Quinta da Meia Eira

Quinta da Meia Eira is a family-run agritourism in the parish of Castelo Branco, on the island of Faial in the Azores. Susana and Francisco began the project in the late 1990s, and it is open all year. Two restored rural houses hold six double rooms and two one-bedroom apartments with kitchenettes, surrounded by 60,000 square metres of gardens, orchards and pasture looking out over the Atlantic.

When the farm began, the land was used intensively for cattle and maize. Since then the owners have planted more than 3,000 trees and shrubs, including nearly a kilometre of windbreak hedges, and created an agri-garden certified organic under EU rules that draws on agroforestry and permaculture. Cows graze permanent pasture all year. Rainwater from roofs and old threshing floors is stored in three traditional cisterns for the farm and its animals, hot water comes from thermodynamic solar panels, and organic waste is composted. The property holds the Green Key eco-label.

Breakfast is built around organic, local and seasonal food, with the farm's own fruit, herbal teas, eggs, yoghurt and jams. Guests can swim in the covered pool, which is warmed by the sun, borrow bicycles at no extra cost and browse a library on the nature and culture of the Azores. The farm is a short drive from the town of Horta and close to the island's airport, which lies in the same parish.