GREEN ROUTES
eat, play, sleep, shop, learn, move!
Authentic travel!
Green Routes is a sustainable travel guide that directs people to places where they can eat, play, sleep, and learn in ways that support sustainable communities. This guide goes above and beyond your average travel guide, featuring locally owned bed and breakfasts, farm stays, cafes, shops, and unique attractions. The businesses included in this guide adhere to a triple bottom line theory of balancing economic, cultural, and environmental sustainability.
Visit the Green Routes map and directory here and visit our Journeys with First Nations related projects here!
Farmstay Manual
In the simplest terms, a farmstay is lodging available to paying guests on a working farm.
Beyond this, a farmstay can take many forms. A farm family may convert a room in their farmhouse to accommodate overnight guests, repurpose an outbuilding into a sleeping cabin, or build a new structure specifically for guests. A managed forest, too, can be working land, and in this manual we refer to guest accommodations on such land as foreststays.
Starting a farmstay need not be a monumental undertaking. Most of the farmstays in operation in Minnesota began on a small scale. Some have remained that way, while others have expanded as their owners have gained the knowledge, interest, and resources to manage larger operations.
Download your copy here!
Part of Renewing the Countryside’s mission is to provide inspiration, ideas and assistance to individuals and communities who are looking for sustainable ways to strengthen their communities and reduce poverty. One option for farms to achieve this is through agritourism. To that end we developed the following quick business planning guide for agritourism businesses. You may download it here. If you would like a Renewing the Countryside staff person to help guide you through the process or flesh out your ideas, feel free to contact us! We are here to help!