The Italian Holiday Houses

Agritourism, Farmhouse and Bed & Breakfast

Agritourism is a style of vacation in which hospitality is offered on farms. This may include the opportunity to assist with farming tasks during the visit. Agritourism is often practiced in wine growing regions of Italy. Tourists can pick fruits and vegetables, ride horses, taste honey, learn about wine, shop in gift shops and farm stands for local and regional produce or hand-crafted gifts, and much more. Each farm generally offers a unique and memorable experience suitable for the entire family.
Agritourism is being developed as a valuable component of a business model to support many agricultural entities when the farm products they produce are no longer economically competitive otherwise.
People are more interested in how their food is produced and want to meet the producers and talk with them about what goes into food production. Children who visit the farms often have not seen a live duck, or goat, and have not picked an apple right off the tree. This form of expanded agri-tourism has given birth to what are often called "entertainment farms." These farms cater to the pick-your-own crowd, offering not only regular farm products, but also food, mazes, open-pen animals, train rides, picnic facilities and pick-your-own produce.


Farmhouse is a type of building or house which serves a residential purpose in a rural or agricultural setting.
Most often, the surrounding environment will be a farm. These buildings are usually 2 storeys, but early buildings were single storey.
These buildings tend to be more pragmatic than aesthetic, but often well-stocked or well-furnished in terms of food, insulation or in other aspects dealing with daily necessities.
The supply of agricultural products from its environment tends to be a factor for this, as well as stressing the need for productivity and pragmatism in the survival of the farm.
The farmhouse allows the farmers, workers and often their families to reside in proximity to their workplace - namely the farm in question.
This allows the farmers and workers to arrive at the workplace earlier, increasing the productivity of the farm.


Bed and breakfast (often referred to as a B&B) is a type of boarding house typically operated out of a large single family residence.
Guests are accommodated at night in private bedrooms and breakfast is served in the morning - either in the bedroom or, more commonly, in a dining room or the host's kitchen. Bathrooms can be private or shared (with other guests or with the family in smaller establishments) or en-suite (where the ablutions are directly accessed from the guest bedroom).
B&Bs may be operated either as a primary occupation or as a secondary source of income. Staff often consists of the house's owners and members of their family who live there. Guests are usually expected to pay for their stay upon arrival and leave before noon on the day of departure. A big advantage of this type of hosted accommodation is the local knowledge of their hosts.
When guests stay more than one night, in some smaller B&Bs they will be expected to be away from the B&B during the main part of the day.
This arrangement, however, may not be inconvenient since many popular B&Bs are located in beach and mountain areas where daytime recreation and tourism activities are popular. One advantage of staying at a B&B is readier access to popular locations "off the beaten path" which may not be convenient to the city center.