B&B Farm Stays: Marmara (2023)

  On the highest hill of beautiful Bozcaada island off the coast of Çanakkale, Turkey, Harmani Holiday Farmstay has a variety of clean and comfortable rooms in beautifully restored traditional stone houses. They all have private bathroom, WiFi, air-con and a mini fridge. And some rooms have a balcony with views of the sea as well as a private spa bath. The friendly owners grow organic fruit and vegetables on the small farm that surrounds, and they are also great cooks, with farm fresh ingredients and some very fine home made food included in the buffet breakfast each morning. There’s lots to see and do in Bozcaada and you can arrange to hire bikes from the farm for exploring with. READ MORE

  Ayayorgi Evleri offers high quality hotel type accommodation on a farm containing hens and ducks, olive trees and vegetable plots on the lovely island of Bozcaada, Turkey, about 3km from the ferry terminal. All their rooms have private bathroom, flat screen TV with satellite channels, air-con, WiFi, coffee machine and mini bar. And outside in the gardens they have a swimming pool plus plenty of seating and places to relax. They serve a really great buffet breakfast in the morning where you can sample some of their home produced vegetables, olive oil, eggs, pastries and jams as well as lots of other good food. READ MORE

Narköy is a quite unique, eco-friendly hotel on an large organic farm in the province of Kocaeli, Turkey, about an hour east of Istanbul. It’s more a countryside retreat than a hotel though and has a range of workshops in everything from permaculture and bread making to yoga and stress management. And guests are welcome to get to know the farm, help milk the cows, collect eggs or gather fruit, herbs and vegetables. There’s lots to explore in the surrounding area too, with plenty of swimming and hiking to be done, and you can enquire at reception about horse riding and their free bicycle rental. The rooms are spacious, clean and comfortable and all come with private bathroom and WiFi, and instead of air-con the hotel uses an ecologically more friendly natural ventilation system. There is a very good on-site restaurant too, with a range of Turkish dishes, most of the ingredients of which come straight from the farm. Breakfast is included in the room rate and is, as you might expect, top quality.   READ MORE

  With a nice terrace overlooking the Greek Island of Lesbos this is an environmentally friendly boutique hotel just outside the town of Assos in Turkey‘s Çanakkale province. All their rooms are individually decorated in traditional style with some unique handmade wooden furniture, traditional rugs and hidden air-conditioning systems. All have private bathroom and there’s free WiFi throughout. There’s also a comfortable shared TV lounge and outside there’s a large colourful organic garden full of various plants and lots of fruits and vegetables many of which end up on your breakfast table. But most of all it’s home to over 100 species of chilli plants. The owners are chilli experts and they are always happy to share their knowledge with you, let you taste some of their produce, or maybe buy some of their various homemade jams, pickles and sauces to take home. And if you really get hooked and you’re around in September, down the road in Assos there’s the Turkish Chilli Festival in the first week of September each year. READ MORE

In the village of Yanıklar, Çanakkale province, Turkey, Dağbaşı Hotel has eight B&B rooms on an ecologically sensitive farm with a number of goats, its own vineyard and winery, plus an indoor/outdoor swimming pool. All their comfortable rooms come with WiFi, a private bathroom and a fireplace. And they have their own restaurant at the property which serves a really great Turkish breakfast in the morning as well as other traditional homemade meals throughout the day with some of the meat and vegetables coming directly from the farm. In terms of its location it can make a great base for exploring the ancient ruins of Troy or the nearby Mount Ida (Kazdağı in Turkish) Park which has a huge amount of great hiking trails.   READ MORE