Agritourism is having a moment. It started last year when regenerative farming was en vogue—as in, literally in Vogue. The fashion magazine described farm-centric travel experiences placing people closer to where their food comes from as one of the top trends of 2025.
The farm frenzy has continued into 2026. VRBO’s Unpack ’26 travel trends report showed that farm-related experiences have increased 300% year-over-year, and some 84% of travelers now want to stay on or near a farm.
You don’t need a passport or a five-star farm estate to get in on it, either: In Virginia’s Shenandoah County, I spent a weekend tasting wines grown just steps away in the valley, eating local food and meeting the people who make this rural corner of Virginia one of the prettiest escapes from D.C.
I was also lucky enough to feed lambs and alpacas, because why not?
If you’re curious about agritourism, a Shenandoah Valley road trip makes a strong case for where to start.
Strasburg, Virginia, is a small-town stop in the Shenandoah Valley, where visitors can browse local shops, see historic architecture and get a taste of the region’s roots.
(Megan DeMatteo)Day 1: Grab a cider and settle into Strasburg
I picked up my rental car in Roanoke and made the three-hour drive northeast into the Shenandoah Valley, where the Appalachian mountains open up into small towns tucked between hills and valleys. By late afternoon I’d driven past cow farms, rolling crop fields and several families of deer alongside the road to a hillside Airbnb rental in Maurertown with sweeping blue-valley views. I was just in time to admire the telescope in the corner and sample the local goodies from Woodstock’s Flour to Fork Bakery and Sugar Creek Ice Cream that my host Erin had set out for me, before heading into Strasburg for dinner.
Box Office Brewery doesn’t look like a typical brewpub from the outside, because it isn’t one! The building started life as one of several movie theaters opened in the early 1900s by a German immigrant who settled in town after hitchhiking down from the North, eventually marrying a local woman and putting down roots. The original building permit dates to 1921. Original movie posters (pulled out of the attic when owners Thomas and Mary Beth Price began renovations) line the walls, alongside artifacts like a projector reel donated by a local man who ran it back in 1955 and still stops by to hang out.
My friends and I timed our visit for Music Bingo Night, which packs the place from 6:30 to 9 p.m. The family behind the brewery were also playing bingo and on hand for the evening to share stories about the building’s past between rounds.
Mary Beth Price and Thomas Price, with their granddaughter, at Box Office Brewery, the family-run brewery they own in Strasburg, Virginia, located inside a historic theater.
(Megan DeMatteo)
But don’t let the historic atmosphere distract you from the ciders, which my friends said, totally unprompted, were the best quality and tastiest flavors they’ve ever had. A flight of beers or ciders will arrive in a tiny film-reel-style presentation, which is almost too cute for what’s inside.
The menu had five cider options—one for every hole in the reel—so I opted for all of them. The Betwixt Cider and Off The Press Cider were classic and drinkable, one slightly dryer than the other. And then it got fun: the Mango Lemonade Cider was bright and punchy, while the Blueberry Lemonade Cider tasted like summer in a glass. The Red Fall Sangria brought a deeper, fruitier flavor that almost got me ready to start thinking about fall.
For our meal, we shared loaded nachos topped with pulled pork, jalepeños and all the fixings. The menu included items sourced from nearby producers, like hamburgers from Crabill’s Butcher Shop in Toms Brook, Va.
At night: Sip wine under the stars at this family-run winery
Wine Under the Stars at Star in the Valley Winery brings together local wine and stargazing for an evening beneath the night sky.
(Megan DeMatteo)
From there, it was a quick ten-minute drive to Star in the Valley Winery for the tail end of their Wine Under the Stars event, which ran from 6 to 10 p.m.
The owners work the tasting bar themselves most nights, pouring alongside guests and talking through the lineup between pours. When we arrived, members of the Shenandoah Astronomical Society had set up telescopes on the property and turned the winery’s lawn into a casual stargazing session.
We got a look at Albireo, a double star in the constellation Cygnus. Looking through the telescope, I could see the two stars’ contrasting colors: one appeared yellowish and the other blue. We also spotted the Big Dipper and reviewed how to use it to find the North Star, Polaris (middle-school throwback, anyone?). The constellation Draco, the dragon, was also visible overhead.
This family-run wine event made the Shenandoah Valley’s wine scene feel more like a neighborhood gathering than a tourist stop—and I can’t wait to go back.
Day 2: A mini-petting zoo, books and a vineyard lunch in Woodstock
Scenes from Woodstock, Va. include local products at Woodstock Cafe, rescued farm animals at Birdwood Farm and Flour to Fork’s welcoming storefront.
(Megan DeMatteo)
Monday morning started with breakfast at Woodstock Café downtown. I enjoyed my sausage biscuit as I plotted to walk right across the street to Flour to Fork for a second helping of pastries. Their seasonal danish-style pop-tart was seriously juicy and delicious. A lot of bakeries are jumping aboard the pop-tart bandwagon these days, but Flour to Fork is the first one I’ve tried that has made me want to take home a whole batch. They make fresh, seasonal fruit the centerpiece and top the pastry with strips of sugary dough and fun rainbow sprinkes. What a better way to start the morning?
Next, I took a short drive over to Birdwood Farm, a private event venue where the owner—who also happened to be my host at the rental home—met me with milk for the lambs and feed for the alpacas.
The farm isn’t a typical attraction that’s open for drop-in visitors. It’s primarily a venue for parties and weddings, but the animals add a memorable element to all occasions. They’ve held weddings, bridal showers, baby showers, teas and birthday parties.
Most of the alpacas are rescues, and the farm also has sheep, donkeys, turkeys, pheasants and chickens. I got to bottle-feed a baby lamb and meet the alpacas, including Starch, a month-and-a-half-old male who was still surprisingly tiny after being abandoned by his mother.
Make time for a bookstore that doubles as a community space
Scenes from Bonfire Books and Yarnery include owner Kara Gabe Balcerzak showing me the early stages of their “granny-quilt” Christmas tree that will be displayed this winter, along with the shop’s books, cozy spaces and local character in Woodstock, Virginia.
(Megan DeMatteo)
A few minutes away, Bonfire Books and Yarnery is the community living room of bookstores. Owner Kara Gabe Balcerzak is a lifelong crocheter who conceptualized the shop as a fun means of getting people off their phones. You’ll find a kids’ puzzle-and-board-game corner in the old dining room, a yarn section stocked partly with Virginia-grown and Virginia-dyed fiber, and a stage in the back that hosts everything from open mic nights to a monthly variety show.
Twice a month, Balcerzak also runs a crochet meetup that she says has drawn a surprisingly young crowd. She’s also beginning to design “bookish vacations,” that pair new releases with midnight release parties and book-bedazzling nights. If you’re a bookworm vacationer, keep your eye on those events and start putting together a long weekend itinerary around your shared love of reading.
There’s also a Narnia-style closet tucked inside, adding another little surprise to the shop that kids will remember forever.
Scenes from Muse Vineyards include Sally Cowal picking ripening grapes, winemaker Joshua Riesner behind the scenes, the tasting room and Emma, the friendly dog featured on two Pet-Nat bottles.
(Megan DeMatteo)Finally, head to Muse Vineyards
The last stop was lunch and a tasting at Muse Vineyards, a family-run winery tucked right next to Seven Bends State Park. Getting there is part of the appeal. You cross the Shenandoah River, and suddenly the scenery gets considerably more mountainous and rural, even though you’re only about five to 10 minutes from town.
For me, that short drive scratched a very specific itch. When you spend a lot of time in the Mid-Atlantic on the sprawling I-95 highway system, you don’t always get the escape of winding roads and Blue Ridge mountain scenery. But I did that afternoon!
At Muse, owner Sally Cowal walked me through the vineyard and explained why their particular patch of Virginia is so good for grapes. She said the valley narrows to its smallest nook where the vineyard sits. The surrounding mountains protect the hillside from rain that dumps on other parts of Virginia and Maryland. The property slopes downward into a river bank and sits atop quick-draining shale soil, which prevents water accumulation and soggy roots.
“Grapevines don’t like to have wet feet,” said Cowal. At Muse, the valley’s dry climate and fast-draining shale give the grapes a better chance to ripen fully and develop good flavor. That’s when, as Cowal puts it, the grapes “start talking to you.”
Muse produces about 10,000 bottles a year, with grapes hand-picked by a four-person crew over a harvest season of roughly six weeks. Because it’s a small operation, the team can wait until each variety is ready instead of picking everything on a fixed schedule.
The staff poured me Gamay, Cabernet Franc and Chardonnay made in both oak and steel. After working my way through a mini-flight, I settled on the Erato, a fruit-forward white that’s dangerously drinkable. Its bright acidity works well in the August heat, but its soft, almost Riesling-like fruit notes keep it easygoing.
For something more assertive, try the Fume, a Sauvignon Blanc aged in fresh oak for two years, with notes that fall somewhere between grapefruit and a cigar box. And if you’re still debating the great Chardonnay question, Muse lets you taste its Chardonnay aged in oak and steel side by side. You can decide for yourself: are you Team Mineral or Team Butter?
If adding Muse Vineyards trip to your Woodstock itinerary, you can pair a vineyard visit with a morning hike at Seven Bends, then be back in town for dinner.
An aerial view shows a car traveling a curved rural road in Shenandoah County, Va. bordered by a golden cornfield, green pastureland and a white fence, with a wooded mountain ridge in the background.
(Synaptic Visuals | Shenandoah County Tourism)Why I’m hooked on agritourism after this trip
As a travel writer, the more I learn about where my food traditions come from, the more fascinated I am about every destination I visit. There’s something to learn in the story of how an item landed on your dinner plate. It usually involves gaining more knowledge about my surrounding environment, such as knowing what minerals are in my soil or how often the rain blows through.
We used to all be connected intimately to nature and our food, but the ones who are most connected today are farmers and local growers.
Thankfully, you don’t have to be a farmer to appreciate agritourism because farmers, wine growers, chefs and business owners are often thrilled to share the secrets behind their magic.
So stop and taste the wine. Meet the people growing the grapes, walk the fields and see what it takes to get something from the soil to your table. We could all use a little more time getting closer to our food source.
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Disclosure: The author was a guest of Visit Shenandoah County. Hosting organizations do not review or approve articles before publication. All observations reflect the author’s independent review.
How this was made: AI assisted with structure, formatting, interview transcription and metadata. The author also used an AI tool to remove a background person from the family photo outside Box Office Brewery. All reporting, product testing, research, interviews, fact-checking, writing and editing was done by Megan DeMatteo, an independent writer and editor who, like many solo creators, handles the full workload of a traditional newsroom team.
Dining and Cooking