Truffle hunting and olive oil tour with lunch & tastings
Wine & Food ToursDuration:6 hours
Rates
A DAY YOUR PALATE WILL REMEMBER FOREVER
For people visiting Tuscany one of the most interesting activities is visiting local producers of exquisite specialties. There is an incredible density of food producers of all sorts. Meeting them or seeing how they work is an unforgettable experience. Arianna & Friends organizes full-day truffle hunting tours followed by a lunch of truffle products and, after that, a visit to a local oil mill with olive oil tasting.
A truffle hunting wood & a truffle-based lunch
Our guide meets you in the morning and accompanies you to the premises of a local truffle hunter. Together with the hunter, his dog and the guide you walk into the surrounding woods, in the charming area of the Pisan hills, for a truffle hunting session. After the walk in the woods, you get back to the hunter’s place and sit in a relaxing location where a delicious lunch based on truffle products and fresh truffles are served: you will taste truffle oil, truffle sauces and very original truffle-based products served with eggs and other great pairings like cold meats and cheeses. The tour takes place in the area of Volterra or Palaia.
A traditional olive oil mill
In the afternoon, you drive shortly and reach a lovely oil press in the middle of a very scenic countryside. At first you will get a detailled introduction to the world of extra virgin olive oil, the techniques of olive collection, the kinds of trees available in Tuscany and the “mentality” of the local olive farmers. Then you enter the mill and see the whole machinery. The tour leader helps you discover all the phases of the olive pressing process and the secrets for a good extra virgin olive oil. After the visit, you sit at a table and the tour guide together with an operator from the mill serve you different types of extra virgin olive oil along with some delicacies of local production. This is a great occasion for you to learn how to taste exquisite olive oil and to understand the differences between a traditional local production and a massive industrial production.
From late October to ealy December it is possible to see the squeezing process at the mill.
What you taste
This is a list of specialties that you are likely to sample as part of the program of this tour. Please, note that the specialties of the tasting session and/or lunch may vary according to the season and the availability of the products in the day of the tour.
In our tour we like showing you places off the beaten track and introducing you to Tuscan people with their personal stories, careers and characters.
You will have one of our guides with your party during the whole tour. Please, see below all the guides who can be with you.
During this experience you can also meet some of the Tuscan friends involved in the events. Please, see below which friends you are likely to encounter.
Luca is an expert truffle hunter who welcomes you in a charming wood near Palaia for truffle hunting sessions with the dog Giotto. He was a food passionate until he met the most famous family of truffle hunters in Tuscany and became their main assistant for truffle hunting tours. His great English make him the best character for such tours. 
Giotto is a 10-year-old curly dog famous in Tuscany for being able to find truffles easily in the best truffle woods of our tours. He is the protagonist of our truffle hunting experiences near Palaia together with Luca the truffle hunter. 
Gianni is a very friendly assistant at one of the oil mills of our tours focusing on extra virgin olive oil. He is a great chef with a fantastic personality and he welcomes visitors to the butcher's shop right next to his oil mill. 
Anna Maria is one of the members of the official panel of olive oil testers of Tuscany for the district of Pisa. She runs one of the most renowned oil mills in the area of Volterra and she has a great personality. Her mission is to make products available in most supermarkets. 
Alessio is the president of the association of truffle hunters of Volterra. He owns a beautiful farm with accommodation and his land includes an extensive truffle growing reserve. He arranges private truffle hunting adventures in his natural reserve, an authentic wood where only a few people are allowed to enter and where the growth of real truffles is favored. 
Video Gallery
The total rate for this activity varies according to the number of people in your party.
Check rates in the table below.
| Truffle hunting and olive oil tour with lunch & tastings
– RATES 2023 – |
||
|---|---|---|
| Number of people in your party | Total rate January through September with Scorzone or Marzolino truffles |
Total rate October through December with White Truffle |
| 2 persons | € 640 | € 740 |
| 3 persons | € 800 | € 950 |
| 4 persons | € 960 | € 1160 |
| 5 persons | € 1120 | € 1370 |
| 6 persons | € 1280 | € 1580 |
| 7 persons | € 1440 | € 1790 |
| Extra Adult | € 160 | € 210 |
| Extra Teenager (12-17 yrs) | € 120 | € 170 |
| Extra Child (4-11 yrs) | € 80 | € 100 |
Rates include
- A private English speaking tour leader for the whole tour. Also available in French, German, Spanish and Russian
- A walk in the wood with truffle searcher and dog
- A lunch based on truffle products
- A visit to an olive oil mill
- A guided blind tasting of extra virgin olive oil & snacks
- Tax
Rates do NOT include
- Transportation
Transportation is not included in the rates above. For more info on transportation, please see the box “Transportation options”.
Here the pictures of a guest who took one of our truffle hunting tour near Volterra:
Pictures from today!
Happyness after finding a white truffles in the hills of Volterra
A professional truffle hunter off to a truffle hunting
Smile after finding a beautiful and tasty Scorzone black truffle
Going truffle hunting in September in Volterra allows us to find both black and white truffles
This is a message we received from a chef who joined us for a private truffle hunting tour with the aim of learning in depth all traditions and habits the Tuscans developed on truffles
Dear Arianna,
I hope this finds you well. First of all, I would like to thank you for all your kindness and professionalism during our visit to the truffle hunting site. We really enjoyed getting to know this interesting and ancient process, as well the guide’s anecdotes and sense of humor.
I’d like to take this opportunity to give you my best wishes for this upcoming festive season.
Once again, thanks!
Sincerely,
Chef David
This is an email we received from Libby and her husband who spent two days with us, including our truffle hunting tour:
We spent two days with Massimo touring a cheese factory, an olive mill and the greatest adventure of all — truffle hunting with a man and his dog. All three experiences were some of the best I’ve had in Italy mainly because Massimo tailors the tours to your individual needs and expectations. He is extremely knowledgeable and a pleasure to be with. He explained in detail the processes used in each industry as well as the history of the region. I learned more about truffles and olive oil than I ever knew in the twelve years I’ve been coming to Italy. I highly recommend Massimo, as well as the company Arianna & Friends, for a very special adventure tour in Italy.
This tour takes place in the woodland in the municipality of Palaia, among Pisa, San Gimignano and Volterra and at an oil mill near Terricciola.
MEET-UP LOCATION:
Unless differently specified, the tour guide meets you at a meeting point near Peccioli.
DURATION:
This program takes 6 hours. Time for transportation not included.
AVAILABILITY:
Available all year through. In the black truffle season availability from Mondays through Saturdays. In the white truffle season availability from Mondays through Fridays.
LANGUAGE:
This tour is available in English language. German, French, Spanish, Russian or Italian are also available with no surcharge.
DIFFICULTY LEVEL:
Medium
CHILD FRIENDLY:
Ideal for children
CLOTHING:
Comfortable shoes and clothes recommended.
FOOD RESTRICTIONS:
The foods served during this tour might contain gluten, lactose, nuts and alcohol. If you have any food restriction, please inform our personnel during the enquiry process.
TRANSPORTATION:
This program and its rates do not include transportation and are set on a self-driving base. For further information see the box "transportation options".
The destinations reached during this activity are in the Tuscan countryside, in areas off the beaten track that cannot be reached by public transport. We highly recommend renting a car or a scooter in order to reach them. As an alternative, we can offer a valued service by chauffeured car, van or minibus. Any cost of transportation is to be added to the rates displayed on the rate table of this page.
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