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WWOOFing in Italy

Ciao! Anyone have any good recommendations of farms to WWOOF @ in Italy? I am a 34 year old woman & will be WWOOFing solo. I am especially interested in Sicily! Grazie mille! :)

Posted by
8293 posts

Oh for Pete's sake! Will someone please tell me what the heck WWOOF means? Ciao e grazie mille!

Posted by
2118 posts

I had to Google it: World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms.

Posted by
23177 posts

Norma, I am surprised - it is volunteers working on farms - There is a whole web site which would be the best source of info. In my undergraduates days - closer to the 18th Century - we would have called them, hippy farms.

Posted by
7737 posts

Don't get your hopes up, Anni. It's my understanding that working on farms is heavily regulated in Italy.

Posted by
6 posts

Ok, well let me know if anyone has some tips. FYI, it is pretty easy to work on an organic farm in Italy through WWOOF. You join the organization for E25 & then set about emailing different farms to set up a farm stay. In Italy you can obtain a permesso di soggiorno to stay in the country for 90 days as a tourist by going to a local immigration office when you arrive in the country. Through WWOOF you connect with farmers, they provide you with room & board during your stay (nothing fancy) & you receive an experience! Usually you work about 6 hours a day & if you are willing to do some hard work it can be great. I live in Rome & am looking for a break from the city to work on a farm down south. WWOOF operates all over the world as well! Thanks!

Posted by
1501 posts

Try Villa Antonella Azienda Agrituristica. It's a very large farm with beautiful olive trees, lemons, limes, and they have started renting rooms. Happy married couple....with grandma on site as well.
Near Taormina.

Posted by
6 posts

ciao tutti! well.... here is what it has to say on the wwoof.it website: 'You can WWOOF here on a tourist visa and there is no reason for you to obtain a work visa (which is very difficult to get and if applied for could jeopardise you chances of obtaining a tourist visa).' and, I think what they are referring to as a tourist visa is the permesso di soggiorno. (90 day tourist visa) that is my understanding at least. And, I have a work visa because I live in Rome so am not worried about it for myself. anyhoo.... thanks.

Posted by
32510 posts

Well I am certainly not an immigration official nor a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV. But I have read most postings on this board over quite a long time and I have a long memory. I'm sure that we have been round this circle before. If you are on a tourist visa you must not work in the EU, and that includes Italy. In order to be seen as working you don't need to be seen to receive money. You can receive compensation in another way, such as room and board. After all, you are not doing that 6 hours of hard work out of the goodness of your heart are you? Good luck. It sounds like thin ice to me. You might check the archives. I may have remembered wrong.

Posted by
8293 posts

In light of Nigel's post, is Anni WWOOFing up the wrong tree?