My wife and I are flying into Rome in March and are planning to stay in towns and make day trips from there. We're probably going to stay in Siena for our Tuscan site and Orvieto for our Umbrian site. We considered a number of options for a 3rd base for day tripping and after reading about Le Marche and also reading your posts from late last year, we've decided to explore Le Marche. We will probably stay 4 nights at the same place and make day trips. We will have our own car. We prefer to stay in towns so we can explore in the evenings on foot and walk to restaurants, etc. Any ideas you have for a base and towns not to miss visiting would be greatly appreciated as extensive info on Le Marche is not as prevalent as the other regions. Ciao.

buongiorno:

I got your message over at the Venice posting ! You're right--there is never enough info posted on Le Marche. Anyway, it's great that you are coming to this region--it's a wonderful place, very much a part of the Umbria-Tuscany-central Italy feel.

Are you interested in being nearer to the sea since you will be in Siena and Orvieto already, or would you rather stay in a hill town? During March, hill towns make more sense, but there are some nice beach towns in Le Marche, that have nice city centers to visit (even if it's too cold to swim), so I'll include them (this will be a long post! ).

Base town ideas:

Option #1: Ascoli Piceno.
My favorite city to visit in Le Marche is Ascoli Piceno, which is in southern Le Marche (very near the Abruzzo border). It has a different feel than many of the towns in Central Italy--it is not a hill town, for instance, and all of its buildings and churches are made up of travertine marble, the same stone you find in Rome. If you were to stay here, it might make it difficult to visit some of the northern cities in the region (Urbino comes to mind) but the area between the cities of Macerata and Ascoli Piceno has, in my opinion, many of the most picturesque hill towns. That whole stretch is just dotted with towns, all of them seeming to have beautiful views and quaint city centers. Also, it would give you easy access into Abruzzo (a visit to the very charming city of Sulmona would make a nice day trip).

Option #2: Macerata
I live in Macerata and think it is a gem of a hill town--a reasonable sized medieval city center with a lively University that makes it rather busy with students, but still it is pretty much tourist-free (except for in the months of July and August, when it houses the second largest outdoor opera festival in Italy). There is a lot to explore, and it is a very centrally located city in the Marche region. Hill towns are easily visitable from here, Urbino is only an hour and a half north, and the sea is 30 minutes east.

Option #3: Fermo
I've actually never really suggested basing oneself in Fermo before, but it is a pleasant town with a reasonably sized city center, and it might be getting some attention lately because it is vying for a position as a provincial capital in the region. Fermo has a beautiful main piazza, a proximity to the sea that offers incredible views, a few nice churches, and it is a wealthy city--something I notice when I go there. I don't know anything about hotels and restaurants there, as I have only been as a morning trip or afternoon trip. If you are interested in Fermo, though, I could try to find out more information. Fermo is located nearer to Ascoli Piceno than to the northern cities.

Option #4: Monte Conero
Check out recent postings on Le Marche to get detailed info from various people about this area--one of the most popular destinations in the region. Monte Conero is a mountain that juts out like a cliff into the ocean. It has various cities that are quite charming--historic city centers with areas of what seem like private beach. Sirolo, Numana, and Porto Novo are especially nice. There should be plenty of lodging here, although in March some places are probably going to be closed for the low season. These towns are close to Ancona, and therefore rather centrally located.

Option #5: Urbino
"The jewel of Le Marche," Urbino is a Renaissance town, with its remarkable palace as its main landmark. Urbino is in northern Le Marche and houses the regional art museum which includes works by Raphael (he is a native of Urbino), Piero della Francesca, and Paolo Uccello, to name a few. Other than the museum however (which is housed in the palace), many people leave Urbino wondering what else there is to see. It is a very charming hill town, but people have mixed opinions on it. I would check out some of the other posts to get a better sense of this. I definitely think its worth a visit, and basing yourself there might be nice if you are interested in some of the northern towns (Gradara, San Leo).

Hope that helps for now! I am going to stop and wait to see which cities you think sounds appealing, and then I'll list some other cities in Le Marche that are good day trips! I think you'll like this region. It is similar to both Tuscany and Umbria (you are going after a central-Italy style tour, I take it?), but I think it is filled with many natural wonders that you find less of in those other regions. If you two are interested in hiking in the mountains or going caving, let me know and I can give you some good ideas.

Hi Jackie,

Thanks so much for responding to my post. I really appreciate it. Because Le Marche is not really on the US tourist radar screen (which we like) it's difficult to find any good information. I've read your Fodors posts and articles on The Long Trip Home and we're envious of your situation living in Italy. I always think I would if I could. This will be our 4th trip to Italy in 6 years and while we've been to Spain, France and Ireland in between, we always compare our other travel experiences to whether we enjoyed it as much as Italy and we never seem to.

Other than wanting to go off the beaten track so to speak in visiting Le Marche, I also have interest because I spent many an afternoon after school when I was a young boy eating wonderful Italian food at the kitchen table of my mom's best friend who we called Aunt Lucy who was Marchegiani.

My biggest problem when I go to Italy is running around like a maniac trying to do too much. My wife and I are primarily into the hill towns and beautiful scenery although all the coastline drives we have been on in Italy have been tremendous. I guess to put it a better way, we aren't beach people which really won't matter in March anyway. Since we expect to continue coming back to Italy again and again, we are trying to step our pace down a notch each time we visit.

Based on your posts at the end of last year, towns like Sarnano, San Ginesio, Cingoli, etc. sound ideal to visit and I'm sure the drives to get there will be scenic. The drive from Ancona through Monte Conero to Sirolo sounds beautiful. Considering that, it seems that Macerata would be an ideal base. When we are done our day trips we could just park the car and be able to walk around Macerata and have restaurants to walk to and other town sites to visit. With the A14 along the coast being close by, we could also be more energetic and visit Urbino or Sulmona from our base because both towns appear to be about 1.5 to 2 hours away. What do you think of that plan?

Buongiorno Buorgiorno
(sorry, couldn't help myself )

I just received a guide book from the Touring Club of Italy that is specifically about Le Marches region, and it is great!

I had to order it directly from them. it cost $17 plus S/H but well worth is as there is so little in all the other guide books.

their site is
www.touringclubofitaly.com
and if you wish to order from them, scroll down towards the bottom of the home page, and look for the yellow box -area that says;
"Now you can order direct from our xxx in the USA"

Every trip we take to Italy has our final days spent in rome as I love it so much !!
but each time I add a new area, and this yr I wanted to go to the coast, most likely Monte Conero area.

So, I will be "shadowing" some of your posts I am sure.
(picking Jackie's brain second hand !)

Thanks and the more the merrier!

You can get a lot of good info as well by looking at Jackie's posts toward the end of last year when she was helping someone out with similar suggestions on Le Marche.

buongiorno -
I have been trolling (in a "good" way ) Jackie's posts for a few months now, ever since the idea hit this dim brain of mine to head even further east than Umbrian area!

I think it is great we have this resource and I also think it is fabulous she and her husband/partner have just purchased a house too!
Very exciting for them.

since you will be going before us, I will esp. look forward to all your postings on the area.
Have fun planning!

Buongiorno,
There is very little to add to Jackie's incredibly detailed post. We were in Le Marche a few years back and loved it.

We stayed in the most lovely small hotel out in the middle of nowhere and used it as a base...if course now I can't find the name! It was recommended in Karen Brown's guide but is not listed on her website. It was redone by an architect and had a lovely situation as well as a tasteful interior.

The food was fabulous and the place was popular with Romans who seemed to come back years after year. Have a look at Karen Brown's guide...I don't know why I cant find mine!

Thanks for the congratulatory wishes on the new house! My husband and I are incredibly happy to finally feel a bit moved in. I love Le Marche and Italy in general, and I am glad that my posts have been helpful and informative. I know I am a bit biased living here and all, but I still find walking down small streets in Macerata to be magical.

Today a friend of mine is visiting, and walking down the streets, seeing the sites again like a tourist reassured me that Macerata really is a treasure of a city, in a still rather unfound region of Italy (a recent issue of Food and Wine even called Le Marche "remote" which my very Maceratese husband scoffed at ).

Anyway, glad that I can help both you and nanb with any Le Marche questions!

Buongiorno: of course I think it's great that you base yourself in Macerata, which I think will make it easy to visit some north and some south. I can give you some good restaurant recommendations for sure, and some hotels as well. Hotel Claudiani is Macerata's nicest hotel, and there are some others that seem quite good as well: Albergo Arena just got a face-lift and seems to normally be a good budget deal. A friend's family stayed at Hotel Lauri and liked it. There is also another one called Hotel Arcadia which is on a cute little street right in the middle of the city center.

I will add some restaurants to this list too, as well as a more detailed account of cities I love but tomorrow I am getting up early and going to Assisi to show my friend around, and it is bedtime here in Italy.

Anyway, It's so exciting to see people making there way to Le Marche. I'm also flattered that my advice has been so helpful (my husband and I think I should open up a tour guide agency!) Also, Aunt Lucy sounds wonderful, buongiorno. Where in Le Marche was she from?

Thanks Jackie'

Aunt Lucy has passed on and I never did find out what town she was from. When I was a kid, it always sounded like she was saying she was "marky john" and I had no idea at the time what that was.

My wife admonished me a little last night when she read my posts. Her response was "you haven't asked where the best shopping is". After reading the comment about Fermo being wealthy, she figured it must be there?

Jackie:

I booked and was confirmed for 4 nights at the Hotel Claudiani at 100 euros per night. Compared to hotels in Siena and Orvieto, the Hotel Claudiani is a great bargain.

buongiorno:

I was wondering how much it would cost. That is a good deal. I have only been inside the lobby, but it seems cute. It has a good location.

Anyway, I wanted to respond to your shopping question. This will be long:

Considering Le Marche is not very touristy as a region, it sort of depends on what kind of shopping you are looking for. Most towns in Le Marche are not nearly as filled with little ceramic shops or specialty food shops that you might find in Siena or Orvieto. Urbino might be the main exception, or somewhere like Gradara or Loreto--all of these towns are much more tourist oriented than the rest of sleepy Le Marche.

That being said, there is shopping to be done in this region. If you are in Macerata on a Wednesday, you'll find yourself in the midst of the morning market where you can find everything from cookware to shoes and clothing to fresh produce. It takes over the historic center, filling most of the main streets. If not to shop, you might as well get up early enough to take pictures and mingle with the main shopping event of the week.

If you are particularly interested in shoes, Le Marche is a big shoe producer, and you could easily take the train 30 minutes west to Civitanova (coastal town) on Saturday morning, where their market has three times the shoes that Macerata's does. (However, other than their big Saturday morning market and some stretches of beach, there is not much else to see. The upper city, Civitanova Alta, makes a pleasant little hill town stop-over though, reachable by car or bus, if you want to stay in the area.)

Lots of towns will have some craft shops or specialty food shops, but sometimes they are spread out and hard to find. Ascoli Piceno apparently has a full street dedicated to local crafts, but in Macerata, you have to search for the shops. Two good shopping streets in Macerata are Corso della Reppublica--with a great little chocolate shop called Talmone and a few clothing shops--Corso Matteoti which has more expensive and elegant clothing shopping, and Via Garibaldi, a great street to stroll down during the evening passeggiata.

Other than that, a couple of my favorite Macerata shops are: Coltorti--a tiny tiffany-style glass shop where you can find lamps, mirrors, picture frames, even jewelry all made by hand by the two sisters who own the shop. It is on Via Crescimbeni, about where it meets up with Via Garibaldi. It is only open Wednesday and Saturday, though. (They also have a shop in Cingoli, which I think is open more often.)

Another good local Macerata craft place is called something like Museo della Tela, and is located at the top of Borgo San Giuliano (right outside of the walls). It has lots of hand-made quality textiles that are typical of the region's crafts. It also has a little "museum" or basically a room where they have their weaving instruments that they'll show you if you ask nicely .

Finally, two other shops I like that are pretty specific to Macerata are: 1. Marangoni Chocolate Shop on Corso Cavour, which has great Macerata-made chocolate, even though it's a pretty small store. 2. Enoteca on Via Mozzi (near where it meets Via Garibaldi) which carries good wine from the region (Verdicchio, Rosso Conero, Lacrima d'Alba, etc.). One more I like is Casa del Parmiggiano, on Via Garibaldi, which has lots of cheese that, if you ask for them packaged "sotto vuoto" they'll vacuum wrap them for you and you can take them home to the states.

Macerata also has some neat art shops that sell their own paintings of the region/city, but I have never really visited many of them.

Anyway, I don't know if I've hit the mark at all with this question. I wish I could give you a list of shops in the whole region, but most of my experience shopping in Le Marche has occurred here in Macerata, since I'm mostly visiting places on Sunday, when most every city has its shops closed (the exceptions being Loreto, Gradara, Urbino, and maybe San Leo or some coastal towns). I would definitely recommend the market experience, and I would suggest to check out the shoes . If you have a more specific shopping question, let me know .

Thanks Jackie

We will be staying at the Hotel Claudiani from Sunday March 6th and checking out Thursday March 10th so we will be in town for the Wednesday market. I think you must know my wife since you mentioned places to buy shoes, her favorite. Mappy.com says Civitanova is only a 24 minute drive so I'm sure we will check that out.

I need to figure out our day trips. Most of the places we are interested in are a maximum of 1.5 hours or so from Macerata so it should be easy to see a lot. High on the list at this point are San Ginesio, Cingoli, Sarnano, Sirolo, Urbino, Gradara, Ascoli Piceno and possibly Sulmona.

San Ginesio, Cingoli and Sarnano seem close enough that we could plan a day around them. We could probably group together Urbino, Gradara and Sirolo for another day and possibly Ascoli Piceno and Sulmona for another. Of course, it's probably likely that we won't get to all our possible destinations because we will spend more time exploring some of the towns.

Hey buongiorno:

Have you seen this link? It has some descriptions of cities in Le Marche, and also some good pictures: http://www.le-marche.com/Marche/html/places.htm

Check out San Leo there, for it might interest you as well if you are planning to venture up to Urbino and Gradara (maybe all three, or two of the three could be done in a day?).

Sulmona might be a little far from Macerata to be a day trip. I always go there by train and am never able to make it back the same day--it always becomes an overnight trip. I don't know if it is different by car.

Also, I am not sure that Cingoli would be near enough to San Ginesio and Sarnano, but I could be wrong. There's a neat road that runs by San Ginesio to Sarnano, through Amandola, and then down this stretch that goes toward the sea. You pass a tiny tiny town called Montefalcone Appenino that has a great imposing cliff-like position that sort of takes your breath away and a little restaurant called Da Quintillia or something. I'll try to find out what the road is, but that might be a neat day trip idea.

Some other neat cities are: Camerino, Loreto (check it out on the above-mentioned website), Recanati. Also, i noticed that the website even has ideas for itineraries that might interest you. Here's an example:
http://www.le-marche.com/Marche/html/route5.htm . It says to stop in Macerata for half a day !

Other than that--you sound like you guys are pretty excited about organizing the time in Le Marche, and your ideas look good. May I ask where you are visiting in Umbria?

Thanks Jackie:

I'll have to check out that Le Marche link.

As far as Umbria, I'm still not sure where to base ourselves. I've read on this board and elsewhere about how nice Orvieto is but Spoleto is closer to more of the areas we intend to go. So we are probably going to make Orvieto a day trip. Also on the list are Spello, Assisi, Deruta, Bevagna, Trevi and Narni.

Before Umbria we will stay in Siena and visit some places we enjoyed on earlier trips to Tuscany. Also, we are looking forward to returning to a restaurant where we had one of the most memorable meals. Osteria Canto del Maggio in the little town of Penna near Terranuova just off the A1 was fantastic. I can still taste the pecorino and pear ravioli. http://www.cantodelmaggio.com/

Jackie- thanks for all the info you posted on Macerata !!
I know that will definitely be a stop for us , one of the days we are wandering around.
I have just booked the hotel for Sirolo,
(Hotel Monte Conero)and the place in Rome, - yippee!
All I am waiting for is the final confirmation for first stop which is London
(my compromise with children- they have been to italy 3 times but only once to london....)

some advice-
I am thinking we will fly into rome from london, as that is where we will be leaving from on the way home (rome being our final stop on the trip)

I am thinking train to Ancona, then picking up rental car there for the 5 days, and when done , dropping off auto, training it back to rome.

But, how easy is it to get flights from rome to ancona?

thanks for any help.
(I'll be continuing to shaddow you and buongiorgno )

buongiorno:

the restaurant sounds great. When we actually start exploring Tuscany (I have been there so few times--plenty of trips to Florence, but besides that just Siena and Lucca), I will keep the place in mind.

Yeah, check out those links--they have some photos which I think is always helpful in deciding a city. Also, today I posted a couple more Macerata pics at The Long Trip Home's travelblog.

Spoleto is a nice town and sounds like it is much closer the cities you are planning to explore. Yes, Orvieto is nicer, but I really did enjoy Spoleto when I visited. Other nice cities for basing yourself might be Perugia or even Assisi, since it's on your itinerary anyway, It's pretty touristy, though. Maybe even basing yourself in Spello if you are really worried about the Spoleto idea.

Okay sorry--I really should just stick to Le Marche!

nanb: I think you can easily book flights from Rome to Ancona--that shouldn't be a problem. The train is also easy to take, though, and might give you a more relaxing view of the Italian countryside, plus cost less. On Eurostar, it's a 4 hour trip from Rome to Macerata, so that probably is about right from Rome to Ancona as well.

I HAVE heard something about free connecting flights from Rome to Ancona if you fly directly into Rome from America (no stops in Europe), but it seems very myth-like, that information. I might check it out, though, just in case!

Jackie- wouldn't that be cool!!
(free connecting flight)

I will probably do the train.

deplaning and reboarding can be such an ordeal.
But it is good to know there are flights and they are fairly easy.

The www.raileurope.com site says it is about 3 1/2 hrs and at least 5 trains a day run .
Tickets are 37 or 52 E depending on which class.
I am sure the ride could be interesting
esp. going through Umbria.
But, that is what I thought when I was traveling from Venice to Procida and took a train from Milan to Naples.
Six hours!!
Definitely had had enough of the train after that!!

Thanks for being so willing to help!

nanb:

six hours from Milan to Naples? Actually, that's not so bad considering the distance. Still, I can imagine you got tired of staring out the window after a while .

No, this train instead is a shorter trip (well, at least on Eurostar. Regional trains are very long and tedious, although you get to see the city of Trevi from the train, which, every once in a while, is worth it, but I'd still go with Eurostar).

Actually, you might end up liking the Le Marche region scenery more--at least the one to Macerata goes through mountains, but yours will be going further north. In Umbria, it's hard to get a good look at the towns you pass (you can kind of see Spoleto from a distance).

Thanks Jackie

I looked at the Le Marche site and they had lots of good information.

You are probably right about some of my town groupings being too far from each other to be done in a day. Our goal is to enjoy what we see and move at a pace that is relaxing. I'm trying to go in more of a slowtrav mode so I don't get home from the trip and need a vacation from my vacation.

buongiorno:

I think that you will get a good feel for how much you can do the first day you take day trips. It depends really--we've been able to do quite a bit when my parents have visited and rented a car (one day, we visited Ancona, Loreto, Sirolo, and stopped for lunch in tiny town of Poggio. That's quite a bit considering how big Ancona is).

It's much better to rent a car like you are doing, too, since a lot of the real jewels of Le Marche are hard to reach by bus and impossible to reach by train.

You'll have a great time. If you need any more tips on shopping, dining, etc., just let me know.