The white truffle of Alba (Tuber magnatum Pico) currently sells for €3,000–8,000+/kg. The Fiera Internazionale del Tartufo Bianco d'Alba has run every October–November since 1929, making it the longest-running truffle fair in the world. A 1.07 kg truffle sold for €105,000 at auction here in 2010. Guided pre-dawn truffle hunts with trained lagotto romagnolo dogs are bookable during the fair season at €150–250/person. A tajarin pasta with 10g of fresh truffle shaved at the table adds €35–80 to the base price. The Barolo and Barbaresco hills surrounding Alba are simultaneously in their harvest season. The week around mid-October is the optimal window for the full truffle-wine-Langhe autumn experience. Piedmont guide →
Piedmont →Plan my Piedmont truffle trip →Official name: Fiera Internazionale del Tartufo Bianco d'Alba | Duration: Mid-October through late November, every weekend | Location: Alba, Piedmont (province of Cuneo) | White truffle price 2025: €3,000–8,000+/kg | Website: fieradeltartufo.org | Distance from Turin: 60 km | Distance from Milan: 155 km
The Fiera Internazionale del Tartufo Bianco d'Alba has been held since 1929, making it the longest-running truffle fair in the world. The white truffle of Alba (Tuber magnatum Pico) is the most expensive food ingredient on earth by weight — currently selling for €3,000–8,000/kg depending on season quality, with exceptional specimens sometimes reaching €10,000–12,000/kg at auction. The 2024 season produced a notable truffle (approximately 800g) that sold for €85,000 at the charity auction that opens each fair season. The market record was set in 2010 when a 1.07 kg truffle sold for €105,000 at an auction where the buyers were connected by satellite link to buyers in Hong Kong and Las Vegas.
The fair itself: every weekend from mid-October through late November, the historic centre of Alba fills with the white truffle market, restaurants offering seasonal menus, wine producers from the Langhe hills presenting Barolo, Barbaresco, and Dolcetto, and the world's truffle buyers — including representatives of Michelin-starred restaurants from across Europe and Japan, specialty food importers, and private collectors. The specific smell of fresh white truffle fills the historic centre throughout the fair period — the aroma is powerful, pervasive, and unlike anything else in food; it is at once garlicky, earthy, fermented, and somehow both intensely appetising and slightly alarming.
The white truffle grows in symbiosis with specific tree species (primarily oak, willow, poplar, and hazel) in the Langhe and Monferrato hills of Piedmont, at depths of 10–30 cm below the soil surface. The truffle hunt (trifolàu in Piedmontese) takes place primarily at night or in the pre-dawn hours, when the cold air carries the truffle's aroma more effectively and when the trifolàu (truffle hunter) can work without competitors discovering their locations. The lagotto romagnolo dog breed is most commonly used — trained from puppyhood to identify the specific truffle scent and dig carefully without damaging the specimen.
Truffle hunting experiences bookable during the fair period: guided hunts with a certified trifolàu and trained dog, typically 2 hours in the pre-dawn, ending with a tasting breakfast. Cost approximately €150–250/person. Multiple Langhe operators offer these; book well in advance for October–November dates. The experience of watching a trained lagotto dog quarter the forest floor and then stop, circle, and carefully dig while the handler crouches to extract the truffle is one of the most specific food experiences available in Italian tourism.
During the fair, virtually every restaurant in Alba and the surrounding Langhe towns offers white truffle menus. The canonical white truffle dishes: tajarin (the thin Piedmontese egg pasta, approximately 40 egg yolks per kilogram of flour) with generous truffle shavings and butter — no other sauce, no competing flavours; fonduta (the Piedmontese fondue of fontina cheese and egg yolk, over which truffle is shaved at the table); fried egg (uovo al tegamino) with truffle — the egg white and yolk provide the fatty base that amplifies truffle aroma; raw veal (vitello tonnato base without the tuna sauce) with truffle shavings; fresh porcini mushrooms with truffle.
Pricing during the fair: A dish with 8–12g of fresh white truffle shaved at the table adds approximately €35–80 to the base dish price depending on the restaurant and truffle quality that week. A full truffle tasting menu (4–5 courses all involving truffle) at a high-quality Langhe restaurant: €120–250/person including wine. The value assessment: this is genuinely one of the world's great seasonal eating experiences and the price reflects the ingredient reality (€3,000+/kg means 10g of truffle costs €30–80 at wholesale before restaurant markup).
The Alba White Truffle Fair coincides with the Barolo and Barbaresco wine period — the Nebbiolo harvest in the Langhe hills happens in October, and the new wine vintages are being discussed while the previous vintages are being tasted. The Langhe hills within 20 km of Alba contain the entirety of the Barolo DOCG (11 comune municipalities: La Morra, Barolo, Castiglione Falletto, Serralunga d'Alba, and others) and the Barbaresco DOCG (Barbaresco, Neive, Treiso). Most Barolo and Barbaresco wineries offer visits during October–November; the combination of truffle tasting in Alba and winery visits in the Langhe hills is the standard 2–3 day itinerary. Piedmont guide →
The Fiera Internazionale del Tartufo Bianco d'Alba is the world's most important white truffle market, held every weekend from mid-October through late November in the historic centre of Alba, Piedmont. Founded in 1929, it combines the fresh truffle market (where Tuber magnatum Pico is sold at €3,000–8,000+/kg), a charity auction opening each season with record-breaking bids, seasonal truffle menus at Langhe restaurants, Barolo and Barbaresco wine tastings, and guided truffle hunt experiences with trained lagotto dogs. Website: fieradeltartufo.org.
Fresh white truffle of Alba (Tuber magnatum Pico) sells at the fair for approximately €3,000–8,000/kg depending on season quality, specimen size, and aroma intensity. Exceptional specimens sell at charity auction for €50,000–100,000+ (a 1.07 kg truffle sold for €105,000 in 2010; a 2024 auction specimen sold for €85,000). At restaurants during the fair, 8–12g of fresh truffle shaved over pasta adds approximately €35–80 to the base dish price. The price reflects genuine scarcity: white truffles cannot be cultivated and grow only in specific wild conditions in Piedmont, Umbria, Tuscany, and a few other regions.
The Fiera del Tartufo Bianco d'Alba 2026 runs every weekend from mid-October through late November 2026. Specific opening and closing dates are confirmed in late summer; check fieradeltartufo.org for 2026 programme details. The peak truffle quality and availability is typically late October through mid-November; the earlier and later weeks have smaller specimens and lower availability. Accommodation in Alba and the Langhe hills books quickly for fair weekends; reserve 3–6 months in advance for October peak dates.
Yes. Guided truffle hunting experiences with certified trifolàu hunters and trained lagotto romagnolo dogs are available throughout the October–November fair season in the Langhe hills around Alba. Hunts typically take place at dawn (5–7am) or pre-dawn when truffle aroma is most detectable; the experience includes the forest hunt and a tasting breakfast. Cost approximately €150–250/person. Book through Langhe-based tour operators or via GetYourGuide and similar platforms. This is one of the most distinctive food experiences in Italian tourism and should be booked well in advance for October dates.
The Langhe hills around Alba contain the entire Barolo DOCG (the "king of Italian wines" — Nebbiolo aged minimum 3 years, 5 for Riserva, produced in 11 communes) and the Barbaresco DOCG (Nebbiolo aged minimum 2 years, 4 for Riserva, produced in 3 communes — considered by many critics equal to or superior to Barolo in refinement). Additional local wines: Dolcetto d'Alba DOC (a fresh, low-acid red), Langhe Nebbiolo DOC, Barbera d'Asti DOCG, and Moscato d'Asti DOCG (the delicate, slightly sparkling dessert wine from Canelli). Most wineries in the Barolo and Barbaresco zones offer visits and tastings; book ahead for harvest season (October–November).
From Turin to Alba: 60 km, approximately 60 minutes by car via the A33 motorway direction Asti and then the SP29. By train: Trenitalia from Turin Porta Nuova to Bra (45 minutes), then bus to Alba (20 minutes). Driving is significantly more practical for combining Alba with Barolo winery visits. From Milan: 155 km, approximately 2 hours by A26/A10 motorway. Accommodation in Alba books quickly for fair weekends; Asti (30 km, good hotel selection), Bra (15 km), and Canale (20 km) are viable bases with more accommodation availability and lower prices than Alba itself during the fair peak.
Alba White Truffle Fair + truffle hunt at dawn + Barolo winery visits + tajarin pasta — the Piedmont autumn circuit in 2 days.
Plan my Piedmont trip →White truffle (Tuber magnatum Pico, tartufo bianco) and black truffle (primarily Tuber melanosporum, tartufo nero) are distinct species with different growing conditions, aroma profiles, seasons, and culinary uses. White truffle: grown primarily in Piedmont and Umbria, October–December, cannot be cultivated (grows only wild), intensely garlicky-earthy-fermented aroma, used raw (shaved over food, never cooked), €3,000–8,000/kg. Black truffle: grown in Umbria, Abruzzo, Périgord (France), has cultivable varieties, December–March for Tuber melanosporum, earthier-darker aroma, survives light cooking (used in sauces, omelettes, under the skin of poultry), €400–1,500/kg. The black summer truffle (Tuber aestivum) is significantly cheaper and less aromatic; it is the truffle often used in commercial truffle-flavoured products.
Yes. The Fiera del Tartufo Bianco d'Alba has a fresh truffle market in the historic centre of Alba every fair weekend (mid-October through late November) where certified trifolàu (truffle hunters) sell directly to buyers. Prices at the market are the current wholesale-retail price (€3,000–8,000/kg depending on season quality and specimen size); purchases are by weight. Fresh white truffles keep for approximately 5–7 days refrigerated properly (wrapped in paper, not plastic, changed daily, in a sealed container away from other foods that absorb the aroma). Carrying fresh truffle on an international flight is legal from Italy to most destinations; check import regulations for your destination country before purchase.
The Lagotto Romagnolo is an Italian dog breed originating in the Romagna region, historically used as a water retrieval dog (the name derives from lago — lake) and subsequently trained as a truffle-hunting dog. The breed has an exceptional sense of smell, a willingness to dig carefully (essential for not damaging the truffle), and a trainable temperament that allows the conditioning necessary for truffle-specific scent detection. The lagotto is the only dog breed officially recognised by the FCI (Fédération Cynologique Internationale) specifically for truffle hunting. Other breeds (including spaniels, beagles, and mixed breeds) are used by some trifolàu but the lagotto dominates the professional truffle hunting world in Piedmont, Umbria, and Tuscany.