A Family Pack of Happy Moments
The revelation may astound you: the landscape here is actually authentic, the farmhouse isn’t from a picture book, and the cows aren’t purple, they are brown. The cats aren’t cuddly toys, they are real and like to be stroked, and also enjoy curling up next to you.
For Animal Lovers of All Kinds
And the little ones benefit from animals on holiday twice over. First of all, it’s good for the soul to stroke a nice soft coat of fur. Secondly, it’s good for the immune system. And all of Carinthia’s farm holidays are as if they were made especially for children.
Animals Have an Educational Value
Seeing animals up close is always included in the holiday package at the holiday farms that are specifically geared towards families with small children. In the petting zoo, rabbits, cats and dwarf goats are just waiting to be cuddled. Hard-working children can also get involved too, be it feeding the calves or mucking out the stalls. They can also take on some real responsibility. For instance at the Ferienhof Haberzettl in Grades. There, each child is given its own animal to care for throughout their holiday. Farmer Hildegard Seidl: ‘The child is then responsible for feeding, stroking and caring for the animal. Simply to share love.’ It’s a holiday with educational value, as the children learn about responsibility and how to build a special relationship with the animal.
Well Equipped for Kids
Bored? That’s not possible, the holiday farms for babies and children aren’t described as such for nothing. Here, you have everything little people could want. A playground with at least three activities, or a playroom for all ages come as standard. As does the location with very little traffic, which is particularly helpful to ensure that the parents enjoy a worry-free holiday as well. All of the holiday farms catered towards families with children are completely safe for children and offer all of the necessities, like cots, high chairs, seesaws, baby monitors, children’s baths, bottle warmers and walkers. Of course, it goes without saying that all of the facilities for preparing baby food and doing the laundry are available, too. From organic farms and farms for children or horse-riding, to a farm on the lake or one with its own pond, a farm holiday in Carinthia can be as diverse and authentic as the region itself. If you want to get some altitude, the meadow chalets of Carinthia would be the perfect place to visit. Self-sufficient huts at an altitude of 900 to 2000 metres above sea level.
A Healthy Ambience
Quite apart from that, a holiday with animals is healthy. A study by the University of Southampton demonstrated that children who grow up on a farm that keep livestock are 60% less susceptible to allergies than children who had no contact with animals. In a nutshell: a farm holiday can give a child’s immune system an extra boost. And the good, clean country air is a blessing as well.
