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Truffle Hunt in Alba - October 2019

Arriving in Milano in mid October. Would like suggestions about trufle festival, wine tasting Barolo or other
area. Would prefer not to rent a car, limiting us to train travel. Anyone have recommendations?
I'm not familiar with this area of Italy but anxious to explore.
Thanking you in advance for suggestions.
Grazie
Susan

Posted by
209 posts

My wife and I rented an apartment in Turin last fall - we loved it! We travelled by train to Alba one Sunday for the Truffle festival. You can buy tickets in advance … the basic ticket simply gets you into the festival venue where you can see everything and buy products … the more expensive ticket gets you two glasses of wine and a souvenir glass. We opted for the full meal deal, but if I did it again, the advanced ticket wasn't worth it … simply entering the venue is enough. Truffles are displayed in cases like jewels, and the farmer will explain and negotiate a price … anywhere from 140- 250 euros each!

The town was packed with visitors - we had a great time. Truffle products are everywhere … truffle pasta, etc. We bought a couple of jars of truffle cream (more intense than truffle oil) and used it in our apartment to make amazing truffle-infused pasta dinners.

A wonderful day and I hope you take the time to visit. BTW, my wife does a photo blog of our travels, which includes Turin and our day in Alba. graciamc.wordpress.com.

Posted by
5 posts

Hi Will,
Thank you for responding to my request. I quickly looked at the foot blog and it is amazing! Why did you select Torino?
Did you attend the Palio d' Asini? That really looks like like fun! Would you suggest staying in Alba or Torino? Is one day
at Truffle Fair enough or would you have stayed longer?
I am Italian, teach Italian and love everything and everyone Italian. No matter where I am, northern or Southern Italy, I'm a happy person being there, with my cappuccino.

Posted by
410 posts

Will, please tell your wife that I enjoyed her blog posts about Torino! We just went there last month, partly for a work trip, and the rest for vacation. It was a great city to explore!

One special place we enjoyed was Gastronomia Maggiora, across the River Po. There we had the best pastries of the whole trip!

Torino was lovely, and the arcades were a beautiful, shady blessing on the hot days we were there.

Laurie

Posted by
3150 posts

If you want to visit the wine towns - Barolo, Barbaresco, and others in the Langhe, you either need to rent a car or try to arrange a tour. I’d stay for 2 or 3 nights in Alba and enjoy the International Alba Truffle Market in all its glory. No matter when you are there, something is always happening. I would guess that you could find wine tours from Alba. Time is drawing close and Alba is a small city so if you want to overnight there make reservations as soon as possible.

I think Torino is one of the most underrated and interesting cities in Italy. As a bonus, it’s not overrun by tourists. Visit the remarkable Automobile Museum in the city built by Fiat. It has one of the finest Egyptian museums in the world. For a wonderful dining experience, have dinner at Pastificcio Defilippis. Try the SPAGHETTI IN “*PESCHERIA”, especially if you love garlic.

Posted by
209 posts

I am glad you enjoyed seeing Torino through Gracia's photos. We stayed in an Airbnb apartment off Via Po - our balcony looked directly onto the Mole. We loved the Turin … not touristy, some fabulous venues, and easy to navigate. Because of the truffle festival, Alba was packed during our visit, and I'm not sure I see value in visiting the truffle venue more than once. Think of a huge circus tent, packed to the gills with excited, noisy tourists drinking wine :) Once you've seen it for 1-2 hours, there's nothing left to see … we were hot and glad to get back out into the fresh air. That said, Alba looks like a delightful town during normal times. BTW, the train station is adjacent to the festival area, so you can train directly from the Garibaldi station in Turin to Alba.