You take a train from Florence to San Miniato, hunt truffles with Francesca and her dog for about an hour, then sit down to a three-course lunch built around what you found — bruschetta, fresh pasta, and dessert with wine. Transport from the station is arranged for you. Plan for a half-day out of Florence, with the hunt starting at 11am.
"Where's the dog going to dig?" you ask Francesca as you step into the forest outside San Miniato, and she just smiles — the dog already knows. You're standing on her family property, about 10 minutes from the town center, and the truffle hunt starts at 11am sharp. The walk takes roughly an hour, moving through the trees while her trained dog sniffs the ground, and when something clicks, you watch the whole thing unfold: the dig, the reveal, the small dark knob of truffle that cost restaurants in Florence three times what you'll pay for lunch.
Getting there from Florence is straightforward. You take the regional train (Reg 18285) departing at 9:38am, arriving in San Miniato at 10:19am — tight but doable if you're staying in the city center. The company can arrange a local taxi driver, Antonio, to meet you at the station and drive you straight to the farm, so you don't have to figure out directions or negotiate a fare. That 10-minute ride gives you time to breathe before the hunt starts.
After the forest, you sit down in the dining room and eat what you found. The menu is built around truffles: bruschetta topped with fresh shavings and butter, tagliolino pasta dressed in truffle, and tiramisu or biscotti with Vinsanto, a traditional Tuscan dessert wine. Drinks are included throughout. It's not a cooking class or a tasting seminar — it's the simplest thing, the thing that makes sense: you hunt, you eat, you taste the wine, and three hours later you're back on the train to Florence.
The whole experience sits between 11am and early afternoon, so it fits into a day trip without eating your whole schedule. If you're in Florence with a free morning and want to do something that feels less like tourism and more like actually being somewhere, this is the move.
The experience includes the truffle hunt with Francesca and her dog, a three-course lunch with fresh truffles, wine and drinks throughout the meal, and the option to arrange a local taxi from San Miniato train station to the farm.
Operated by The Truffle Hunter
Is this one for you?Book this if you're staying in Florence and want a half-day out of the city that doesn't require renting a car or figuring out transport — the train connection and taxi pickup handle both, leaving you to focus on the hunt and the meal.
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from € 200 per person
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