Tourism activities resulting from traveling for different purposes became massive at the end of XX. century. Today, tourism has been an important sociological phenomenon. Social and environmental impacts have drawn attention locally and globally, besides their economic impacts. In addition to the individual tourism movements, the increase in mass tourism activities further increased the economic, social and environmental impacts. Over time, with the effect of globalization and modernization, people's value judgments have undergone great changes and this change has also been reflected in their travel preferences. Several types of tourism have emerged as different from mass tourism such as alternative tourism and sustainable tourism which for special interests, individual preferences come to the fore and with more environmentally sensitive travel. Rural tourism has also taken its place among alternative tourism types as a sustainable tourism. Rural tourism has a positive impact on sustainable rural development particularly revealing the important role of tourism in local development. While alternative sources of income are created for rural areas through tourism, new practices in agricultural production have been developed. Rural tourism becomes a guide in solving the economic, social and environmental problems of these areas by making rural areas attractive for tourists. In this study, a conceptual research on rural tourism has been carried out and this type of tourism has been evaluated within the content of sustainable tourism. Sample applications from Turkey and different countries have been presented on rural tourism activities.