9 Hotels Around the World Where You Can Harvest and Forage

Man in blue and orange clothing kneeling on white platform and holding line of oysters, with water in background — Learn how oysters are cultivated and harvest them yourself in the Thau lagoon near Montpellier, France.

If you’ve ever fantasized about quitting your day job to become a truffle hunter or winemaker, why not try the experience on for size? Countryside hotels around the world offer guests, and sometimes visitors, a chance to dig their hands deep into the soil or gently pull apart grapevines. This hard work is always followed by a tasting of your spoils, whether with a bowl of truffle pasta, a platter of oysters, or even a shot of olive oil. Read on for nine hotels around the world where you can either participate in a harvest or go foraging.

Harvest oysters in southwestern France

Where: Domaine Tarbouriech
When: Year-round
Price: €260 (US$300) for up to 12 guests; optional oyster tastings are around €40 (US$47) per person
Open to outside visitors: Yes

An 18th-century mansion turned boutique hotel, Domaine Tarbouriech sits near a lagoon in the commune of Marseillan (not to be confused with Marseille). The hotel is less than an hour east of Montpellier, so even if you don’t stay over, harvesting and tasting oysters makes for a nice day trip. The Tarbouriech family have been cultivating oysters on nearby Thau lagoon for more than 60 years. Visitors can take a boat ride out to their oyster tables, learning all about these bivalves and harvesting them from ropes, with the option to tack on a waterfront oyster tasting once back on land.

Hands of person in green puffer jacket, holding foraged mushrooms (L); guest room with wooden furniture and large windows giving distant view of ocean (R) — Go mushroom foraging on the Inn at Newport Ranch’s 2,200-acre private land, then bed down for the night in a cozy Pacific-view room.

Forage for mushrooms in Bhutan and Mendocino, California

Where: Six Senses Bhutan; The Inn at Newport Ranch
When: July to September in Bhutan; November through February in Mendocino
Price: Free for guests at Six Senses Bhutan; $400/person at Inn at Newport Ranch
Open to outside visitors: Not at Six Senses Bhutan; for inquiries, contact Inn at Newport Ranch

Bhutan

More than 400 mushroom varieties grow in biodiverse Bhutan, and guests at Six Senses Bhutan, which has five hotels in the country, can go foraging for all manner of fungi. Mushrooms are common in Bhutanese cuisine; one of the most prized, the tricholoma matsutake, known locally as sangay shamu, can be found from July to September. Depending on when you visit, you’re likely to uncover shiitake, oyster mushrooms, and chanterelles.

Mendocino, California

The Inn at Newport Ranch’s mushroom foraging excursion takes place on its 2,200 acres. Guests will tool around the property in a UTV (picture a souped-up golf cart) looking in meadows, forests, and along the coast for mushrooms such as candy caps and morels. The four-hour experience includes a picnic lunch and warming tea break.

A man's hands holding green olives just picked above plastic crate — Harvest olives at Il Borro, an hour outside Florence, and then taste the fruit of your labor at lunch.

Harvest olives in Tuscany, Italy and Brač, Croatia

Where: Il Borro; Hotel Lemongarden
When: At Il Borro, first week of November; at Hotel Lemongarden, late October
Price: €60 (US$70) at Il Borro; free for guests at Hotel Lemongarden
Open to outside visitors: Yes

Arezzo, Tuscany

An hour’s train ride southeast of Florence, Relais & Châteaux property Il Borro holds an annual olive harvest the first week of November. After plucking olives from their fragrant branches, guests can participate in an olive oil tasting. The hotel’s olive oil is used at the restaurant, which also has an outpost in Florence, and for massages at the spa.

Brač, Croatia

On the Adriatic island of Brač, seasonal Hotel Lemongarden hosts several days activities. Guests and anyone eating at the restaurant are welcome to pitch in with the harvest. Hotel programming during the olive harvest includes winetastings, guided hikes, and a season-closing party with live music and dancing.

Two teenage girls wearing orange chili pepper necklaces and straw hats (L); pair of hands filled with bunches of purple grapes (R) — Guests at Lopota Lake Resort & Spa in Kakheti, Georgia, can participate in the annual Rtveli grape harvest festival (L); visit Domaine de Fontenille in Provence to pick grapes and enjoy a winetasting.

Pick grapes in Healdsburg, California; Provence, France; and Kakheti, Georgia

Where: Hotel Healdsburg; Domaine de Fontenille; Lopota Lake Resort & Spa
When: September to November 15 in Healdsburg; September and October in Provence; late September in Georgia
Price: $100 at Hotel Healdsburg partner Zialena Winery; €100 (US$116) at Domaine de Fontenille; free at Lopota Lake Resort, with additional winetastings at its vineyard from GEL 80 (US$30)
Open to outside visitors: Yes, at Domaine de Fontenille and Lopota Lake Resort & Spa

Healdsburg, California

Zialena Winery just outside Healdsburg in Sonoma County runs an exclusive two-to-three-hour wine experience for Hotel Healdsburg guests. Zip around the vineyard in a golf cart before getting your hands juicy; depending on the day, guests might harvest grapes, sort, and/or crush them, before breaking for a winetasting and picnic.

Provence, France

The 3.5-hour wine experience at Domaine de Fontenille in Provence’s Luberon area starts with breakfast, followed by a wander through the vineyards and a tasting of six wines. Sufficiently fortified, guests will then help with the harvest, their hard work rewarded with a picnic and a bottle of wine.

Kakheti, Georgia

Stay at Lopota Lake Resort & Spa at the end of September and you can party with locals during the annual Rtveli festival, a country-wide harvest event. Follow their lead as you pick, clean, crush, and press grapes by hand before pouring it into a traditional clay pot. The hard work is followed by a feast and musical performances.

Spare interior of restaurant with tile floor, small, round wooden tables, and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking forest — After rooting around for truffles, tuck into a tasting menu full of them at Torre del Marqués’s Atalaya del Tastavins restaurant.

Forage for truffles in Aragon, Spain

Where: Torre del Marqués Hotel Spa & Winery
When: December to late March
Price: From €600 (US$691) for one night’s stay, truffle hunting, and a truffle tasting menu with wine pairing
Open to outside visitors: Contact the hotel

Stay the night at Torre del Marqués Hotel, an 18th-century farmhouse-style hotel with its own farm and winery. After breakfast, hop into a 4x4 for the ride to a nearby truffle farm, where you’ll hunt for them. Lunch is a truffle tasting menu back at the hotel, served with the vineyard’s wines and expansive views of rolling green hills through the restaurant’s wraparound windows.

What food can I bring back to the USA?

Foods that are canned, jarred, or vacuum sealed are OK to bring back to the United States, says the U.S. Embassy in Italy. Remember to put anything with liquid in your carry-on bag. Fresh fuits and vegetables cannot be brought back to the U.S. from abroad, but you can certainly enjoy your grapes during the flight. Bottles of wine are allowed; wrap them carefully to avoid breakage. When you return to the U.S., be sure to declare any food you’ve brought back.

Sophie Friedman

Sophie Friedman is a freelance travel and food writer based in New York and Marseille, France. She has worked on a dozen guidebooks for Fodor’s, covering destinations such as Egypt, Myanmar, and China. Her writing and photos have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Travel + Leisure, The Infatuation, Roadbook, and more. Her favorite ways to move around are by train and bike, and her backpack always has nuts, clementines, and something to read.

Pick Olives, Crush Grapes, and Dig for Truffles at These Hotels in Europe, Asia, and the U.S.

On your next vacation, get your hands dirty harvesting and foraging and eat the fruits of your labor.