Gertrudenhof
Sneaking into the barn first thing in the morning to collect the day’s first eggs, feeding the cows and horses, and taking animals out to pasture – a holiday on the farm always is a unique experience. Immerse yourself in everyday farm life, enjoy fun and games, and even stay with your new animal friends for the weekend or your entire holiday if you like. Having fun with cats, cows, and dogs is an option particularly beloved by the youngest children.
Find a selection of farms that offer hands-on experiences, adventure farms with a focus on fun and games, and farms with overnight accommodations that let you extend your visit by a few days below.
Oliver Franke, Tourismus NRW e.V.
Hands-on farms
Mucking out the barn, feeding animals, hunting for eggs
Hof Köhne, Sauerland
The Köhne organic farm is located in Schmallenberg, in the Hochsauerland. A generous property with a historical farmhouse, barn, and a number of holiday homes, it has a unique highlight as well with its glass dairy barn where children can help and watch the cows being milked and fed. In the grazing season from May to October, visitors are allowed to help drive the cows from the barn to their pasture and will be treated to a ride in a covered wagon.
www.hof-koehne.de
Victorhof, Eifel
“Helping farmer Elmar with his work” is the motto at the Victorhof in the Eifel. There is always plenty to do, from cleaning rabbit hutches to feeding and milking the cows – and maybe one of the chickens has even laid an egg? This farm near the medieval town of Monschau allows families to experience farm life up close.
www.victorhof.de
Gut Hixholz, Bergisches Land
What does a farm dog anyway? Do chickens lay eggs even if they don’t have a rooster? Do rabbits actually belong on a farm? Gut Hixholz is a learning and adventure farm in Velbert, teaching children about life on the farm in a playful manner while they can help take care of the total of around 150 animals living here.
www.gut-hixholz.de
Römerhof Ramscheid, Eifel
The Eifel represents unspoiled nature, and the Römerhof in Ramscheid is right in the middle of it, near the National Park and the Hohes Venn-Eifel nature park, close to the historical Vogelsang IP castle. Visitors to this listed dairy farm adjacent to a large garden with an idyllic watercourse and playground will be surrounded by great animals, including cats, chickens, sheep, rabbits, a dog, and some horses. Of course, all of these must be taken care of. Children are allowed to lend a hand here in feeding the rabbits, collecting eggs, and walking the ponies.
www.roemerhof-ramscheid.de
Birkenhof
Adventure Farms
Games & Action
Krewelshof, Eifel and Lohmar
The Krewelshof farms near Mechernich, near Prüm, and in Lohmar respectively are proper adventure farms. From pumpkin shows in autumn to the corn maze in summer and a play park with lots of space to explore, they always have something exciting going on. While the children can tire themselves out in play, adults may browse the farm store or enjoy a hearty meal in the farm café, with all things guaranteed to be both homemade and delicious.
www.krewelshof.de
Gertrudenhof, Rhein-Erft district
The petting zoo of the Gertrudenhof in Hürth has enough cuddly fur for a particularly large number of children’s and adults’ hands to disappear into. More than 60 large animals such as sheep, goats, donkeys, ponies, alpacas, and highland cattle are waiting to be fed and petted here. The “Hoppelhausen” bunny town houses rabbits, quails, and guinea pigs, while a number of chicken breeds are waiting to be petted at the “Höhnerhof”. Enjoy these many animal experiences.
www.erlebnisbauernhof-gertrudenhof.de
Glessener Mühlenhof, Rhein-Erft district
The Glessener Mühlenhof in Bergheim sells year-tickets, as the farm’s gigantic play park lets children play wild in the straw barn, on the pedal-car track, in the foxhole, on the balancing course, and on the swing landscape in any season of the year. Sheep, goats, cows, geese, and ponies to ride on will help them calm down again. The organic farm store and farm café will sate the guests’ hunger with fresh products grown on site. The farm museum, bakehouse, windmill, and straw barn are some other options for visitors to spend some time here before they start their return trip.
www.glessener-muehlenhof.de
Hof Löbke, Tecklenburger Land
With a climbing forest, bouncy cushions, and a water playground, Hof Löbke in Ibbenbüren has just about everything it takes to make children’s hearts beat faster, and the “Tarzan swing” is a special highlight. This farm is located in a picturesque site on a small hill just at the foot of the Teutoburg Forest. If you are so inclined, you can stroll through the herb and farm gardens, get some regional specialities from local harvest and production in the farm store, or try them immediately in the farm café.
www.loebke.com
Ziegenmichel, Ruhr area
An adventure paradise has been built on the Ziegenmichel farm in Gelsenkirchen: In addition to the farm animals that find species-appropriate homes here, there are various themed areas that give children the opportunity to vividly experience our ancestors’ history, spiriting their visitors back into the Stone Age, the Middle Ages, or the era of the Vikings. Knights’ tournaments, baking bread, and making fire are just some of the activities for children to experience here.
www.ziegenmichel.de
Birkenhof
Farms with Overnight Accommodation
In the hayloft or log cabin
Bisonranch Hof Kolb, Siegerland
In the prairie near Freudenberg, buffalo are grazing on the lush Siegen-Wittgenstein pastures or, more specifically, at the Kolb family’s buffalo ranch, where guests can feel as if they were visiting the Wild West in a holiday log cabin with Western façade. The Canadian log cabin is placed adjacent to the pasture, giving guests a good view of the grazing herd of buffalo – as well as the totem pole modelled after an original in Vancouver. In the Rothaar Mountains nearby, the American buffalo can meet their European bison relatives along the Rothaarsteig. By the way, the Kolb family farm has a proud age of 150 years and houses horses and donkeys along with the family and their buffalo.
www.urlaub-im-siegerland.de
Rouenhof, Lower Rhine
The Rouenhof is half a millennium old and has grown into a great holiday destination in the Sonsbecker Schweiz today. The farm has housed goats, cows, pigs, chickens, honeybees, and donkeys at the foot of these gently rolling hills for about 25 years. The Bioland farm produces a number of dairy and meat products based on organic-biological principles in the farm’s dedicated cheese dairy and butchery. A taste right on site is possible, of course, among other places in the cosy farm café. Some particularly rural accommodation options can be found here as well, as groups can bed down in the hay and the former straw barn’s attic. Three holiday apartments are available, too.
www.rouenhof.jimdo.com
Birkenhof Nowicki, Sauerland
Cakes are baked by a master baker in the Birkenhof’s country café, and even the coffee here is freshly roasted in the dedicated roastery, with the roasting machine placed right in the middle of the country café. This delicious coffee is reason enough to spend a holiday in Schmallenberg-Holthausen. On top of it, the Birkenhof offers supervised horseback riding, plenty of toys for children, and, of course, an opportunity to feed the farm’s many animals, which include horses, ponies, rabbits, chickens, sheep, and goats. All apartments are on ground level, accessible and well suited for any generation.
www.birkenhof-erleben.de
Schultenhof, Sauerland
Barbecue nights on the farm, pony hikes, and swimming in a dedicated pool are some of the activities the traditional Schultenhof farm offers to provide the greatest possible contrast to busy city life out here in beautiful nature. The apartments afford a unique view of the Sauerland mountain panorama.
www.schultenhof.de
