Hello - we are staying in Verduno near Alba / La Morra area for 4 nights Sept 19-23 . I see it is the very start of truffle hunting season . Would love to try it , I think my husband would enjoy the trained dogs :) we will have a car so willing to drive . We are not into huge crowd tour people , would prefer something a little more intimate - we are fine with a small group tho :) any recommendations from anyone that has done this and had a good experience.
Thank you for your help- Joan
Posted by
Tucson
7 posts
I'd be skeptical about truffle hunting experiences, I know most of them are fake (I've talked to people in the industry).
Which is not hard to believe when every truffle hunting experience with tourists results in them finding truffles.. nature doesn't work like that.
I've been told that often they pre-place the truffle and do kind of acting pretending they found it with you.
In Tuscany I had the chance to do a mushroom hunting experience instead, and it was authentic, as in, we found dozens of different mushrooms, there was no guarantee that we would find/pick something, but the guide scouted a few places before giving us the exact meeting point.
If there is something like that in your area I'd recommend that instead, as mushrooms cannot be "pre-placed" there for you to find, you would notice that easily!
Posted by
OP
33 posts
Oh bummer - ok thanks for that information! Appreciate your input - Joan
Posted by
142 posts
What Traveler "has been told" is how truffle dogs have been trained for 100 years. They should tell customers they are taking part in a lesson and not in the real thing, but I wouldn't say it's totally "fake".
White truffle is priced at $8,000 per lb, I bet they don't take tourists where you can find it. Real truffle hunters start working one hour before dawn and they are not very social, "acting" is not their style.
Posted by
Milan Italy
11 posts
Ciao Joan — Giangilberto from Milan here. Both replies above hold a piece of the truth, so let me try to put them together, because this is a known thing in Italy.
There are two tiers of this experience, and knowing which one you're buying is everything. Many "truffle hunts" sold to visitors are what I'd call a lesson: a real hunter, a real trained dog, a lovely walk in the woods — and yes, sometimes a strategically buried truffle so the morning gets its grand finale. Marco is right that this is also how the dogs have been trained forever; it only becomes "fake" when they don't tell you. And then there are genuine small hunts with a licensed trifulau (the Piedmontese word for truffle hunter) and his own dog, where nothing is promised — which is precisely the point.
Now, the detail that matters for your dates, and it works as a built-in lie detector: the white truffle season in Piedmont traditionally opens on September 21st. You're there the 19th to the 23rd — so if someone "finds" a precious white truffle for you on day one, you're watching theater. What can genuinely be found in mid-September is the black summer truffle: less glamorous, absolutely real. So ask any provider three questions before booking: black or white for these dates? Is the guide a licensed trifulau with his own dog? And do you guarantee a find? A guarantee is the tell — real hunts sometimes come home empty, and that's exactly how you know they're real.
For booking, the safest route is the tourist office in Alba on Piazza Risorgimento: they work with licensed hunters and small groups, which sounds like exactly what you're after. From Verduno with a car everything is twenty, thirty minutes away; hunts usually go out in the morning, so bring proper shoes. And late September is harvest time in the vineyards too — the whole area will be at its best. Your husband is going to fall in love with those dogs; they're the true stars of the show.