Climate change presents significant challenges for European rural communities, necessitating robust adaptation strategies to enhance resilience and support sustainable development. This study employs a bibliometric analysis to map the academic landscape surrounding climate change adaptation strategies in European rural areas, identifying key research trends, influential studies, and thematic shifts over time. Using tools such as Biblioshiny and VOSviewer, the study analyses a dataset comprising 291 documents from 158 sources published between 2005 and 2025. The findings reveal key research clusters, country-wise production, total citation per country, prominent journals, and major contributing institutions, highlighting the increasing academic focus on adaptation strategies. The study also examines co-occurrence patterns of keywords, shedding light on dominant themes such as community-based adaptation, resilience, governance, and policy frameworks. Furthermore, it identifies critical research gaps and underscores the importance of integrating policy measures with localized, participatory solutions. By bridging scientific insights with practical applications, this research provides valuable contributions to policymakers, practitioners, and scholars engaged in rural sustainability and climate adaptation efforts.