Gourmets can get away from it all in Italy

Foodies can combine their passion for fine dining with a relaxing holiday at one of the many food festivals taking place in Italy throughout the spring.

Italians are passionate about food and across the country, towns come together to celebrate their local cuisine at a 'sagre' or food festival.

In Cortona, they celebrate the beef steak while in Assisi, the onion festival showcases the best of the region's produce.

But for true gourmets, the ultimate festival must be the 'Tartufo' festival in Norcia, Umbria, between February 23rd and 25th.

The region is renowned for its 'tartufo nero' or black truffles, a rare and expensive luxury found growing wild underground in local forests.

The truffles are hunted by highly-trained sniffer dogs and can fetch up to €600 per kilo. Pigs are sometimes used also to sniff out the truffles, but unlike the dogs, pigs will eat the truffle if they dig it out before the handler.

As well as truffles, the festival is a platform for other regional food including hams and cheese.

Discovery Travel have a self-catering apartment for two at Capella Sulla Collina in the region during the festival starting at £460 per week. (www.discovery-travel.co.uk)

Gourmet getaways are increasingly popular- a new survey by Tailor Made Travel shows that interest in food or wine themed holidays is growing.

As a result, the company has extended its range of foodie tours including a classic New Zealand wine tour, wine trails of South Australia, a Tasmanian gourmet getaway and the salmon bake tour in Canada

Marketing director Andrew Chapman said: "Since cookery became more fashionable we¹ve seen a shift towards holidays with this type of theme with around 20 per cent of all holidays booked having some kind of food or wine element."

For more information see Tailor Made Travel