We will be travelling from Gubbio to San Leo in May this year and don't necessarily want to take the shortest route. Instead, we want to take most of the day, stopping for lunch, and visiting one (or a few) towns along the way. Any suggestions for places to stop, restaurants to try or views to see?

We are foodies, enjoy outdoor activities such as hiking (you have to, if you love food as much as us!) and also love photography, particularly landscapes. Whilst we enjoy the history and architecture of Europe, we are not as keen on spending time in museums, we'd rather be outside enjoying the fresh air, or people watching while sipping on a coffee in the town square...

You've got three routes to get from one to the other;

1 Coast Road
2 Via Urbania
3 Via Citta di Castello

There's less than half an hour in time between the longest to the shortest route and it depends if you want country of sea. There's more to see if you go via the coast via Fano, Pessaro, Riccionne and Rimini. They're all lovely seaside resorts and have lots of cafes and restaurants to spend some time people watching.

I'm not sure what your interests are, but I'll suggest a route I would like.

First, go to Fonte Avellana. This is a 10th century hermitage on the slopes of Mount Catria, in a beautiful location. They have guided tours at 10, 11, 15, 16, and 17. The last time I took a tour, with an American relative, they didn't have tours in English, but they gave her a script of the tour, which was very useful. You see the room where the monks used to copy manuscripts, and the guide (usually) explains how the windows were designed to throw maximum light on the manuscripts without casting shadows. The scriptoria (writing desks) are no longer there, but it's very interesting still. You also see the library, which no longer has any very old books, because they've all been moved to the Vatican library. And my favorite, the little chapel in the crypt, which is the oldest part of the present complex. Maybe others won't appreciate it as I do, but to me it's a model of harmonious simplicity.

There is a bar there that sells souvenirs and some local products, such as cheeses and liqueurs. I've never bought one of the liqueurs, so I can't tell you if they're any good. There's also a "pharmacy" which sells creams, soaps, and potions, good for any ailment know to man, that are made by the monastic order of the Camaldolesi. My daughters, who are singers, swear by these hard candies made of pine sap: http://www.leantichericettedeimonaci...oli-100-gr.jpg

On Sundays, they serve lunch at the refrectory of the monastery. You can reserve at the bar. The meal is simple but tasty, and based on local products. I have to warn you that the service is very slow, and everyone sits at long tables. You get to see the monks in mufti (jeans and polo shirts).

There are lots of hiking paths that cross at the monastery, if you enjoy hiking.

Next stop, Pergola. A gracious little town in the foothills of the Apennines. There is a museum there that has a very rare equestrian statue group, a Roman gilded bronze group of four people, one on horseback. This was discovered in a field in Pergola, and know one knows who the people depicted were and why the statues were buried. There are all kinds of theories. The statues are somewhat damaged by their long time in the earth, but definitely worth a look. There are other things in the museum, mostly antique religious statues (wooden for the most part)and paintings.

http://www.bronzidorati.com/

After this, I suggest heading to Corinaldo, one of Italy's prettiest small towns, with the best preserved town walls in the region, complete with medieval gates and towers.

http://www.corinaldoturismo.it/en/discover/

I also have some photos of Corinaldo:
https://get.google.com/albumarchive/...WrB4q0wl9rKSxC

The next place I would suggest is Mondavio, which has a military fortress designed by the same medieval military architect who designed the walls of Corinaldo. The fortress is now a museum, where you can see all the various rooms of the fortress, complete with some rather decrepit wax statues. On the top floor, there is a collection of medieval armaments, and great views from the windows.

http://www.mondavioturismo.it/

Fratterosa is not far from Mondavio, and is the home of a number of traditional potters. (They even teach the skills in the middle school there.) Here is one from which I've bought a number of items.

http://www.terrecottegaudenzi.com/it...ollezioni.html

The last photo on this page shows the traditional pottery of this area, which is a deep eggplant-purple glaze. Traditionally, the inside of pitchers and pots was glazed, with only a splash of glaze on the outside. You don't see that style much any more. The last pot in the right-hand column sort of continues the tradition, but with a foundation glazed a different color.

The Gola di Furlo is now more or less on your way to San Leo. This is a beautiful river gorge on the old Roman Via Flaminia. The road actually passes through a tunnel carved in the rock in Roman times. Alongside this tunnel, on the river side, there's an even older pre-Roman tunnel that still has the ancient paving blocks, with the ruts of chariot wheels. We had the good luck to be allowed to enter this tunnel once, but usually you just have to look through the fence. It's worth your while, if you have time, to park your car and take a walk along the side of the road in this beautiful spot. There are little overlooks here and there where you can get great photos of the river and the cliffs. This was a a favorite spot of Mussolini's, and sometime in the 1930s, someone carved his profile in the rock face. It's since been partially destroyed.

https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gola_del_Furlo

(You can click on the left to see the English page, but the Italian one has a particularly nice photo.)

At this point, you could head, over a scenic road, to San Leo, passing through Urbania, Sant'Angelo in Vado, and Carpegna. All of these merit a stop. In Carpegna, there is a shop that prints on cloth using all-natural dyes and hand-carved walnut wood stamps handed down in the family for generations. The dyes, believe it or not, are made with flour, rust, and vinegar. I got about 50% of my Christmas presents there last summer, as well as a few items for myself. According to the craftsmen, their products can be washed in hot water and even bleached without running or losing the colors. I can vouch for the hot water, but haven't tried (or needed to use) the bleach. I've seen their tablecloths in restaurants in the area, so I'm sure they wear well.

http://www.anticastamperiacarpegna.it/

Watch the video, which shows the whole process; I'm not sure those bright green dyes are in the all-natural category though. The video shows plenty of the rust-colored ones.

There's a little monastery next to the printing shop, where we heard the monks chant a beautiful vespers. There were only four of them, all young, and two were American!

If you had more than a day, I would suggest stopping in Urbino, but that could take the better part of a day on its own. Maybe you can make a trip there while you're in San Leo. You could even combine a trip to Urbino, Furlo Gorge, and maybe even Fratte Rosa, if you want to cut anything from the drive from Gubbio to San Leo.

The entire drive I've suggested would take about four hours. With stops, it could easily fill a whole day.

I'm never sure what to recommend to "foodies". Is there some particular style of restaurant you like most? Anyway, it's hard to find a mediocre restaurant in this area. You might want to learn about some of the traditional cuisine of Le Marche to get an idea of what you should order.

http://www.scoop.it/t/le-marche-and-the-food

(I notice that one of the photos is taken on a tablecloth from the Antica Stamperia, which I mentioned in my earlier post!)

http://www.academiabarilla.com/the-i...e/default.aspx

Cuisine is very local in Italy. Some of the descriptions on these pages is not accurate for where I live. For instance, vincisgrassi doesn't have either prosciutto or chicken livers around here. It's made with a meat ragù and a bechamel. The pasta is rolled much thinner than lasagna, and is often made of four or five layers. Beats the hell out of lasagna!

In Senigallia, about half an hour from Corinaldo, there are two two-Michelin-star restaurants, Uliassi and Madonnina del Pescatore. (My favorite is Uliassi.) However, I get the impression that foodies prefer trattorie rather than two-starred restaurants. One of my favorite restaurants in Senigallis is the unstarred, but very good Raggiazzuro, which specializes in seafood. Detouring to Senigallia would probably add about an hour to your drive.

Another of my favorites in the area is the Grotta di Tufo, in San Costanza, which would also be a bit out of your way. They specialize in local dishes and especially game.

In Corinaldo, Ai Novi Tarocchi is built into the town wall, in what were once the canteens of a monastery. Their tagliata (rare beef strips with a topping, usually of arugula, cherry tomatoes, and sscales of parmigiano, is very good. They also have an appetizer based on eggplant that I like.

On a hill with a beautiful view, just outside of Corinaldo, there is a hotel/restaurant with a beautiful view called Langelina. They have good food at reasonable prices, but I wouldn't go there on a Sunday, when they tend to host large (and noisy) wedding parties.

There's a family-run restaurant called Colverde on the road from Corinaldo to Ostra, where you can get excellent home-made tagliatelle. They also serve something called "campagnola", which is a whole meal, where they bring you fresh-from-the-oven "crescie", which are like small leavened flat breads (the local version of pizza?) along with all sorts of things to pile on top, including cooked greens, salami, cheese, pickled onions, and much else.

Acqualagna, a small town near Furlo, is the truffle capital of Le Marche, but May isn't truffle season. Sant'Angelo in Vado also has a truffle tradition. Either of these towns will probably have restaurants serving dishes based on truffles, but they'll probably be black truffles preserved under oil. They're good anyway, but not as good as the prized white truffles, which are in season in October and November, and can't be preserved.

In San Leo, we really liked the Osteria La Corte di Berengario II.

What a wonderful helpful reply, bvlenci.

Once again your input is amazing bvlenci.. Looking forward to reporting back on what we did...