Mata Nacional do Bussaco
Mata Nacional do Bussaco stewards the Buçaco National Forest, a centuries-old woodland in Luso, Portugal, offering guided tours and artisana…
Eco-Tourism & Experiential Learning
A wide way into this world: farm stays, revived schist villages like Cerdeira, educational estates like Quinta Vale da Lama, and off-grid retreats from the Serra de Monchique to the Azores. Travel that teaches, and gives back.
Projects in this focus
iNature – Turismo de Natureza
iNature is a nature tourism network covering 12 classified natural areas in Central Portugal, with trails, accommodation and outdoor experie…
Aldeias do Xisto
Aldeias do Xisto is a territorial network of 28 schist villages in central Portugal, managed by ADXTUR, offering sustainable tourism, nature…
Inland Portugal
A licensed travel agency running slow, small-group trips through Portugal's rural interior, where travellers meet artisans and farmers and v…
Casa das Palmeiras
Casa das Palmeiras is a sustainable rural tourism farmhouse in Gandufe, Mangualde, in the Serra da Estrela, with a pedagogical farm, animal-…
Sterna - Aveiro Ria Tours & Birdwatching
Sterna is a nature tourism company running silent, solar-powered boat tours and birdwatching trips across the Ria de Aveiro. Its trips pair …
Isatour Ecotourism
Isatour is a Biosphere-certified provider of rural accommodation and tourist activities in Adsamo, Vouzela, inside the Vouga-Caramulo Natura…
Pé Descalço
Pé Descalço is a nature-based learning centre in Porto de Mós, Portugal, offering school visits, traditional workshops, weekly community gat…
Quinta das Relvas
Quinta das Relvas is a non-profit NGO on a historic farm in Branca, Portugal, running non-formal education in the arts and sustainability th…
Terramadome
A 7-hectare organic, experimental farm near Penamacor, Beira Baixa, with self-built eco-friendly accommodation, workshops on natural constru…
Ananda Kalyani
Ananda Kalyani is a spiritual based project focused on rural development in Serra da Estrela region, central Portugal, founded more than 10 …
Quinta do Vale da Páscoa (Ecoaldeia do Vale)
Quinta do Vale da Páscoa is a sustainable luxury B&B and working farm in Póvoa de Midões, Tábua, in central Portugal. Eco-accommodation sits…
Cerdeira - Home for Creativity
Cerdeira - Home for Creativity is a revived historic schist village in the Serra da Lousã, with EU Eco-Label-certified accommodation, arts a…
Eco-tourism and experiential learning in Portugal
The difference between this and a holiday is that you leave knowing how something works. Keela Permaculture Farm in Beira Baixa, Quinta Alma in the Monchique hills and Parque de Natureza de Noudar are working projects first and places to stay second.
Some are farms that take guests, some are estates that teach, some are conservation areas that decided visitors were part of the mission. Quinta da Comenda has farmed organically near São Pedro do Sul for decades. Terramadome is seven hectares of experiment near Penamacor.
Ask before you book what the work of the week actually is; the good ones will tell you plainly. See also sustainable tourism, nature-based learning and workshops and trainings. Dated activities from these projects are listed in our events calendar.