Where the journey takes you: holidays with Germany's farmers

When your day off begins with fresh eggs from the barn, followed by a bike ride through the countryside and then dinner featuring regional cheese, game and wine, relaxation is guaranteed. Many German regions are presenting themselves at the Grüne Woche not only as culinary destinations, but also as tourist destinations.

Partner Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, for example, invites visitors to take a snapshot in a beach chair. The island of Rügen is introducing itself, as are the Bernsteinreiterhöfe riding stables. They offer riding holidays in Hirschburg, Barth, Wendorf near Schwerin and Bad Doberan. Families are just as welcome as school classes. In addition to horses, many locations have a petting zoo, great playgrounds, restaurants and cafés serving traditional equestrian fare and Grandma's country cakes.

Rest stop at the farm

Schleswig-Holstein is opening a new long-distance cycle route in 2026 called the Ochsenweg. Active holidaymakers can cycle from Wedel to Flensburg on this route. Formerly used as a cattle drive route, it served as a link between north and south for knights, merchants and farmers. Along the 235-kilometre route, cyclists will find a dense network of farm shops and cafés that invite them to take a break. The podcast ‘Hofschnack’ takes travellers to farms in the region. Those who want to continue their cycle tour in Denmark will find a well-developed connection with the Hærvejen.

Cycling is also popular in Hesse. Along the Lahn Cycle Route, one of Germany's most beautiful riverside cycle paths, you can ride on paved, mostly car-free paths from the source in Feudingen, North Rhine-Westphalia, to Lahnstein near Koblenz, where the river flows into the Rhine. Holidaymakers cycle along an old railway line at the Vogelsberg, an extinct volcano. The Vulkanradweg cycle path takes them to Hanau, past many local farms that grow potatoes and apples as well as ‘Vogelsberger Reis’, a type of winter barley. Restaurants serve game from the surrounding forests and other regional classics. If you get tired along the way, from May to October on public holidays and weekends you can take the Vogelsberg Volcano Express, a bus with a bike trailer.

Unusual places to stay

Lower Saxony's farmers are creative when it comes to holidays in the countryside. Certified holiday farms and leisure facilities such as swimming pools are recognised by travellers thanks to the ‘Kinderferienland Niedersachen’ (Lower Saxony Children's Holiday Land) seal of quality. Trained staff show children on farms how food is grown and animals are fed. There are hay hotels where guests sleep in barns, tiny houses, sleeping barrels and parking spaces for motorhomes on farms, for example through the Landvergnügen network. A special event this year is the Landegartenschau (LAGA) in Bad Nenndorf from the end of April to mid-October. Guests at LAGA can look forward to themed gardens, park landscapes and a colourful programme of concerts and guided tours.