The most authentic experience can be found at farms

Taste local flavours of Slovenia at tourist and excursion farms

With more than 800 hospitable farms, Slovenia is at the top of European rural tourism.

Try Slovenian cuisine at places where its ingredients are produced. If you are accommodated at a farm, you will also discover the advantages of organic production, and get to wander about gardens and fields, pastures and stables, vineyards and cellars.

At least one third of tourist farms provide accommodation in their own houses, apartments, rooms and camping sites. Their quality is marked with apples (from one to four apples). Specialist tourist farms excite with organic produce and catering that is friendly to families with children, and to cyclists. Some are also adapted to meet the needs of physically impaired persons.

You can venture to farms on a gastronomic trip or on holidays packed with flavours

Choose peace and quiet in green surroundings or hikes and authentic experiences which certainly include cuisine.

The best farms with accommodation decorated with four apples offer diverse food and additional experiences in addition to well-equipped rooms. Excursion farms – many are found along tourist wine roads – are known for their cold and hot dishes and beverages. They are usually open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Prior reservations are desired.

Farms providing accommodation do not always offer all meals, but they will happily refer you to a good meal in the nearest inns that perhaps they themselves supply with fresh produce, wines and other goods. Since they know the local environment, you can rely on their authenticity.

Life and dishes in the countryside are seasoned with freshly collected herbs

Aromatic plants grow in Slovenian countryside kitchen gardens, which together with other ingredients give full flavour to the dishes.

An indispensable part of Slovenian cuisine are local and regional herbs, such as parsley which is a must in a good traditional beef soup, marjoram that is mandatory in sausage mixtures, winter savory added to beans and other legume dishes, and a variety of other herbs that are always fresh and at hand to farm housekeepers.

Naturally you will be offered spirits, bread, sausages, wine, but the actual pampering may be completely different

Expect a lot of fresh ingredients and originally prepared vegetables.

The traditional Slovenian countryside meal ritual includes a sip of brandy for a welcome and a goodbye, and in between a chat at the table laden with home-made meat dishes and bread. But the essence of gourmet pleasures lies in what nature has to offer right now, what is currently growing in the garden and fields, or what is kept in pantries in a locally traditional way.

From garden salad to buckwheat from the field, from herbal syrup to excellent wine.

Farms that offer home cooking are a true classroom of traditional self-sufficient sources of good and healthy food.

In addition to tourism, many farms maintain and develop various activities: vegetable growing, arable farming, wine production, forestry, animal production, fish farming, beekeeping and lastly, handicrafts connected with traditional knowledge and skills. They make bread, potica and biscuits from their own flour. Vegetables and fruit are processed into juices and preserves. Teas, tea blends and cordials are made from herbs. Meat is smoked and dried. Visitors are impressed by flavoursand handicraft skills.

Explore Slovenia’s gastronomy by visiting homesteads that look back to their heritage for inspiration for new luxury experiences

Farms that offer exceptional culinary experiences rely not only on tradition, but also on contemporary knowledge of gastronomy and sommelierism.

Several generations come together in many a kitchen. Grandmothers still prepare dishes as they were done in the past, and they are accompanied by educated cooks with original approaches towards tradition. Almost all ingredients are grown on the home estate at tourist farms, while wine is nurtured in their cellars. Fresh seasonal food is a particular advantage.