Truffle Hunt
in the Tuscan Countryside
Expert Hunter & Trained Dogs · Approx. 2 Hours · Lunch Included
Foraging · Farm Lunch · Fresh Truffles 🗓 Book Your ExperienceHidden Beneath the Earth,
Waiting to Be Found
Join our expert truffle hunter and his trained dogs for a unique journey into the Tuscan countryside. You'll learn the art of truffle foraging and take part in a real hunt — discovering these extraordinary ingredients in their natural woodland habitat.
After the hunt, return to Podere Spedalone for a relaxed and delicious lunch prepared by our chefs, featuring the very truffles you helped find.
Expert Hunter & Dogs
Hunt alongside a seasoned local truffle hunter and his highly trained dogs — the true heroes of every search.
Into the Wild
Venture into the Tuscan woodland and fields surrounding Podere Spedalone in search of precious black and white truffles.
Farm-to-Table Lunch
Return to the farm for a slow, convivial lunch prepared with the truffles gathered that morning. Farm food at its finest.
Buy Fresh Truffles
Guests may purchase fresh truffles directly from our trusted local sources — take a piece of Tuscany home with you.
Out in the Tuscan Woods
Choose Your Experience
Five experiences across morning and evening — from a classic morning hunt with lunch, to three twilight options starting at 17:30. All led by the same expert hunter. Evening food is always served without truffles.
Truffle Hunt + Tuscan Lunch
Our classic morning experience. Approximately 2 hours in the Tuscan countryside with our expert hunter and trained dogs, followed by a convivial fixed-price Tuscan farmhouse lunch.
- Full truffle hunt with expert hunter & trained dogs
- Local cheeses, cured meats, homemade pasta
- Dessert, water & coffee included
Truffle Hunt + Truffle Lunch
The full morning hunt followed by a fixed-price lunch entirely dedicated to the truffle — featuring the very fresh truffles you helped find that morning.
- Full truffle hunt with expert hunter & trained dogs
- Eggs with fresh truffle, homemade pasta with truffle
- Dessert, water & coffee included
The Evening Hunt
Head out into the Tuscan hills at dusk with our expert hunter and his trained dogs as the light turns golden over Val d'Orcia. The hunt at its most atmospheric — nothing else, just the search.
- Truffle hunt with expert hunter & trained dogs
- Approx. 1 hour in the field
- Option to purchase fresh truffles on the day
The Golden Hour Hunt & Aperitivo
Hunt as the Tuscan sun sets, then return to Podere Spedalone for our sunset aperitivo — Prosecco and the chef's daily appetisers as the Val d'Orcia evening unfolds around you.
- Truffle hunt with expert hunter & trained dogs
- Sunset aperitivo — Prosecco & chef's appetisers
- Food served without truffles
The Golden Hour Hunt & Dinner
Our most complete evening. After the hunt and aperitivo, stay for our communal fixed-course Tuscan dinner at La Pecora Bianca — handmade pasta, local meat, dessert and coffee around a shared table.
- Truffle hunt with expert hunter & trained dogs
- Sunset aperitivo — Prosecco & chef's appetisers
- Full communal Tuscan dinner (€25 supplement)
- Food served without truffles
📋 Pricing & Booking Disclosure
This experience is marketed and sold through multiple channels, including directly on the property, our website, and third-party platforms and agencies. Pricing may vary depending on the platform, agency, or channel through which the activity is booked. We are unable to offer price adjustments, discounts, or increases once a booking has been confirmed, regardless of the rate available through any other channel. The price agreed at the time of booking is final. For the best available rate, we recommend booking directly with us.
The Day's Schedule
A morning in the Tuscan hills, a slow lunch at the farm. This is how we spend our truffle days.
Meet Your Hunter & His Dogs
Gather at Podere Spedalone. Meet the expert truffle hunter and his trained dogs. A brief introduction to truffles, the terrain, and the technique.
Into the Countryside
Head out into the Tuscan woods and hills. Watch the dogs work, learn to read the landscape, and experience the thrill of the hunt firsthand.
Return to the Farm
Return to Podere Spedalone with your findings. Our chefs begin preparing lunch using the freshly harvested truffles.
Lunch is Served
Sit down to a convivial, unhurried farm lunch prepared with seasonal ingredients and the truffles found that morning.
Lunch Menu Options
A Tuscan Farmhouse Table
A generous, convivial Tuscan lunch rooted in local tradition, made with farm produce and the flavours of Val d'Orcia.
- A selection of local cheeses and cured meats
- Homemade pasta dish of the day
- Dessert
- Still and sparkling water
- Coffee
From Field to Fork — All Truffle
An elevated menu entirely dedicated to the truffle. Every dish celebrates the ingredient you helped find just hours earlier.
- Eggs with fresh truffle — shaved to order
- Homemade pasta dish with truffle
- Dessert
- Still and sparkling water
- Coffee
The History & Importance
of the Truffle
Truffles have captivated the human palate for millennia. The ancient Romans considered them a gift from the gods — born of lightning striking the earth near oak trees. Renaissance courts competed for them. French kings coveted them. Today, they remain among the most prized and expensive foods on the planet, gram for gram rivalling gold.
Tuscany sits at the very heart of Italy's truffle culture. The rolling hills of Val d'Orcia — a UNESCO World Heritage landscape — provide ideal conditions for both the black truffle (Tuber melanosporum and Tuber aestivum) and the rare, extraordinarily fragrant white truffle (Tuber magnatum). These subterranean fungi grow symbiotically with the roots of oak, hazel, and poplar trees — invisible to the untrained eye, but unmistakeable to a skilled dog.
The tradition of truffle hunting in Tuscany is an art passed quietly between generations — hunter to apprentice, father to son. A good truffle dog takes years to train and represents the hunter's most prized companion. The bond between hunter, dog, and landscape is a relationship of profound mutual knowledge and trust.
Beyond their culinary prestige, truffles carry deep ecological and economic significance. They are entirely wild — impossible to mass-produce or cultivate reliably — which makes every find genuinely precious. Their presence indicates a healthy, biodiverse ecosystem. And in a region like Pienza, they are a living thread connecting contemporary Tuscan cuisine to its most ancient roots.
At Podere Spedalone, we are proud to carry this tradition forward — welcoming guests into a ritual that no restaurant menu can replicate. The hunt is not theatre. It is the real thing.
Ancient Prestige
Prized since antiquity — by Romans, Renaissance courts, and French royalty. Still among the most valuable ingredients on earth.
UNESCO Landscape
Val d'Orcia's hills provide perfect truffle habitat — oak, hazel, and clay soils in one of Italy's most protected landscapes.
The Trained Dog
Truffle dogs are irreplaceable. A trained lagotto can detect truffles metres below the surface with extraordinary accuracy.
Entirely Wild
Truffles cannot be mass-produced. Every specimen is genuinely wild — a product of soil, climate, and centuries-old woodland ecosystems.
Everything You Need to Know
Duration
Approximately 2 hours in the field
Start Time
Usually begins at 10:00 a.m.
Lunch Served
Around 1:00 p.m. at the farm
Price
Morning + Tuscan lunch €90 · Morning + Truffle lunch €130 · Evening hunt €70 · Evening + Aperitivo €90 · Evening + Dinner €115
Buy Fresh Truffles
Purchase fresh truffles from our trusted local sources on the day
Liability Waiver
A signed waiver is required before the activity begins
Cancellation Policy
At least 72 hours in advance, confirmed by our reception
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Send Us an Enquiry
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