Fantastic! Good for you. I hope to see your TR!

bvlenci, you make me want to jump on a plane to Italy right now! I spent a few days in Urbino last year and would absolutely love to see more of the area.

dayle, there are tours of the Palladian villas from Vicenza, not sure about other towns. I haven't done a canal tour (ran out of time) but we visited several villas within the town centre by foot.

bvlenci's recs are spot on. I dined at Uliassi this June and it was just wonderful. Other excellent restaurants I enjoyed in Senigallia were Sepia by Niko and Nana Piccolo Bistrot. Both in the moderate price range with creative, high-quality cooking.

In Ascoli I stayed at Albergo Sant'Emidio, moderately priced but stylish enough and very comfortable. We parked in a parking garage a few blocks away. Driving in and out of Ascoli was not difficult.


Amuse bouche at Uliassi

"Rimini Festa" aka calamari at Uliassi

The fact that there are two Michelin-starred restaurants in a smallish town (about 40,000 inhabitants) raises the standard for the others. There are several other excellent restaurants there. We also like La Baldigara, il Conte Marzi, and la Trattoria Rimante. Rimante specializes in meat rather than seafood. For a reasonably priced restaurant with pizza and vegetarian options, Saladino is a good choice. (We've only eaten there once, but I put it in my database.)

There are plenty of other good restaurants in near y towns. In fact, it's hard to go wrong around here.

I totally agree with you on Spello! I visited back in 2005 and fell in love! Il Mulino was excellent and everyone should get gelato or wine, or both, at the bar. Such a view. A little piece of heaven....

Congratulations on your retirement, Dayle, and what a wonderful trip you are planning! I hope - know!! - you will have a wonderful time.

I am easing into retirement and hope to get there by next year and am also planning - well, contemplating at this stage - a long trip to Italy. I would like to rent an apt. in perhaps 2 locations in northern and central Italy and do day trips from there, finishing off in my beloved Sicily. We'll see.

I love all of the suggestions from Bvlenci and others for the area you're planning, which I'm not that familiar with. It sounds wonderful. I look forward to hearing further about your plans and eventually your trip report.

It's been quite a while since I've dined at Madonnina dei Pescatori, so I can't say much except that I found them a bit pretentious.

We once walked into Uliassi on a whim when we were taking a walk on the beach. (It was our anniversary.) That was off season (late October) and it was back when they had only two stars.

Uliassi is expensive, but not outrageously so. You could count on each course costing about €50, I think.

​​​​​You can download their menu on their web page.

Thank you panecott! Your plan for a trip sounds great. I do wish I could get back to Sicily too, but my 2013 trip was a "one and only". I did what for me was a long trip and was able to see all my top priority sites so have to be happy with the great memories!

Thank you again bvlenci. I spent some time yesterday mapping out your Le Marche recommendations, which all sounded interesting. Not really too much driving if I spend 1 night in some places and 2 in others. It would make a very nice loop!

So i'm at the point in planning where I need to figure out nights on the Le Marche road trip portion. Thanks to bvlenci and Leely2 for their input on specific places, restaurants! Please give me your opinion about number of nights needed in each of the towns/areas considering stops along the way and if I'm on track.

Day 1: drive Spello to Norcia to Ascoli Piceno
Day 2: visit Ascoli Piceno, stay 2nd night, is there enough for 2 nights, 1.5 days?
Day 3: drive Offida maybe (lace museum), & fort, visit Urbisaglia, Abbey Chiaravalle di Fiastra, drive to Camerino area stay maybe Pappafo - 2 nights
Day 4: visit San Severino (cathedral), Pioraco, stay Pappafo 2nd night
Day 5: drive to Fabriano & stay, visit paper museum & tour, monastery Fonte Avellana
Day 6: drive to Corinaldo & stay, visit Pergola enroute (Bronzi Dorati)
Day 7: Corinaldo area sightseeing, lunch Senigallia?, stay 2nd night in Corinaldo area
Day 8: drive to Urbino, Palazzo Ducale, other sightseeing in city
Day 9: drive to Arezzo, drop car, sightseeing, do I need 2 nights?
Day 10: train to Fiesole

Debating on 2 nights in Corinaldo to dine at Ulissi in Senigallia on second day. Might prefer lunch? Really not sure if I would feel comfortable dining solo at restaurant of this type. Sometimes I run in to attitude as a solo diner.

I need to check the map again to see if I have the above in the logical driving order for the sightseeing. Do I have too much time planned for the sites, or not enough?

Thanks in advance for helping me figure out this region of Italy that will be completely new to me! I will reserve lodging in advance.

Dayle, I had lunch at Uliassi solo this summer. I don't know what your comfort level is at this type of place, especially for long meals, but they are very gracious people. I have a pretty stressful job, so when I get into that kind of environment, with fine food, gracious service, and a tranquil atmosphere I really do unwind--which is otherwise difficult for me!

Look at Civitella del Tronto in Abruzzo for a visit from Ascoli Piceno; it is close, but to the south. We also stopped at an abbey nearby that day but of course I will need to look up the name. We stayed several nights in Ascoli but daytripped from there (including to Offida, which is very atmospheric). An intrepid sightseer could see the town's sights in one day. [Arezzo has much more to see in town, as a comparison. What are your interests? I stayed three nights but two would have worked.]

Your itinerary might be a bit too much hopping around for me, but it really depends on your preference.

Hi Dayle,
Congrats!
A lesser-known splurge lodging in that area is the Abbazia S.Pietro in valle. Great views, hiking, breakfast plus the abbey itself with its historical art. Reasonable prices.
Have you tried Cafe Properzio in Spello? Great wine and food.
Nearby Trevi, Bevagna and Montefalco are all interesting.
To what degree has Norcia re-opened after the quakes? I am just curious. Likewise, a drive to see the sunrise at Castelluccio would be worth crossing an ocean for, especially if there would be a thermal inversion filling the valley with morning mist.
I'd give Lago di Orta some time.
Tante belle cose.

I am done. The end.

Dayle, your itinerary looks good to me. Most of your stays are two nights, with reasonable day trips, so I don't consider it too rushed. We did a similar trip in Tuscany last summer with another couple, and enjoyed it very much.

The only slight modificato I'd suggest is to stop at Fonte Avellana on your way from Fabriano to the Corinaldo area. It's practically on the way. For a day trip while staying in Fabriano, I would consider the Caverns of Frasassi and San Vittore Terme, unless you're averse to underground excursions. It's even an easy trip by train from Fabriano; the station is Genga. The train stop is right at the parking lot where you catch the shuttle to the Caverns.

Another good stop en route to Corinaldo is Pergola, where you can visit the useum of the Bronzi Dorati (gilded bronze status). You might even be able to see both on the same day, as the museum is small and can be seen in half an hour.

You needn't worry about attitude at Uliassi. They are very gracious. The time we went there on a whim, without a reservation, we were dressed for a walk on the beach, not lunch in a famous restaurant. We were treated with great hospitality. Uliassi himself came out of the kitchen to ask if we were enjoying our meal.

Thank you zebec, Leely and bvlenci. I checked google maps and most of these drives are fairly short. The drive between Urbino and Arezzo seems to be the longest. I considered dropping the car in Urbino, but I remembered you said it was a nice scenic drive bvlenci so I will stick with the plan to drop in Arezzo.

​The Pergola stop for the bronzes is a definite as is the Palazzo Ducale in Urbino. Art, sculpture and history along with historical architecture are probably most interesting to me. I enjoy seeing unique or very impressive churches, but lets face it, Italy has millions of them so I do hit church overload at some point.

I hate backtracking too much so I dont mind moving along on a driving part of my trip. Are the places really close enough together that I should pick just one or two for lodging?

Thanks for the reassurance on Uliassi. It would be a splurge for me. I am not necessarily looking for splurge lodging on this trip. My apt in Rome for 8 nts is not cheap but in a great location so that's my splurge. I like the look of Paffupo (sp?) For the Camerino area, bvlenci. I still need to check your lodging recs Leely thanks for mentioning them. Hope the cold is better!

I was originally planning two nights each for Urbino and Arezzo, but now Im running out of time! 42 days is still not enough. Decisions decisions.

​ Now Im torn between allowing time for return to some favorites and allowing more time for Piemonte, Orta and other!

Urbino to Arezzo is about two hours, maybe a little longer. I would take the slighty longer, more scenic route that passes through Sant'Angelo in Vado. There are some curvy roads. but there is little traffic. If you take this route, Sansepolcro is a good stop. There are some works of native son Piero della Francesca in the civic museum there. You can see other works of his in Arezzo, especially the fresco cycle, "The Legend of the True Cross" in the Church of San Francesco.

The route that passes through Furlo and Gubbio is even longer, but the roads have fewer curves. Furlo and Gubbio are both good places to stop for a while.

The Gola del Furlo is a beautiful spot, but you have to take the old road that passes through the almost-2000-year-old tunnel. You'd have to put the town of Furlo as an intermediate stop in Google Maps, otherwise the modern road will take you through a tunnel where you'll miss it all. This road, by the way, is part of the ancient Via Flaminia, which in Roman times carried travelers from Rome to Ariminum (modern Rimini), where they could embark for eastern ports. There's an even earlier, pre-Roman (Etruscan) tunnel alongside the more recent ancient Roman tunnel. The Etruscan tunnel is rarely open for visits, but you can see it behind the gate. You can see the impressions left by the wheels of ancient Roman carts in the original road bed of the Etruscan tunnel, but I don't remember if they're visibile from the gate. I had the good fortune to be there once when an employee of the park was there and let me enter the older tunnel.

The final battle in which Hannibal's forces were defeated took place near the Gola del Furlo, although the exact spot is uncertain.

Gubbio is worth several hours, and is a good place to stop for lunch. If you have time, and if there are no clouds, you could take the cable car to the top of the mountain where the Basilica of Sant'Ubaldo is found.

The original tunnel on the Via Flaminia? How cool!! Your timing to see the Etruscan cave was so lucky. I love it when things like that happen. I will definitely drive that route!

I have visited Gubbio before and really liked it. Except for the church bells that rang all night every 15 minutes. I had 2 nights planned and left after the first torturous, sleepless night. Amazing views from the piazza in front of (if I remember correctly) the Ducal Palace. I did ride the gondola in 2005, the same year Fodorite Maitaitom and friends named it "The Bucket of Bolts". I didn't think it was that bad and I've ridden all kinds of unusual ski lifts, but this one was the most unique by far.

I am so impressed with your knowledge of Italy, bvlenci. How many years have you lived in Italy?

Thanks for the interesting details.

Where in Piemonte are you thinking of going? I have spent very little time in the countryside there, but loved Torino.

I drove to the Gola del Furlo as a day trip from Urbino this summer to do some hiking and sightseeing. Very easy to get there, everything is well sign-posted. There is a little TI and you can take a flat, easy walk along the river through the tunnel and to see the other sites. As it was summer, I also went swimming in the river at one of the little beaches.

With respect to your Italian Riveria portion, we just returned from Italy, and spent 6 nights in Rapallo as our base for the area and absolutely loved it. Beautiful town. We walked to SML and Portofino one day and did other day trips. I recently posted a trip report (here: Trip Report--Italian Riviera/Lake Como). I know you said you were returning to SML which was a favorite, but you did also mention Rapallo as a possibility so wanted to chime in. Congrats and enjoy!

Leely, thanks for the pics! It looks beautiful and I will definitely try to make time for that walk by the river. Those ancient tunnels are so amazing. Impressive to think that they are still in existence.

A - appreciate the input on Rapallo. We stayed in SML years ago and loved it. Did day trips to Cinque Terre and hiked 4 out of 5. Portofino was a relaxing day with a long wine filled lunch at the tiny marina. Great people and boat watching! Trying to decide between Camogli, Rapallo and SML again. Do you have any restaurant recommendations for Rapallo? What did you especially like about it?

Grazie!