We had a truly wonderful experience at Farm & Cheese today. It was a perfect outing for our family, especially with our four-year-old son, who enjoyed every moment.
From the very beginning, we were welcomed with genuine warmth and hospitality. One of the most interesting parts was learning about their vision for the future. They are not fully organic yet, but they are already around 70–80% of the way there and are clearly committed to completing this transition. Hearing about their approach to reducing pesticides and moving toward more sustainable, organic farming was both insightful and inspiring.
What made it even more special was the story of the farm itself. It was fascinating to see how the grandparents and parents managed the farm in the past compared to how the next generation is transforming it today. The farm is now run by a pair of siblings who have restructured many aspects of the operation, including introducing these tours. It’s impressive to see how they’ve created a model that not only supports their vision but also allows the whole family to make a living from it.
The hands-on activities were a real highlight. We experienced everything from traditional cow milking to cheese-making and even tortilla preparation. The entire program was engaging, educational, and very family-friendly. Our son was able to actively participate, which made the experience even more special for all of us.
Thank you for such a meaningful and authentic experience—we truly appreciated the passion and effort behind it. We would highly recommend this tour to anyone visiting the area.
From Beaches, Rainforests, and Action Adventures, Costa Rica has a lot of options, but one of the highlights of our families trip was visiting the Finca El Paraiso Farm. It was an amazing experience to hear about the Vargas family farm and how they are embracing the sustainable way of cattle farming. Their family has been in Monteverde well before it became a tourist hot spot. We were able to learn more about the area, feed and milk the cows. The best part was making and tasting freshly made cheese and tortillas! It was just genuine experience with a wonderful local family!
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I had an amazing experience visiting this farm in Monteverde. Me and my family loved spending time with the cows, feeding them, and learning about their daily lives. It was such a fun and educational experience. The fresh milk was incredible, and the cheese they make on the farm was absolutely delicious. Everything tasted so fresh. I highly recommend visiting if you’re in Monteverde.
Interesting for adults, fun for kids. I enjoyed learning about the various plants in the pasture and specifically how each benefits the herd. I thought the cheese would be acidulated but it was a rennet process, so that was slightly more exotic for me. It seems surprising that few dairies offer public tours but in my experience this is a rare opportunity. Owners are enthusiastic and warm hosts. You can pay with crypto/lightning. Glad we went!
We had an amazing tour. Family organic farm. Learned a lot about their farming practices and met the wonderful animals. Our kids fed the cows and a bottle to the calf. Then we milked the cow and made cheese and tortillas. Delicious. Best tour and loved meeting the family. Highly recommend!
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Die Tour ist wirklich toll! Man läuft über die ganze Farm und Orlando erzählt einem viel über das Leben dort und wie es ist von einer Arbeit mit Pestiziden zu einem fast Organic Farm leben zu wechseln. Man darf den Kälbern etwas zu essen geben und dann auch selbst eine Erwachsene Kuh melken!! Die Milch darf man auch probieren. Danach geht man in die „Küche“. Dort darf man seinen eigenen Tortilla formen, während man gezeigt bekommt wie man Käse herstellt. Die Milch wurde frisch vom morgendlichen Melken genommen. Zum abschluss darf man seinen Tortilla und ein Stück Käse essen. Es hat wirklich Spaß gemacht! Wir hatten die 8 Uhr Tour.
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Lovely family experience
What a lovely experience!! The groups are kept to 10 people max so the tour feels very intimate. We learned about their farming practices, played with kittens. Fed baby cows (the petted them) and milked a cow. Alejandra was such a lovely host. And we met her dad, brother and aunt. What a lovely lovely family. Would highly recommend. Both the adult and kids were equally happy. Thanks so much for hosting us!
My best friend and I did a cooking class with Carolina at her family’s farm while travelling in Costa Rica and now that we are back home in Canada, I simply cannot stop telling people just how much of a highlight this experience was (and despite all of the many other incredible experiences we were lucky enough to have while in Central America) :)
Thank you from the bottoms of our hearts to Carolina and the rest of the Vargas family for welcoming us so genuinely onto their “finca” and into their kitchen and culture through some of the most delicious empanadas (with their own farm fresh cheese, of course) and “pan casaro” or sweet bread that we had throughout our Costa Rican adventures! We will truly never forget this experience nor will our taste buds! :)
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After a few long days of walking, it was lovely to change up the pace and learn about Orlando and his family’s farm! The farm is in a beautiful location and we had a fun time feeding the calves and trying our hand at milking a cow. We also enjoyed making the tortilla and the cheese was great!
We had such an amazing time on this cheese tour. It was the perfect mix of hands on experience and learning. We got to see and pet the cows and even learned how the milk is collected, which was really interesting. Tasting the fresh milk was a highlight. It was incredibly good and so fresh.
We also saw a pig and some chickens and feeding the baby cows was such a fun and memorable experience. The owner took the time to walk us around his land and explained what it really takes to produce organic cheese, which gave us a whole new appreciation for the process.
Later we watched how the cheese is made and even got to make our own tortillas, which we enjoyed afterward with coffee. It was such a unique and authentic experience from start to finish. Highly recommend to anyone looking for something different and meaningful.
