3 weeks italy itinerary
Aug 21st, 2017, 05:21 AM
#61
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It's possible that the villas are not booked but that the dates for next year are shown as "unavailable" because the owners don't want to set rates right now or deal with someone who wants to lock something in that far in advance, out of fear they will end up dealing with cancellations. Also bear in mind that right this moment is THE vacation period for Italians. They are not paying any attention to who might be renting next year.
The more varigated Western coast of Italy has more wild beaches and secluded coves for swimming, but you need to research & carefully position yourself to take advantage. In July, it is most likely only weekends where one would find any of Italy's popular beaches "packed", and in some beach towns, with small beaches, the number of people in the water rarely exceeds the number of people in town. (It's more difficult along the towns who have really exploited their flat sandy beach to attract tourists from all over Europe. It's the same problem as you find on the French Riviera in July.)
There a loads of people managing independent villa rentals + pool all over Italy. You might want to expand your search beyond vrbo and try some general google searches for "villa rental le marche pool xxx bathrooms". Add the word "luxury" if that is want something recently renovated and not rustic.
The more varigated Western coast of Italy has more wild beaches and secluded coves for swimming, but you need to research & carefully position yourself to take advantage. In July, it is most likely only weekends where one would find any of Italy's popular beaches "packed", and in some beach towns, with small beaches, the number of people in the water rarely exceeds the number of people in town. (It's more difficult along the towns who have really exploited their flat sandy beach to attract tourists from all over Europe. It's the same problem as you find on the French Riviera in July.)
There a loads of people managing independent villa rentals + pool all over Italy. You might want to expand your search beyond vrbo and try some general google searches for "villa rental le marche pool xxx bathrooms". Add the word "luxury" if that is want something recently renovated and not rustic.
Aug 21st, 2017, 05:29 AM
#62
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you might get some helpful ideas out of reading this, even though the children in the article are younger than yours & I would recommend being a teeny bit further south than the location described here. But this general area + points south are very convenient to Rome's airport
https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2...familyholidays
https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2...familyholidays
Aug 21st, 2017, 07:39 AM
#63
"It's possible that the villas are not booked but that the dates for next year are shown as "unavailable" because the owners don't want to set rates right now or deal with someone who wants to lock something in that far in advance, out of fear they will end up dealing with cancellations. Also bear in mind that right this moment is THE vacation period for Italians. They are not paying any attention to who might be renting next year"
I suspect massi nails it above.
I suspect massi nails it above.
Aug 21st, 2017, 09:22 AM
#64
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Of course I don't know what they are like in July, but one of the reasons I mentioned the Maremma is because the beaches are not like what you described (those with lined up umbrella, etc. are in northern Tuscany). The ones we visited were in fact quite wild and natural. If you go to the ones within the Maremma park, the access is controlled by parking lot restrictions or by physical limitations.
Another good area for beaches was near Orbetello. On the Monte Argentario peninsula, you have rocky beaches that are hard to get to. On the spits that connect to the mainland, you have sandy beaches backed by trees.
Another good area for beaches was near Orbetello. On the Monte Argentario peninsula, you have rocky beaches that are hard to get to. On the spits that connect to the mainland, you have sandy beaches backed by trees.
Aug 21st, 2017, 10:25 AM
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I agree that San Ginesio is a bit isolated. You would likely spend a lot of time in the car doing day trips from there.
What do you want to do in Le Marche? I would figure that out then we can advise the best base.
In July I would highly recommend staying somewhere with a pool. It was 39 degrees C in July this year. Obviously that could change next year but having a pool was a great asset.
The autostradas get very busy in July so being close to what you want to see is important.
This is a place we have spent several weeks...farther north near Urbino and Cagli.
http://www.latavolamarche.com
It has a pool and specialises in farm to table cooking lessons. Might be if interest to your children.
What do you want to do in Le Marche? I would figure that out then we can advise the best base.
In July I would highly recommend staying somewhere with a pool. It was 39 degrees C in July this year. Obviously that could change next year but having a pool was a great asset.
The autostradas get very busy in July so being close to what you want to see is important.
This is a place we have spent several weeks...farther north near Urbino and Cagli.
http://www.latavolamarche.com
It has a pool and specialises in farm to table cooking lessons. Might be if interest to your children.
Aug 21st, 2017, 12:37 PM
#66
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Hello all. As Massimop suggested, I've been traveling. My granddaughter was staying with us, and we had to take her home before school started. Now we're getting ready to go to our summer house in southern Le Marche, so I'm very busy and haven't been on Fodor's much. The topic here is very broad, and I don't have time to deal with it in great detail, so I'll try to address the main points under discussion, and then answer specific questions.
I have to correct Massimop on one little point. Le Marche is indeed full of castles, great and small, and there are many walled towns. However, the walls and castles are mostly made of brick, especially in the northern and eastern parts of the region. In the mountains, stone was often used, but there aren't as many fortifications there, because there weren't so many rich cities to protect, and the terrain was fortification enough in many cases.
The word "marches" (Marche) actually means border area. A marquis (marchesa in Italian) was originally a lord whose job was to protect the borders. I digress, though.
San Ginesio isn't more isolated than most other small interior towns. It's in a great scenic position, with the sea and the Sibilline mountains both visible from the town. Since the area of the town is rather vast, as it is with most rural towns in Le Marche, it would help to know the exact location of the house you're looking at. It may be quite far from the center of Sab Ginesio, and the driving distances I've mentioned below could be off a good deal.
I have to give a little warning, although I hope it doesn't put anyone off visiting the area. San Ginesio, along with many other towns in the area, was badly damaged in an earthquake in October, one of a serious of quakes that devastated the area from August through the end of the year. However, the quakes mostly affected the older buildings in the historical centers of the towns, which weren't built with modern anti-seismic techniques. When driving through the area, or staying in a rural location, you wouldn't notice anything altered.
Our own summer house was damaged, and, as a matter of fact, we were in it when the first quake hit. We've gone ahead with the repairs on our own, without applying for funds from the state (although we would have been eligible.) However, churches, historic buildings, and other public structures don't have that option, and the reconstruction wheels are moving slowly. The first priority, obviously, is to provide housing for all the people who lost their homes, and to get the many small businesses (including many farms) back in business.
This past summer, there were many special events in the zone hit by the earthquake to help the artisans, restaurants, and producers of local cheeses, wines, salamis, etc. These were a very big hit, and will probably be repeated next summer. Our daughter-in-law went to several of these events and brought us back some wonderful cheeses. We'll be in the area in a week or two, and will see for ourselves, although, since it will be in September, the special events will be over. We've visited the area a number of times since the earthquake, to supervise the repairs, and I can report that the area is as beautiful as ever!
In general north-south travel is slow in the interior of Le Marche, because of the hilly, or mountainous, terrain. Most of the better roads in the interior follow the river valleys, and the roads leading from one river valley to the next are small and curvy, climbing up the ridges that divide the valleys. Often the fastest way to get to a town to the north or south is to head to the coast, take the autostrada to the appropriate river valley, and head inland again.
In the immediate vicinity of San Ginesio, there is plenty to see. In Chiaravalle di Fiastra there is a beautiful 12th century abbey on the edge of a large nature reserve. I've never hiked in the nature reserve, although we did take a short walk there. The abbey is very interesting, and there is a shop that sells herbal remedies and beauty treatments made by monks of the Cistercian order. Nearby, in Urbisaglia, there is an archaeological park, with the ruins of an ancient Roman town. (There are even better Roman ruins, though, in other parts of the region.)
Unfortunately, one of my favorite spots near San Ginesio, the Palotta Castle, in Caldarola, is closed at the moment because of earthquake damage. The castle is privately owned, and the countess who owned it recently died, but I've read that her son is very involved in making sure the repairs go ahead. It may well be open again by next summer.
The Frasassi Caverns are less than an hour and a half by car from San Ginesio. They are very beautiful caverns, and well worth the visit. On summer weekends, they can get quite busy, and you might have to wait a while to get in. They do tours in English, but if you can't get one of the English tours, they'll give you a headset with an English version of the spiel. I've taken non-Italian-speaking relatives there on several occasions, and they had no problem following along. (When I took my teenage nieces, they only had a written script in English, but that also was not a problem.) For people looking for a little more adventure, they have longer and more strenuous tours.
http://www.frasassi.com/Home.aspx?L=EN
(Use the pull-down menus at the top to get the full English version, because the information at the bottom of the page isn't translated.)
I've never been to the Monte Cucco caverns. They have several excursion options, the shortest of which is about double the length of the shorter route at Frasassi. A good part of the route is on metal stairways, because the dislevels are great at Monte Cucco. From what I've heard, the natural beauty is greater at Frasassi, and the walk is certainly easier.
http://www.grottamontecucco.umbria.it/home-en
If you like hiking, or even moderate walking, I strongly recommend the Gola dell'Infernaccio, in Montefortino, about 45 minutes by car from San Ginesio. This walk is in a beautiful mountain gorge, with gurgling streams, wildflowers, butterflies, and little waterfalls. Here are some photos I've taken there on various occasions.
http://bit.ly/2fZNbY1
You can walk for about an hour (maybe more) into the gorge without needing any equipment other than sturdy shoes or athletic shoes. As you get further in, there are some more rugged paths, and hiking shoes might be advisable.
Fabriano is an interesting medieval town about an hour and a half from San Ginesio. This was one of the earliest paper making towns in medieval Europe, and the old paper mill has very interesting tours available in English. (My granddaughter got a private tour, because she was the only English speaker at the time, and they even let her make a sheet of paper the medieval way.) They also have a great gift shop!
http://www.museodellacarta.com/default.asp
Fabriano art paper is well-known around the world, but it's now made in the nearby town of Pioraco, in a modern factory. Pioraco is a charming little town dating from Roman times. They have an antiques/flea market every Monday evening in August.
If you're in the vicinity of Pioraco, I know two good restaurants there. One is the Borgo Lanciano, in the old service buildings of the Lanciano Castle, across the road from the restaurant. There is also a spa in the complex, and they have rooms for guests. It's a very popular spot for wedding parties. (For that reason, I'd rather visit mid-week.) The castle is open for visits, but only on weekends. The other restaurant, my favorite, is Pappafò. Our summer house is in this area, and we're headed there in a week or so.
There are all sorts of antiques markets, food festivals (sagre), and flea markets in this area, but they're mostly in August. Here is a list, in Italian, of antiques markets in Le Marche, with the typical dates:
http://www.taccuinodiviaggio.com/mer...ato-marche.htm
If you learn the names of the days of the week and the months, I think you can figure it our yourself. June is "giugno", July is "luglio", to get you started. I see that Fermo and Recanati, both on the coast have markets in July. I didn't do an exhaustive search.
There's a charming little walled town (or village), called Torre di Palme, on a cliff overlooking the Adriatic, just south of Fermo. It's about an hour from San Ginesio. There is one very good restaurant there, Lu Focarò.
Fermo itself is an interesting city, with some interesting Romanesque features.
Another area that might interest you is the area between Cagli and Urbino. I think that's the area most familiar to jamikins. Finally, there's a lovely area south of Urbino, comprising the towns of Arcevia (with seven very small castles), Mondavio (with a medieval fortification and tower) and Corinaldo (with a totally intact medieval wall, including the three original gates). I don't have time to describe these area completely, but if you're interested I'll try to get back to this thread in the coming days.
I have to correct Massimop on one little point. Le Marche is indeed full of castles, great and small, and there are many walled towns. However, the walls and castles are mostly made of brick, especially in the northern and eastern parts of the region. In the mountains, stone was often used, but there aren't as many fortifications there, because there weren't so many rich cities to protect, and the terrain was fortification enough in many cases.
The word "marches" (Marche) actually means border area. A marquis (marchesa in Italian) was originally a lord whose job was to protect the borders. I digress, though.
San Ginesio isn't more isolated than most other small interior towns. It's in a great scenic position, with the sea and the Sibilline mountains both visible from the town. Since the area of the town is rather vast, as it is with most rural towns in Le Marche, it would help to know the exact location of the house you're looking at. It may be quite far from the center of Sab Ginesio, and the driving distances I've mentioned below could be off a good deal.
I have to give a little warning, although I hope it doesn't put anyone off visiting the area. San Ginesio, along with many other towns in the area, was badly damaged in an earthquake in October, one of a serious of quakes that devastated the area from August through the end of the year. However, the quakes mostly affected the older buildings in the historical centers of the towns, which weren't built with modern anti-seismic techniques. When driving through the area, or staying in a rural location, you wouldn't notice anything altered.
Our own summer house was damaged, and, as a matter of fact, we were in it when the first quake hit. We've gone ahead with the repairs on our own, without applying for funds from the state (although we would have been eligible.) However, churches, historic buildings, and other public structures don't have that option, and the reconstruction wheels are moving slowly. The first priority, obviously, is to provide housing for all the people who lost their homes, and to get the many small businesses (including many farms) back in business.
This past summer, there were many special events in the zone hit by the earthquake to help the artisans, restaurants, and producers of local cheeses, wines, salamis, etc. These were a very big hit, and will probably be repeated next summer. Our daughter-in-law went to several of these events and brought us back some wonderful cheeses. We'll be in the area in a week or two, and will see for ourselves, although, since it will be in September, the special events will be over. We've visited the area a number of times since the earthquake, to supervise the repairs, and I can report that the area is as beautiful as ever!
In general north-south travel is slow in the interior of Le Marche, because of the hilly, or mountainous, terrain. Most of the better roads in the interior follow the river valleys, and the roads leading from one river valley to the next are small and curvy, climbing up the ridges that divide the valleys. Often the fastest way to get to a town to the north or south is to head to the coast, take the autostrada to the appropriate river valley, and head inland again.
In the immediate vicinity of San Ginesio, there is plenty to see. In Chiaravalle di Fiastra there is a beautiful 12th century abbey on the edge of a large nature reserve. I've never hiked in the nature reserve, although we did take a short walk there. The abbey is very interesting, and there is a shop that sells herbal remedies and beauty treatments made by monks of the Cistercian order. Nearby, in Urbisaglia, there is an archaeological park, with the ruins of an ancient Roman town. (There are even better Roman ruins, though, in other parts of the region.)
Unfortunately, one of my favorite spots near San Ginesio, the Palotta Castle, in Caldarola, is closed at the moment because of earthquake damage. The castle is privately owned, and the countess who owned it recently died, but I've read that her son is very involved in making sure the repairs go ahead. It may well be open again by next summer.
The Frasassi Caverns are less than an hour and a half by car from San Ginesio. They are very beautiful caverns, and well worth the visit. On summer weekends, they can get quite busy, and you might have to wait a while to get in. They do tours in English, but if you can't get one of the English tours, they'll give you a headset with an English version of the spiel. I've taken non-Italian-speaking relatives there on several occasions, and they had no problem following along. (When I took my teenage nieces, they only had a written script in English, but that also was not a problem.) For people looking for a little more adventure, they have longer and more strenuous tours.
http://www.frasassi.com/Home.aspx?L=EN
(Use the pull-down menus at the top to get the full English version, because the information at the bottom of the page isn't translated.)
I've never been to the Monte Cucco caverns. They have several excursion options, the shortest of which is about double the length of the shorter route at Frasassi. A good part of the route is on metal stairways, because the dislevels are great at Monte Cucco. From what I've heard, the natural beauty is greater at Frasassi, and the walk is certainly easier.
http://www.grottamontecucco.umbria.it/home-en
If you like hiking, or even moderate walking, I strongly recommend the Gola dell'Infernaccio, in Montefortino, about 45 minutes by car from San Ginesio. This walk is in a beautiful mountain gorge, with gurgling streams, wildflowers, butterflies, and little waterfalls. Here are some photos I've taken there on various occasions.
http://bit.ly/2fZNbY1
You can walk for about an hour (maybe more) into the gorge without needing any equipment other than sturdy shoes or athletic shoes. As you get further in, there are some more rugged paths, and hiking shoes might be advisable.
Fabriano is an interesting medieval town about an hour and a half from San Ginesio. This was one of the earliest paper making towns in medieval Europe, and the old paper mill has very interesting tours available in English. (My granddaughter got a private tour, because she was the only English speaker at the time, and they even let her make a sheet of paper the medieval way.) They also have a great gift shop!
http://www.museodellacarta.com/default.asp
Fabriano art paper is well-known around the world, but it's now made in the nearby town of Pioraco, in a modern factory. Pioraco is a charming little town dating from Roman times. They have an antiques/flea market every Monday evening in August.
If you're in the vicinity of Pioraco, I know two good restaurants there. One is the Borgo Lanciano, in the old service buildings of the Lanciano Castle, across the road from the restaurant. There is also a spa in the complex, and they have rooms for guests. It's a very popular spot for wedding parties. (For that reason, I'd rather visit mid-week.) The castle is open for visits, but only on weekends. The other restaurant, my favorite, is Pappafò. Our summer house is in this area, and we're headed there in a week or so.
There are all sorts of antiques markets, food festivals (sagre), and flea markets in this area, but they're mostly in August. Here is a list, in Italian, of antiques markets in Le Marche, with the typical dates:
http://www.taccuinodiviaggio.com/mer...ato-marche.htm
If you learn the names of the days of the week and the months, I think you can figure it our yourself. June is "giugno", July is "luglio", to get you started. I see that Fermo and Recanati, both on the coast have markets in July. I didn't do an exhaustive search.
There's a charming little walled town (or village), called Torre di Palme, on a cliff overlooking the Adriatic, just south of Fermo. It's about an hour from San Ginesio. There is one very good restaurant there, Lu Focarò.
Fermo itself is an interesting city, with some interesting Romanesque features.
Another area that might interest you is the area between Cagli and Urbino. I think that's the area most familiar to jamikins. Finally, there's a lovely area south of Urbino, comprising the towns of Arcevia (with seven very small castles), Mondavio (with a medieval fortification and tower) and Corinaldo (with a totally intact medieval wall, including the three original gates). I don't have time to describe these area completely, but if you're interested I'll try to get back to this thread in the coming days.
Aug 22nd, 2017, 05:31 AM
#69
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https://www.vrbo.com/8063058ha
here is the house listing. 20 minute walk to san ginesio.
so 3 weeks in italy is shaping up thanks to all of you!
first 5 nights rome (and pompei visit)I
rent a car in rome and drive to le marche.
where to go for final week? i'd love be close enough to depart out of rome on saturday at 11 am. is this possible? we could always stay over an extra night but this is not ideal.
considering maremma (love the wild empty beaches), or tuscany (near sienna), umbria or sderlonga, as suggested above. i like the idea of southern vs northern italy.
this trip will also happen the first 3 weeks of july, peak tourist season. i know rome will be nuts but am hoping for calmer spots for our next 2. the activities listed above, hiking, biking, kayaking, caves, small towns, sounds perfect.
please keep the ideas coming. again, many thanks
here is the house listing. 20 minute walk to san ginesio.
so 3 weeks in italy is shaping up thanks to all of you!
first 5 nights rome (and pompei visit)I
rent a car in rome and drive to le marche.
where to go for final week? i'd love be close enough to depart out of rome on saturday at 11 am. is this possible? we could always stay over an extra night but this is not ideal.
considering maremma (love the wild empty beaches), or tuscany (near sienna), umbria or sderlonga, as suggested above. i like the idea of southern vs northern italy.
this trip will also happen the first 3 weeks of july, peak tourist season. i know rome will be nuts but am hoping for calmer spots for our next 2. the activities listed above, hiking, biking, kayaking, caves, small towns, sounds perfect.
please keep the ideas coming. again, many thanks
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