A surprising weekend of truffle hunting and walking in Wiltshire

We have loved truffles since we first met when Asher had a friend and flatmate who was a chef, but we had never gone out foraging for our own - until now. Back in summer, we discovered that there are not only naturally growing truffles in England, but there are also guided truffle hunts. After chancing upon a local truffle tour, we optimistically booked ourselves in for an early December truffle hunt and then found a cottage in Wiltshire for a long weekend away.

We found a gorgeous cottage that looked like something right out of a fairytale, aptly named Faerie Door Cottage. When we arrived, we were surprised by Christmas decorations throughout - two Christmas trees, fairy lights and garlands hanging everywhere - it was so pretty I could have easily stayed for the entire week. A jar of marshmallows, toffees and skewers was left by the fire, which felt incredibly nostalgic and so much fun. We were also provided with a basket of food and a bottle of rose. Built in the 1700s, the cottage was originally two workers cottages, which were later joined together. The most unique feature of all has to be the tiny door that leads from one side of the bathroom into the second bedroom. if I were to imagine my dream cottage, I think it would be something very similar to Faerie Door - I would love to go back again.

On the first day, we drove from London to Lacock, a famous little village in Wiltshire, known for its picturesque cottages and the Lacock Abbey. Due to covid, the interior rooms of the abbey were closed so we decided not to purchase a ticket but I would love to go back. The village is a lovely spot for a wander along the streets and having arrived around 2.30 pm, we had just enough time to get a late lunch and wander around the village before the sunset. Aside from being very beautiful, Lacock is known for some famous film and TV scenes, two of my favourites including Harry Potter and Downton Abbey. We had lunch at the Church Inn, a 14th-century pub with the remnants of a dog-powered turnspit. On the first evening, we had dinner at the local pub. The Bell at West Overton, which turned out to be a very nice pub for somewhere so local.

The truffle hunting tour ran from 10 am-4 pm on Saturday, which sounds like a long time but it went surprisingly quickly. We started by meeting in an old barn where we learnt about truffles and truffle hunting before heading out for our first truffle hunt with our guide and his trusty companion, Jack the excitable labrador.

Jack being rewarded after finding a truffle

We walked to a small forested area on the farm with the ideal soil and tree type for truffles. Sure enough, Jack sniffed out quite a few truffle locations for us and found us some delicious treats to take back, including a rather large truffle. We then headed back to the barn for a hot homemade lunch provided by the farm. After lunch, we embarked on another truffle hunting trip, this time via a trailer towed behind a tractor. We ended the day with an afternoon tea of eggs with fresh truffle shavings and scones with jam and cream. The tour was well-worth joining and now I’m just wishing I had a dog I could train.

We spent our Sunday afternoon on a walk around the neolithic monuments surrounding Avebury. The walk we did was called West Kennet Round but we also added on an extension by walking up West Kennet Avenue into Avebury and stopping for lunch before walking back up West Kennett Avenue to rejoin the path. I really loved this walk - it was filled with so much interesting history, including the very impressive West Kennet Long Barrow.

The directions give the option of bypassing the long barrow but I’m glad we didn’t take the shortcut - I was so impressed that something so old was still intact and surprisingly not surrounded by a fence. The standing stones leading into Avebury are also really interesting to see, given the avenue at Stonehenge no longer remains in the same way. This is a great walk for cool weather as it’s mostly out in the open, walking along the edges of fields. It could be a bit too exposed for a hot summer day.

On our final day before driving back to London, we visited Longleat, a rather surprising safari park in the English countryside. I hadn’t heard of Longleat previously but read about it in the guidebook for the cottage. Longleat is an old stately home on an impressive amount of land with an actual drive-through safari. There are different fenced off areas for different animals, all connected as one long drive-through experience. It turned out to be an ideal covid activity, as we could sit in our own car as we drove through each area. The tigers had to be my favourite - it was amazing to see a huge tiger leap up a tree as we drove past, with no fence or glass wall between us and the tiger.