Our family was really looking forward to staying at a working farm in a cozy cabin with our kids.

On the positive side, the cabin is authentic and spacious for a family. It has two bedrooms, a living room, and a nice size kitchen. There are cows, llamas, sheep, lambs, turkeys, ducks, chickens, pigs, peacocks, and other animals to see. The cabin also came with a few toys and many childrens' books. The view from the cabin itself is beautiful, simply farm and the mountains. We also sampled the farm's fresh milk and eggs. In Winchester proper, we toured the excellent Discovery Museum in the historic district, which the kids adored, and frequented the Jim Barnett Park three times, which had a great assortment of climbing equipment.

On the not so positive side, the farm is adjacent to an industrial park, about 1/2 a mile away from FederalExpress, Ford Motor Parts, and General Electric, so the drive there is not scenic at all. The cabin had a few too many cobwebs and flies for my liking. I understand that it's right on a farm so maybe this is just unavoidable. Eating meals with many flies is kind of a bummer though. Also, the drawers, dishes, and silveware were not terribly clean. I washed everything that my family ate with while we were there. I was told that we would have breakfast in our refrigerator upon checking in: bread, milk, butter, sausages/bacon, cream, eggs, and sugar. In my mind, I thought this would all be fresh. Instead, everything but the eggs and milk were store bought. So a package of white english muffins, a package of bacon, Domino sugar, store bought cream, and no butter. Granted the eggs and milk were very good. When we went down to the farm at 7:00 am the next morning for the milking of the cows, I asked what other activities the kids might enjoy. I was thinking that the kids could collect the chickens' eggs, help feed the sheep or goats, or go for a hayride. We were told they could come back at 5:00 pm to see the cows milked again. So, you are somewhat left on your own. Thankfully one of the farm employees, once prompted, was very helpful and did let us do all the things we were hoping minus the hayride, fall season only.

Winchester is fairly limited in activities for kids. The museum and park are great options and there was an animal exhibit nearby as well. Next to those options was Dinosuar Land in nearby White Post, but you'd really need to do some research on your own to map out activities for a family.

I'd probably recommend this for a couple rather than a family with kids, or maybe as a place to visit during the day to see all the animals, but the area seems more conducive to adults than families.

Our family found wonderful peace and tranquility at the Herd's Inn. It's just outside Winchester, VA, only about 2 hours from Washington, DC. The farm property is large and rolling, with a nice view of the Blue Ridge Mountains. From the porch of our house, we could watch pot-bellied pigs, Jersey cows, a water buffalo, sheep, a horse, and many peacocks. On a short walk, we visited goats, a llama, two alpacas, some turkeys, and a pair of adorable donkeys.

The house itself is quite comfortable. One bedroom has a queen bed; the other has two doubles. There's room for a pack-and-play or cot. There is a bathroom on each of the two floors, a large kitchen with dining area, and a very large living room.

Kitty, the farmer, and her daughter Shannon are most hospitable. They left breakfast fixings in the fridge for us, and welcomed my questions about milking and farm life. They also helped us locate restaurants and fireworks deplays on July 4th.

We would gladly return.

We spent a Saturday night at Herd's Inn. When we first arrived, we drove through a long gravel road to our cabin. It cabin (the word 'house' better described it) is very spacious and clean. They only rent it to one party at a time. We have a family of 4 (2 & 4 yrs old). The look is rustic but with modern amenities. There are two bedrooms and two full baths. They even have toys and children's book. The kitchen is big and modern enough for us to decide to cook a meal there. They even have satellite TV and a VCR recorder. All the window views are lovely - views of the farm with horses, goats, peacocks, sheep ... etc. We didn't see the hosts or the farmers (a grandmom and her daughter) until later on that day when they came to milk the cows. Our 4 years old was totally fascinated with it. Instead of milking by hands, they use modern machinery. They let you handle the cows if you like or get involved as much as you want or just stay aside and watch and chat which we did. The farm has tons of animals: sheep, buffalo, goat, peacocks, chickens, turkeys, rabbits, dogs, (a baby donkey was born that day, so cute) .... Once you walk out of the cabin, you will be greeted by any of them. The hosts (and the animals) are very friendly to our young kids. Our kids just love being there, running around, spraying at the buffalo (we were told that is one of buffalo's favorite thing to do), watching different animals. They don't serve breakfast but leave breakfast items for you to make which is fine with us. We are city-folks: we got to enjoy being at the farm tremendously while having all the modern amenities and clean facilities; at the same time, I can imagine if you want to be a 'farmer', there is plenty to do and be welcomed to do it. Winchester also has a nice little downtown area with a small Children's Museum - good place for pre-school kids to spend an hour or two.