Organic Farm Stays: Marmara (2022)

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

  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