Featured holiday Truffle hunting holiday in Piemonte Italy

Arrive at Turin airport, collect your hire-car and drive to your hotel in Benevello near Alba. You stay at the 4-star Villa d’Amelia, surrounded by acres of hazelnut groves and vineyards. The hotel’s 37 rooms and suites are individually decorated in a way that maintains warm, yet neutral colours, but with interesting charcoal accents and coolly elegant marble bathrooms. The outdoor swimming pool is heated, so is available for use later in the year. Walking paths and mountain-biking routes vein the picturesque landscape around the hotel. The hotel’s Michelin-starred restaurant serves modern interpretations of local cuisine from seafood to locally grown vegetables and herbs. The bistro restaurant alternately offers a light and refreshing menu, and the bar offers a taste of the region through local wines and cocktails.

During your three full days in Piemonte, the fascinating highlight will be the half-day truffle hunt with a local truffle hunter and his dog. A car transfer is provided there and back. Also included in your holiday is a 3-course dinner with truffle in one course at the hotel and a tasting of three different wines from the region. Villages such as Barolo and Barbaresco are close by for wine-tasting experiences. The 16th century Castello Falletti in Barolo has been converted into a wine museum and enoteca, and now provides the perfect environment in which to taste the dark, full-bodied Barolo red wine. Montegrosso is the home of Barbera wine, while Costigliole d’Asti and Canelli specialise in the sparkling Asti Spumante. A visit to Alba will be a cultural highlight of your stay in Piemonte, with its austere medieval narrow winding alleyways and brick towers. The pretty old town, with the peaceful ebb and flow of day-to-day life, makes for a very relaxing afternoon’s walk, before descending into the underground museum and ruins of Alba’s medieval and Roman history. Aside from the magnificent Cattedrale di San Lorenzo, parts of which date back to the 6th century, Alba’s pride and joy may well be Macrino’s Vergine Incoronata, which hangs in the council chamber of Alba’s Palazzo Comunale. Just south of Alba sits the Grinzane di Cavour Castle, which is still the meeting point of the ‘Order of the Knights of the Truffles and Wines of Alba’. Its museum gives essential insight into the Order, as well as wine-making traditions, folk traditions, and Count Camillo Cavour himself. The castle also houses a restaurant, should you want to stay in these historic surroundings until the evening. Combine your truffle-hunting experience with a visit to the world-famous white truffle festival (“Fiera del Tartufo Bianco d’Alba) that also takes place in Alba, to really complete your interaction with this famous Italian tradition. This annual event attracts chefs and foodies from the world-over to celebrate their love of all things to do with truffles. You can join in and celebrate the famous ‘tartufo bianco’ each weekend throughout October and November in Alba’s main market square.

Depending on the time of your flight back to London, spend more time exploring Piemonte or drive to the airport and return your hire-car ready for the flight back.