Agriturismi around Rome

Working farm B&Bs—called agriturismi—near Rome, Italy

The gardens at agriturismo Villa Vignamaggio in the Chianti region of Tuscany.
A room at the agriturismo Villa Vignamaggio in the Chianti region of Tuscany.
One of my favorite agriturismi in the Chianti hills south of Florence, Villa Vignamaggio is where the Mona Lisa grew up (yes, that Mon Lisa) and, later, Kenneth Branagh filmed Much Ado about Nothing. » more

Even if you can't afford your own farmhouse in the Italian countryside, you can up close with the rural heart of Italy by staying on an agriturismo, sort of like a B&B on a working farm.

Of course, by definition there aren't any agriturismi in the historic center of Rome. But you can find some right at Rome's doorstep, some just outside the ring road highway (they call it the G.R.A.), other at least within a half-hour drive, allowing you to sample the best of both the Eternal City and Lazio countryside (and, er, Italian traffic, though you may not be so jazzed about sampling that last one).

What is an agriturismo like?

Agriturismi range from vineyards and dairy farms to barns amid olive groves to frescoed villas next to horse stables.

By law, an agritourism establishment has to be a working farm, taking no more than 30 paying guests and earning no more that 30% of their income from hospitality (the rest from honest farm work).

A country-comfy room at La Rignana, an agriturismo in Tuscany's Chianti region.
A country-comfy room at La Rignana, an agriturismo about an hour south of Florence in the Chianti. » more

Accommodations range from four-star luxury to something a straw's-width from sleeping in a stall, but are usually along the lines of a country-comfy and rustic room that looks exactly like what you'd expect to find staying with an aunt and uncle in the countryside.

Being on a farm, breakfasts can be phenomenal (and ultra-fresh).

Many are increasingly opening on-site restaurants featuring wonderfully huge, cheap, and hearty home-cooked dinners (the standard: about €30–€45, including wine, for four or five courses).

How much does an agriturismo cost?

More on how agriturismi work in Italy: info, tips, and advice

Agriturismi offer the experience of the Italian farm life for a fraction the cost of a hotel; double rooms run anywhere from €35 to €300, but usually average around €55 to €125.

Many agriturismi require a three-night minimum stay (for some, a week).

Roughly half accept credit cards.

How to find agriturismi

The Rome tourist office is hopeless (20 properties, only 4 with website links, the rest just an address and telephone number). Few agriturismi are listed in English-language guidebooks.

There are usually agriturismo guides available in local bookshops. These are usually only in Italian—though the Touring Club Italiano's excellent guide (pictured on the right) is now also translated into English, and you can even buy it at Barnes & Noble—but even if you buy one in Italian from a bookstore over there, the important bits are easy enough to figure out: addresses, prices, and phone numbers, photographs, and icons denoting private baths, swimming pools, etc.

You can always just look for the ubiquitous agriturismo signs on country roads (traditionally brown or yellow, but lately they come in all colors), pointing you down rutted dirt tracks toward a farmhouse set among the vineyards.

However, if you want to find and book a few before you leave, here are the best resources for finding farm stays in Italy.

  • PartnerBooking.com (www.booking.com) - Another primier hotel booking engine that lists agriturismi among the "Farm Holidays" category.
  • Official Italy agriturism sites (www.terranostra.it, www.turismoverde.it, www.agriturist.it) - The three major national agrotourism 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 "La Tua Vacanza" (your vacation) at the bottom of the page, then on "Ricerca" (search). From there it's all maps and lists. At Turismo Verde, click on "Guida" (guide) along the top bar; the next page will list all the regions on the left, and its maps and lists from then on.
  • Unofficial Italy farmstay sites (www.agritour.net, www.agriturismo.net, www.agriturismo.com) - Unofficial, yes, but still darned useful, and more likely to be in English.

Tips & links

Details
Rome hotel & lodging links
Useful Italian for lodging
English (Inglese) Italian (Italiano) Pro-nun-cee-YAY-shun
Good day Buon giorno bwohn JOUR-noh
Good evening Buona sera BWOH-nah SAIR-rah
Good night Buona notte BWOH-nah NOTE-tay
Goodbye Arrivederci ah-ree-vah-DAIR-chee
Excuse me (to get attention) Scusi SKOO-zee
thank you grazie GRAT-tzee-yay
please per favore pair fa-VOHR-ray
yes si see
no no no
Do you speak English? Parla Inglese? PAR-la een-GLAY-zay
I don't understand Non capisco non ka-PEESK-koh
I'm sorry Mi dispiace mee dees-pee-YAT-chay
     
Where is? Dov'é doh-VAY
...a hotel un albergo oon al-BEAR-go
...a B&B un bed-and-breakfast oon bet hand BREK-fust
...a rental room un'affittacamera oon ah-feet-ah-CAH-mair-ra
...an apartment for rent un appartamento oon ah-part-tah-MENT-toh
...a farm stay un agriturismo oon ah-gree-tour-EES-moh
...a hostel un ostello oon oh-STEHL-loh
     
How much is...? Quanto costa? KWAN-toh COST-ah
a single room una singola OO-nah SEEN-go-la
double room for single use [will often be offered if singles are unavailable] doppia uso singola DOPE-pee-ya OO-so SEEN-go-la
a double room with two beds una doppia con due letti OO-nah DOPE-pee-ya cone DOO-way LET-tee
a double room with one big bed una matrimoniale OO-nah mat-tree-moan-nee-YAAL-lay
triple room una tripla OO-nah TREE-plah
with private bathroom con bagno cone BAHN-yoh
without private bathroom senza bagno [they might say con bagno in comune—"with a communal bath"] SEN-zah BAHN-yoh
for one night per una notte pair OO-nah NOH-tay
for two nights per due notti pair DOO-way NOH-tee
for three nights per tre notti pair tray NOH-tee
Is breakfast included? É incluso la prima colazione? ay in-CLOO-soh lah PREE-mah coal-laht-zee-YOAN-nay
Is there WiFi? C'é WiFi? chay WHY-fy?
May I see the room? Posso vedere la camera? POH-soh veh-DAIR-eh lah CAH-mair-rah
That's too much É troppo ay TROH-po
Is there a cheaper one? C'é una più economica? chay OO-nah pew eh-ko-NO-mee-kah
Rome's hotel tax

In January, 2011, Rome began charging a hotel bed tax. This is the city's doing, and sadly it is not a scam.

The following tax rates are per person, per night for all guests over the age of 10 and can be charged for stays of up to 10 days:

  • 1–3 star hotels: €2
  • 4–5 star hotels: €3
  • B&Bs: €2
  • Apartments: €2
  • Rental rooms: €2
  • Agriturismi: €2
  • Campsites: €1 (up to 5 days)

So a couple staying three nights in a four-star room would pay an extra €18.

Some hotels have begun folding this tax into their quoted rates; others tack it on when you go to check out, so be prepared.

How long does Rome take?

Planning your day: Rome wasn't built in a day, and you'd be hard-pressed to see it in that brief a time as well. Still, you can cram a lot into just a day or three.

To help you get the most out of your limited time in the Eternal City, here are some perfect itineraries, whether you have one, two, three, or four days to spend in Rome. » Rome itineraries

Rome tours

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