When is the Alba Truffle Fair?
The 2026 edition, the ninety-sixth, runs from 10 October to 6 December, with the World Market open at weekends and on long weekends; the full programme is on fieradeltartufo.org. White truffle (Tuber magnatum Pico) ripens between late September and December, and November is usually the best month for both quality and price.
How does the World Truffle Market work?
Inside the Cortile della Maddalena the trifolao, the truffle hunters, and the traders display their truffles on supervised stalls: every specimen is checked by judges from the National Truffle Study Centre before sale, and weighing is official. You buy by weight, and the price per gram shifts week by week with the season and the rainfall. Practical rules: ask to smell it, check there are no soft patches, and do not buy one you will only eat four or five days later. Around the market, the Alba Qualità stalls sell cheese, hazelnuts, wine and cured meats from the Langhe.
What else is there to do in Alba?
Via Maestra (Via Vittorio Emanuele) with its shops, the cathedral of San Lorenzo, and the medieval towers that earned Alba the name "city of a hundred towers". On fair weekends the centre is pedestrianised and busy; alongside the market the programme offers show cooking, tasting workshops, dinners with leading chefs, the Donkey Palio, the historical parade and events for children. The Barolo and Barbaresco hills are a quarter of an hour away: a winery in the morning and the fair in the afternoon makes a perfect day.
What does it cost to stay in Alba during the fair?
A great deal. On fair weekends properties in Alba, Barolo and La Morra charge high-season rates with two or three night minimums, and availability disappears by the summer. The sensible alternatives are Asti, Bra and the Turin hills.
Why stay in Pino Torinese for the Truffle Fair?
Three reasons. Distance: Alba is about forty minutes by car, less than many Turin residents spend commuting. Turin in the evening: after the fair you drive back and are in the centre for dinner in ten minutes, or you stay on the hill and let the partner restaurant deliver. Accommodation: at Paradise – Nature & Wellness, Mansarda Paradise sleeps a group of up to eight, with two bedrooms and a hot tub, and The Green Space for six, with a kitchen, handy for cooking the truffle you just bought over fresh tajarin. Breakfast and free parking included. For October and November weekends, write on WhatsApp well ahead: +39 338 993 03 39.
Réservation directe sur WhatsApp, petit-déjeuner et parking inclus.
