Tired of expensive palace hotels?  Weary of trudging through long hallways while staying in historic castles?  Upset at the notion of sharing a toilet in a creaky, old pension?  Repelled by a cookie-cutter chain hotel that offer all the amenities of home?  Perhaps you are looking for a way to spend a simple holiday in Europe.  If so, here's your guide. 

Green Holiday Guide
(European Centre for Eco Agro Tourism; €10-€15 per guide; adult)
The European Centre for Eco Agro-Tourism, or ECEAT, has made available a "Green Holiday Guide" filled with addresses to give you that simple holiday among the locals your family may long for.

Concerned about the fate of small farmers in Europe, the organization sends travelers to board at farms to help supplement the farmers' income, thereby allowing them to continue their traditional methods of farming.

The English language guide covers 1,500 addresses in 22 countries: addresses of environmentally-friendly accommodations such as guesthouses, bed & breakfasts and apartments for those who are not quite ready for that cow-milking environment. Prices for these accommodations vary with each country, but are moderate.  As of 2007, 10 editions of the guide are available for 15 different European countries in English, Dutch, and German. 

Several multi-lingual editions come in English as well as Cyrillic, Polish and other languages useful to the Center's broad mission, and in Dutch, several other guides are available as well.

You can get research your purchase at their website, or get all the necessary information by writing ECEAT at P.O. Box 10899, 1001 EW Amsterdam, The Netherlands, faxing 3120/463-0594 and calling 3120/668/1030.  ECEAT can also be reached by e-mailing eceat@eceat.nl or visiting their website.