My fiancé and I are planning a 10-day honeymoon in Italy this October and are looking for advice on where to go and what to do. In particular, your help with the following would be much appreciated:
WHAT CITY(IES)/REGION(S) SHOULD WE PICK AS OUR BASE? We are not interested in visiting Rome on this trip; rather we would like rent a car and explore the countryside. Is Tuscany our best bet? What about Emilia-Romagna? Should we consider spending all or some of our time in Sardinia or Sicily (it looks like we can get to either island quickly & cheaply on RyanAir or EasyJet)?
WHERE SHOULD WE STAY? We are open to renting a small villa or apartment, or staying in a budget-friendly B&B or small hotel.
WHAT SHOULD WE SEE & DO? In addition to monument & museum visits, we are interested in the following types of activities: -Winery tours -Truffle hunt -Visit to an olive oil farm -Cooking class (that can accommodate a vegetarian)
WHERE SHOULD WE EAT? We are looking for affordable restaurants (with vegetarian options.
I'd recommend checking out our trip reports section where you can read what others have done and find what sparks an interst. The link is to the right, under Slow Travel Community.
Since you are interested in food and wine, I wouod consider spending half of the stay in Piedmont and half of it in Emilia Romagna. Piedmont has an excellent cuisine and produces Italy's best wines, Emilia Romagna has an even better cuisine and is the home of some of the best Italian foods, like Parmigiano Reggiano. Combining southern Piedmont and the western end of Emilia Romagna will provide a compact trip with few long drives, good scenery as well as excellent food and wine plus a few cities to check out.
October what a great time to be in Italy.we did our honeymoon there as well.The first thing you have to realize you can't see everything.You mentioned places all over Italy.Example Sicily deserves several weeks itself-I am planning a 10 day trip and am going to miss at least 2/3 of the island.
I would ideally stick to one region Piedmont may be a great option for you,truffle festival in Alba,great wine etc.In Alba there are at least two options that are very nice and economical reviewed on this site see hotel reviews.We stayed in villa meridiana just outside of Alba,fabulous.RR
If you're interested in Truffle hunting Northern Le Marche or southern Piemonte in October are both perfect locations! They're also both great locations for art, nature , wine and food!
Thanks everyone. Alice, Robert & Giulia- it sounds like Piedmont is a top pick for all three of you, so I think we will look at making that our base. I'll check into the accommodations you've suggested too.
Any suggestions on where to find info about truffle hunting? Are there organized tours or guides that you recommend?
Pasta with truffles will be a terrific vegetarian option.
Another that is a little less expensive is porcini mushrooms. They will be in season as well, and you can have them grilled (almost like a vegetarian steak), breaded and deep-fried, and "trifolato", i.e., sliced and sauteed with oil, garlic and parsley.
Its difficult to arrange a truffle hunt.If you stay where I suggested they have a dog that supposedly does truffle hunting but be prepared to go very early in the morning like 2-3am.Below my wife and truffle dog.
I remember Diana (Strinati Baur) talking about truffle hunting in her area... I have been looking for that post but I can't find it! Does somebody remember anything about it? In my experience truffle hunting can be sometimes organized by innkeepers or apartments owners because of their personal knowledge of the place and the people (a neighbour of the Locanda does it for my guests).
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Giulia da Urbino: I remember Diana (Strinati Baur) talking about truffle hunting in her area... I have been looking for that post but I can't find it! Does somebody remember anything about it? [QUOTE]
Amy, thanks for looking for it! Diana does speak about truffle hunting in that thread but I couldn't find anything about some neighbour of hers or friend actually truffle hunting... bah! I may have dreamt of it
Tuscany is very beautiful in october too, and generally still warm, especially in the beginning of the month.
Emilia Romagna has great food... but in October you risk never seeing the sun. It is very very foggy. I was ther efor a conference in October last week and honestly I was going crazy... I was counting the minutes to go back home in Tuscany, which it must be said, has a fantastic climat compared to other areas in Italy.
This question probably sounds silly to many, however, if one truffle hunts and "picks" (?) a truffle, does one get to keep it for their very, very own? And would one be able to bring them home?
Posts: 152 | Location: Lake Coeur d' Alene | Registered: 18 March 2006
travelnymph, it depends on what you agree with the person that is taking you! The truffle should belong to the person actually finding it, well, to the owner of the dog finding it but often they leave it to the guest "hunter" (most of all if it's not a big big one or if you paied a lot to go truffle hunting!).
Ok..Giulia, you have not lost your mind, but we might have had that conversation in person or in a private PM. I know we talked price on a thread too.
In reference to wine/food/truffles/porcini/all the decadence Itala has to offer:
In Piemonte, the white truffle is found throught the Langhe and the MOnferrato both. We have them, our neighbor has them. The truffle hunters protect their special spots very carefully. Truffle hunts can be arranged by locals who know someone who knows someone. It is the best way. If you go on an organized truffle hunt, you are often risking wasting money following a dog to a preplanted truffle, and not a very good one necessarily.
Truffle hunters knock on our door and show us their ware. We say if we want to buy what they have. They are allowed to hunt on unposted private property. If they find truffles on your property, ýou still have to pay them.
The truffle belongs to the person finding it. Normally this is the owner of the dog. If you go on a truffle hunt with a local, they will charge you for the truffle, absolutely.
Porcini hunting goes the same way. You go with a local into the woods to find porcini. There is alot of competition in the fall for porcini in the woods. Some are the the size of small flying saucers. One of those is a big dinner when it is grilled!! ALWAYS better to go with a local, and pay a courtesy to him.
Well, Piemonte is the largest DOC and DOCG wine region in Italy and is drop dead beautiful. October can be wonderful, can be foggy, can be sunny, can be hot, can be cool and showery. In other words, not predictable. The red vendemmia takes place usually the first two weeks in October, and the white takes place at the end of September.
Rolling hills, endless footpaths, vineyards and fruit plantations as far as the eyes can see, the Alps in the distance, a very, very low tourist count.
The story about my neighbor and the truffles: on Christmas eve, our neighbor and friend Franco came up with his buddy (truffle hunter) and the dog (named Diana) and a bag full of beautiful white truffles in his back pocket which he had just found. I ended up buying 25 grams. For Christmas dinner, I made a primi of home made tagliatelli with butter and those truffles shaved over. Really heavenly!!
What a relief Diana, I was thinking I had gone nuts and moreover that you had disappeared!!! Our truffle woods are posted and fenced so hunters (truffle or else) should not go in. The only one officially allowed to go in is one of my neighbours and I suppose that this is why he tends to give tiny truffles as a presents either to me or to guests truffle hunting with him. I had never thought about organized truffle hunts but you're right, the risk is that they may just bury a tiny "worm-bitten" truffle somewhere and take the dog to "find" it!
Hi Diana! I'm so glad to see you again! Lots of work I guess... Easter, April 25th... We have No hunting signs from the Provincia to keep hunters out (many of them don't respect anything and we had serious problems including a dead bull because of them...) and 15 hectares of our woods are fenced (we keep the cows there during the summer) so nobody is officially allowed to go in... even if everybody in the area knows that somebody actually does... but well
Topic Closed
