One of my favourite half-day trips from Querétaro is the tour of the lovely 'Rancho La Hondonada' farm - home to the free-range Jersey dairy cows of the 'Flor de Alfalfa' brand. While my husband and children are animal lovers, I am more of a cheese lover, so this makes for a perfect trip for all of us!
Booking Your Tour
It is necessary to book your dairy farm experience in advance. There are various options for your tour from the 50-minute Express Tour (no cheese or wine tasting), the 3-hour 'Campestre' Tour that includes a cheese and wine tasting (juice for the kids), or the 2-hour 'Golondrinas' Picnic that includes a full tour of the ranch, a wine and cheese tasting, and a picnic following the tour.
Prices range from $135 MXP to $405 MXP for kids and from $205 MXP to $755 MXP for adults. The easiest way to reserve is to use the booking link on the website or to write directly to their What's App number. The longer tours start between 11 am and 2 pm, and the Express Tours begin between 11 am and 3:30 pm. Be sure to check the website for changes to their schedule and for availability.
We had originally programmed our tour for late May 2024 - our third tour in the past 6 years, as we seem to go every couple of years - but on the day of the tour my husband and daughter woke up with a cold. I wrote to the What's App number on the website and they happily let us reschedule for June without paying anything extra. I was very pleased to encounter such kind and accommodating service.
How to Get to the Rancho La Hondonada
From Querétaro, you can type 'Rancho La Hondonada' into your favourite map app and you will be directed towards the town of Colón, Querétaro, which is just under an hour away from the city. If you are visiting the nearby towns of Bernal or Tequisquiapan, the ranch would be 30 to 45-minutes away, so it would also be a great activity to add to your trip from those locations.
What to Bring
You might want to dress in farm fashion for fun, but it is totally unnecessary. If it has been raining, you should consider rain boots or shoes that will keep you from slipping; otherwise, just be sure to remember your camera and extra cash as you will likely want to purchase some of the farm-fresh products being sold at their onsite Flor De Alfalfa shop.
Highlights
For our 5 and 8-year old daughters, they really enjoyed seeing the little jersey calves and watching the cows graze on the organic pastures. We all enjoyed the cheese samples and ended up purchasing a couple of varieties of cheeses that are not yet available at the local supermarket.
Flor de Alfalfa is a brand that I have purchased consistently since our first visit to the farm. I thoroughly appreciate the care that they have for their animals, the free-range lifestyle that the cows enjoy, and their transparency in sharing the entire process of how they produce their dairy products.
Recently, they have also started producing wine, and while I am not much of a wine drinker, I did quite enjoy the flavourful glass of red wine that accompanied the cheese samples.
This tour checks many boxes: a fun day outdoors, an educational activity for the entire family, food (always a must!), and it is really not far at all from nearby Querétaro.
I would highly recommend this tour to anyone, even if you are not a huge fan of farms. You will surely learn a lot and enjoy the day out.
Happy travels!
*Photo by Author