague, and a handful in the Moravian wine country. Click on the "details" button next to any of these properties, you get a plethora of information about it, including prices (which range from about $13 to $60).

Farm stays in FRANCE

Bienvenue a la ferme (www.bienvenue-a-la-ferme.com) - Lists a full 6,000 farms across France, but that covers all aspects of agriturism, from staying on the farm to simply touring a farm or sampling its wares. Of farm stays, there are roughly 1,400. Click on "Accommodation" and you can search just ones where you can stay (camping on farms, bed and breakfast, rural cottages, and guest farms).

Gîtes de France (www.gites-de-france.fr) - One of the world's original networks of countryside lodgings—for a long time, "gîte" was the nickname for any rental cottage in the European countryside. It's still mostly self-catering holiday cottages, but there are also thousands of farmhouse B&B and camping opportunities hidden amongst all the options (all 45,000 of them!). Oddly, there is no English-language version of the site (OK, it's France—more proud than practical—so perhaps that's not so odd).

Un Lit au Pre (www.unlitaupre.com) - Seven organic French farms that use the Feather Down Days luxury tents (like a safari tent on steroids with a rustic touch—basically part cabin, part canvas) and ethos.

Farm stays in GERMANY

Urlaub am Bauernhof (www.landtourismus.de) - Official site, with about 600 listings across Deutschland. Here's the trick: the English section only lists properties that have translated their own descriptions into English. If you stick to the German-language version, you get three or four times as many listings.

Bauernhof Urlaub (www.bauernhofurlaub.de) - Lots of options (4,500), but site only in German.

Farm stays in GREECE

Guest Inn (www.guestinn.com) - A self-described network of "Selected Traditional Ecotourist Accommodation" and other rural lodgings in Greece. It covers guest houses, apartments, cottages, and even some hotels, along with agriturismo options, such as renting an entire farm house on the island of Corfu starting at €46 ($56) per night.

Farm stays in IRELAND

Ireland: Discover Ireland (www.discoverireland.com) - The official tourism site lists nearly 550 farm vacations in the "Accommodations" section (though they're no longer broken out that way, so you just have to scroll through all the B&Bs and Guesthouses listing). Covers both the Republic and Northern Ireland.

Ireland: Irish Farm Holidays (www.irishfarmholidays.com) - B&Bs on working farms. Covers both the Republic and Northern Ireland.

Ireland: B&B Ireland (www.bandbireland.com) - What used to be the Town & Country network is still one of Ireland's largest and most reputable B&B networks, with many in the countryside and on working farms. Covers both the Republic and Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland: Northern Ireland Farm and Country Holidays Association (www.nischa.com) - The name says it all.

Farm stays in ITALY

Official Italy agriturism sites (www.terranostra.it, www.turismoverde.it, www.agriturist.it) - The three major national agritourism organizations/databases. Unfortunately, only that last one (Agriturist) has an English-language version of the site available; the others are in Italian only, but, again, its pretty easy to click your way through the geographic organization and suss out the page details. On Terranostra, click on "cerchi un agriturismo" (search for a farm) at the bottom of the page. From there it's all maps and drop-down lists (so you could select, for example, the regione of Toscana, then the provincia of Siena, then the comune of San Gimignano). At Turismo Verde, click on "Guida" (guide) along the top bar; the next page will list all the regions on the left, and it's maps and lists from then on.

Unofficial Sites (www.agritour.net, www.agriturismo.regione.toscana.it, www.agriturismo.net, www.agriturismo.com, www.agriturismo-sicilia.it) - Unofficial, yes, but still darned useful, and more likely to be in English.

Venere.com (www.venere.com) - Excellent hotel booking engine that also represents loads of agriturismi. Under each destination category, just select "Farm Houses" under "Accommodations type."

Farm stays in LUXEMBOURG

Association pour la Promotion du Tourisme Rural au Grand-Duché du Luxembourg (www.gites.lu) - The "Association for the Promotion of Rural Tourism in the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg" is the longest association name for the smallest country on this list. Spiffy site, but not too many places on offer (though, in its defense, Luxembourg is super-tiny). There are about a dozen options each under various sub-categories of rural lodgings: "Farm-style lodgings," "County lodgings" and "Holiday accommodations."

Farm stays in THE NETHERLANDS

Dutch Farm Holiday Bureau (www.dutch-farmholidays.com) - Going Dutch down on the bouwerie (that's Dutch for farm). A little more than 200 options across Holland (of which a few dozen are for designed for small groups, but most are either apartments or B&B rooms).

Featherdown Farms (www.boerenbed.com) - Fifteen organic Dutch farms that use the Feather Down Days luxury tents (like a safari tent on steroids with a rustic touch—basically part cabin, part canvas) and ethos.

Farm stays in POLAND

Polish Federation of Country Tourism "Hospitable Farms" (www.agritourism.pl) - More than 600 Polish farmstays on offer, with rates starting as low as 20 zloty ($7).

Farm stays in PORTUGAL

Turismo Rural (www.turismorural.com and www.ecoturismo.com) - Agritourism and ecotourism opportunities throughout Spain and Portugal (with a smattering elsewhere).

Portugal: Solares de Portugal (www.solaresdeportugal.pt) - Click on "Quintas e Herdades" for three dozen (generally elegant) farms, or on "Casas Rústicas" for another dozen rural homes.

Portugal: Visit Portugal (www.visitportugal.com) - Portugal's official tourism site does list "Tourism in the Country" options under "Where to Stay" in the "Find Resources" section. It's a bloody-minded database list... but there are nearly 800 listings (120 under the sub-category of "Agricultural Tourism").

Farm stays in ROMANIA

ANTREC (www.antrec.ro) - Rural Romanian resources.

Farm stays in SLOVAKIA

Slovenský zväz vidieckej turistiky a agroturistiky (www.agroturist.sk) - Crummy site, but can be of some use. First of all, it's only available in Slovakian—click on "Zariadenia" to see a list of all the chalets, farms, hotels, and pensions in the catalog. Unfortunately, it seems to be just that and no more: a web version of a printed catalog. All you get is a thumbnail photograph alongside a name, address, and telephone number for each property. No "more info" button to click, no Web sites or links included, and, sadly, no prices listed. Still, it's better than nothing, I guess.

Farm stays in SLOVENIA

Tourist Farms in Slovenia (www.slovenia.info/touristfarms) - Links to some 400 Slovenian Tourist Farms, 24 "Vineyard cottages" and 49 "Green accommodation."

Slovenia: Tourist Farms Association (www.farmtourism.si) - About 200 Slovenian farm accommodations.

Farm stays in SCANDINAVIA

Finland: Lomarengas, Finnish Country Holidays (www.lomarengas.fi) - Three dozen of Finnish Farm Holidays (plus a heap of Holiday Cottages).

Iceland: Icelandic Farm Holidays (www.farmholidays.is) - 160 farms across the country, plus the ability to book whole vacation packages (throw in a rental car with your farm stay, etc.). Nice.

Norway: Visit Norway (www.visitnorway.com) - In the Where to Stay section, in addition to the 179 "Farm holidays" you'll find such enticing options as 133 "Fishermen's cabins" and 1,278 "Cottages & Holiday homes. "

Sweden: Bo Pa Lantgard (www.bopalantgard.org) - Very well done site for some 300 Swedish farmstays, plus it's got a picture or a small child positively surrounded by pigs. You can't beat that.

Farm stays in SPAIN

Turismo Rural (www.turismorural.com and www.ecoturismo.com) - Agritourism and ecotourism opportunities throughout Spain and Portugal (with a smattering elsewhere).

ASETUR, Asociación Española de Turismo Rural(www.ecoturismorural.com) - Over 4,000 farmhouses across España. Actually, the info isn't located at this site (don't bother with the crummy search engine). It is mainly a set of links to regional and provincial agritourism Web sites throughout the country—click on "Associations" to get this excellent link list.

RAAR, Red Andaluza de Alojamientos Rurales (www.raar.es) - Farmstays and rural accommodations in the ever-popular Andalucia region of Spain.

Galicia Turismo Rural (www.turismo-rural.com) - Lots of farms in the Asturias and Galicia regions.

Catalonia (www.turismerural.com and www.agroturismo.com) - Both cover loads of Catalonian choices.

Farm stays in SWITZERLAND

Ferien auf dem Bauernhof (www.bauernhof-ferien.ch) - More than 200 farms across Switzerland, all bookable here.

Die Landwirtschaft (www.bauernbieten.ch) - All sort of Swiss agricultural tourism experiences, including 50 farm stays under the "Vacation" rubric.

Turisme Rural (www.tourisme-rural.ch) - More than 280 properties in the French-speaking part of Switzerland.

Schlaf im Stroh (www.abenteuer-stroh.ch) - The "Sleep in the Straw" network of 200 barns is a bit different agritourism idea. You're not such much staying on a working farm as you are sleeping in the barn while cows are grazing at higher pastures for the summer. The stalls are clean, as is the hay upon which you sleep (with the aid of some wool blankets). I, for one, love it, and the price (about $22–$33) can't be beat. [Just ignore the "login" box it tries to make you fill out; click "cancel" and you're in the site; if what I just wrote makes no sense when you get to the site, then good—it means they finally fixed this bug.]

Farm stays in the UNITED KINGDOM

Farm Stay UK (www.farmstayuk.co.uk) - Sometimes buggy site, but if you can get it to work it lists more than 1,270 rural accommodation options all across the United Kingdom—663 farmhouse B&Bs, another 585 self-catering rural cottages, and two-dozen campgrounds, caravans, and rural hostels.

Feather Down Farm Days (www.featherdown.co.uk) - Six organic farms in England and Wales that use the Feather Down Days luxury tents (like a safari tent on steroids with a rustic touch—basically part cabin, part canvas) and ethos.

Visit Britain (www.visitbritain.com) - In the past, the official website has broken out farms under their accommodations listings. For unfathomable reasons, this is not currently the case (you have to root around the B&B listings to find them), but who knows? They might start giving us the option again in the future.

GENERAL farm stay catalogs

EuroGites (www.eurogites.org) - The European Federation for Farm and Village Tourism is a links page to the biggest and, more shall we say, "official" farm stay organizations in 27 European countries (most have Web site links, a few just contact info and email).

ECEAT (www.eceat.nl) - The European Center for Eco Agro Tourism is a Dutch concern selling guidebooks to agritourism establishments across Europe. Its sister site www.groenevakantiegids.nl (all in Dutch, but the details are easy enough to savvy) lists more than 1,000 agriturisms in 24 European countries.

Agrisport (www.agrisport.com) - It's very much a homemade site, and far from the best organized around, but it's loaded with links once you drill down. These are not only to specific guest farms and dude ranches, but to other outdoors and agritourism links as well, all grouped by country or state. One annoying factor: you have to open a site in a new window to see what its actual url is (otherwise every page is masked as "agrisport.com").

Organic Places to Stay (www.organicholidays.co.uk) - OK, nearly two-thirds of the listings here are lodgings that happen to offer organic food. The other third, however, are B&Bs, rental cottages, or homestays on working organic farms. The bonus is that there are tons of listings ranging all over the world (Europe, North America, South America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania).

Agritourism World (www.agritourismworld.com) - Ladies and gentlemen, behold: a list of thousands of farm stays around the world... in alphabetical order by name. Not even sure why I bother including this sits, since the results are nearly random—a farm B&B in rural Pennsylvania wedged between one in Italy and another in Belize. How useful is that? Still, if you just want to roll the virtual dice when it comes to location, you'll find plenty of agriturismi here.

WWOOF: The World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (www.wwoof.org) - If you really want to get your hands dirty, sign up with this collection of volunteer organizations in 50 countries around the world, from Australia to Korea, Ghana to the US, Italy to Nepal (plus "independent" members—countries with only a handful of opportunities). Each is devoted to supporting and helping teach about organic and environmentally sound farming techniques. You join the WOOF chapter in the country where you'd like to work (for roughly $10 to $40), it sends you a list of farms that would appreciate a helping hand in exchange for room and board. You must be willing to put in six hours of work six days a week to see how the farming half lives in a variety of nations.