Sheep farms in Sardinia's interior where the cheese is made the way it was 3,000 years ago.
Plan your Italy trip →Sardinia has 3 million sheep (more than people). The island produces 80% of Italy's pecorino — from mild Pecorino Sardo DOP to fiery Pecorino with peperoncino to casu marzu (the infamous "maggot cheese" — illegal to sell commercially but made privately). Sheep farming here is a 3,000-year tradition with Nuragic roots.
Visit a working sheep farm (pastore sardo) in the Barbagia or Ogliastra interior. Watch the morning milking, see the milk heated and curdled with thistle rennet (the traditional Sardinian method), shape the cheese in woven baskets, and age it in cool stone rooms. Lunch at the farm: pane carasau (paper-thin bread), pecorino at various ages, local salami, roast lamb or suckling pig (porceddu). Red Cannonau wine. Sardinian pastoral hospitality is intense, generous, and real.
Sardinia's farm experiences are less commercialized than mainland Italy — often arranged through local agriturismo or tourist offices in Nuoro, Orgosolo, or Fonni. Some Airbnb Experiences list shepherds offering visits. The best approach: stay at a Sardinian agriturismo and ask the owner to arrange a visit with a neighbor's sheep farm. €30-70/person including lunch.
Tell us what you love eating — we'll find the perfect class, tour, or tasting.
Plan free →