plambers

Summer 2018 Italy trip being planned (June 25-July 15. First 5 nights Rome, then an house with pool near Pienza in the Val d Orcia and the last week in Le March (thanks to all of you as I did not even know of this region!)

Traveling with 2 teens so want them to be able to walk to the nearest town for gelato, maybe a beach day, a cave visit, small town visits. a hike and canoe ride and some easy activities...Want a different feel from Tuscany. Yes we will have a rental car.

I like being close to the beach but the Italian beach style (chair and umbrella, chaire and umbrella etc.) does not appeal to me so I'd love if any of the beaches are less crowded and I can just lay by chair and towel down...

These are my top choices but I am not sure if location is central to the region. I appreciate your feedback...

https://www.vrbo.com/8063058ha

https://www.vrbo.com/94126ha

Again, I so appreciate your guidance here...

https://www.vrbo.com/75201ha

https://www.vrbo.com/8018414ha

https://www.vrbo.com/415276ha

plambers

anyone? thanks...

plambers

Julie, thanks for that feedback. I really like that house and that it is a 5 minute walk to town. I only see an outside sitting area by the pool. Are there others as we prefer to dine outside? thanks

massimop

For location with kids I might take #2 for easy access to caves & Sirolo beach & Gubbio. It's also possible there is canoeing around there, especially if it's not too far a drive to Fiastra.

I would also keep looking for a place a bit north of there so that you could also go to Urbino (hopefully not at the expense of a charming beach).

bvlenci

I think we've already covered the pluses and minuses of the location of San Ginesio.

Castelplanio (2nd above) and Ostra Vetere (3rd above) are both fairly near good beaches, either Senigallia or the Riviera del Conero. Castelplanio also says it's a 5-minute walk from a bar and a pizzeria, which might be ideal for your kids. There's also a train station in Castelplanio (we stop there when we take the train to Rome) on a line that goes to Genga, where the Frasassi Caverns are; once in a while you might enjoy taking the train instead of driving.

Ostra Vetere is very near the pretty walled medieval town of Corinaldo. It doesn't look as though there's anything in walking distance of the villa (from the overhead photo), but that's a question you could ask the proprietor.

Montefiore dell'Aso (number 4 above) is the nearest to the sea of any of the places you mention. There are several very small beach towns very close by, but it's also not far from the well-known palm-lined beach at San Benedetto del Tronto.

Mogliano (5 above) is quite near Fiastra, which I described in one of your other threads. I wasn't aware of canoeing possibilities at Fiastra, but there is a nature reserve there, and there's an artificial lake in the park. Mogliano is not very near the sea.

I would want air conditioning at most of the places you've shown. None of them are at very high altitudes, and the summer can be very hot sometimes.

When a villa listing says they're a "5-minute walk" or "1 km" from something, I would check the accuracy of the statement. Ask the proprietor for the exact address. Find the address on Google Maps, and then look for bars or pizzerie in the vicinity. I would also check the road on street view, to see if it looks safe for walking on.

bvlenci

On beaches:

All Italian towns that have beaches are required to maintain some of them as "free beaches", meaning free of bathing establishments. Some towns devote little space to free beaches, and others don't maintain them in great condition. Often there's no possibility of renting an umbrella (or chair) for the day, so you might have to buy your own. There may also be no possibility of finding a shower or place to change.

I'm not a big beach person. The beach I go to most frequently is in Senigallia. There is a very nice free beach there. It has a shower (open) right on the beach, and there are bars that allow you to change in their bathrooms, and sometimes have a coin-operated private shower. There's no possibility of renting beach equipment, though. They do have places where you can leave your chair and umbrella overnight if you'll be back the next day. (The enclosure is locked at night and opened each morning.) I go back and forth between using the free beach and renting an umbrella/chair from a bathing establishment. It's nice having the possibility of lockers, showers (cold free, hot for a price) and changing rooms. If I have visiting friends or relatives, I usually rent a beach spot by the month.

Here is a list, by town, with a succinct description, of free beaches in Le Marche.

http://en.turismo.marche.it/Visiting...ch/C1/1/C2/139

Mezzavalle beach, in the outskirts of Ancona, is the closest thing I know to a "wild" beach. It's in a very scenic spot at the foot of Mount Conero, but you have to go down a very steep path to get to it (carrying your beach equipment). That helps to keep the crowds down, but it will still be wall to wall on a hot weekend day.

bvlenci

By the way, Mezzavalle is a pebbly beach, so you probably wouldn't want to lie on a towel.

massimop

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNGbKz1hmrc

massimop

that above link is for canoeing on the lake in Fiastra, and this is a link to other canoeing/kayaking possiblities in le Marche

http://www.turismo.marche.it/Guida/Sport/T/22/ST/30

plambers

thank you again. we did a family safari in kenya this summer and it was truly amazing. i have never seen my family so engaged!

i am excited for italy but they are worried it won't be "fun" so i shall share this!

massimop

An African safari is pretty hard to top. You might want to plan some activities for your kids in central rural Italy, like pizza making or horseback riding or even going to an amusement park. I believe there is an aqua sport park not far the val d'Orcia in western Umbria. If I can find the link I'll post it.

Others might disagree with this, but Italians don't provide entertainment for the kids as much as some other cultures do. Kids are very much folded into the entire fabric of daily life, and playtime is very often about kicking a ball around a piazza before dinner. However, Italian adults are extremely generous with kids, so if you find a cooking class or horseback riding or a craft demonstration that would interest your kids, the Italians normally will go out of their way to engage your kids, even they don't speak English.

If your kids have particular keen interests (and I realise those could change by next year), you could post what they are and it might be possible to find something right at hand in the places you are going that would make a connection with your kids. Last time I was traveling in Italy with an 11-year-old, he had competitive interest in shoes that he shared with his schoolmates. If we had gone through Le Marche, the area near Ascoli Piceno is a shoe-making capital. Shoe shopping would have been on the agenda and if I could have found a way to get him into a shoe maker's shop or factory, we would have gone.

bvlenci

<i> Others might disagree with this, but Italians don't provide entertainment for the kids as much as some other cultures do. Kids are very much folded into the entire fabric of daily life </i>

This is true. When I visit museums in other parts of Europe, I often see displays meant to engage children. Often they seem to be designed by people who forget what it's like to be a child.

When we visited the paper making factory in Fabriano, along with my English-speaking granddaughter, she got her own special private explanations, even though we were in a group with other people from several countries. In the section where they demonstrated the medieval paper-making process, the operator of the press asked her if she wanted to make her own sheet of paper. Of course she did!

plambers

they like to be active. our trips to Yellowstone and grand Teton also went really well. I think my husband and I are more content to read and look at a lovely view so I just need to make sure we get some good activities in on a few days.

cooking class, my daughter loves to bake so wonder if there is a baking class, she loves to shop, a hike, a canoe ride-all sound excellent.

thanks again.

massimop

When I think of baking in le Marche, I think of their famous lasagne, but maybe bvlenci knows of sweet or bread options too. South of Siena they eat small biscotti that the adults dip in sweet wine. I'm sure there are loads of cooking classes in the val d'Orcia & also cooks who would come to your villa to work with your daughter to make a variety of Italian baked goods. Fair warning: Tuscan bread is made without salt because it is mainly used in soups (instead of potatoes, rice or pasta) or it is sliced & grilled & salty things are put on top. If your daughter's interest is bread baking she might prefer baking in le Marche, because very few non-Tuscans like the taste of Tuscan bread.

Depending on where you reny in the val d'Orcia, you can find a variety of outdoor activities -- exploring etruscan tombs, lake excursions, wild hot sprigs, hikes -- plus the hilltowns & castle parapets are themselves a workout. It's slow driving around the val d'Orcia, so until you know your villa location it's hard to suggest specifics.

plambers

massimop, I still remember how awful the bread was in Florence bc of the lack of salt!!

massimop

yes, really not the norm for people in Florence to simply eat a piece of bread by itself -- although one of the great treats of Tuscany in winter is to toast some saltless bread, drizzle plenty of new olive oil on it, and sprinkle it with salt. It's really quite delicious.

I am pretty sure that cooks in Tuscany & Le Marche make fruit pies in summer, nothing fancy, but fun to make & eat because the fresh summer fruit is so good. I'm not sure which part of Italy makes cakes with olive oil, usually with a citrus or sometimes chocolate glaze, but they are quite delicious & worth knowing how to make.

I am certain you could find a cooking class/lesson in Central Italy, with an English speaker, but because you will be there in July, baking might not be among the offerings of the many cooking schools & teachers working in summer. Just too hot. However, as I said, if your daughter would be curious to make & eat the local baked goods, you can probably find (with the help of your villa owner?) a local cook to come to the house and make cantucci (little biscotti), crostate (fruit pies) and olive oil cakes - or whatever the local summer ingredients are for baked goods & pastries. If the cook doesn't speak English, they'll bring a friend who does.