Alone among Italian regions, Marche carries a plural name, and the land lives up to it: a corrugated country of parallel valleys that comb down from the Apennine spine to a long, easy Adriatic shore.
Go in May to June and September.
- Fly into
- Ancona (AOI)
- Capital
- Ancona
- Size
- 9,401 km² (3,630 sq mi)
- People
- 1.5 million
Between the two lie hundreds of hill towns of brick and travertine, each crowning its own ridge, so that the horizon is forever serrated with belltowers and walls.
This is the Italy of the Renaissance at its most refined and its least crowded. In Urbino, Federico da Montefeltro built one of the most civilised courts in Europe, and the city gave the world Raphael; below ground at Frasassi, nature answers with cathedral-sized chambers of stone. The Marchigiani eat well and without fuss: olive ascolane stuffed and fried, spreadable ciauscolo salami, the white Verdicchio of Jesi, and the dark cherry liqueur visciolino.
Come in summer for the opera under the stars at Macerata's Sferisterio and the swing crowds of Senigallia, or in autumn, when the vineyards turn and the coast empties to the locals.
What to see in Marche
Save the ones you want and we'll find which of our routes reaches the most in the fewest nights.
Ducal Palace of Urbino
The ideal Renaissance court of Federico da Montefeltro, home to Piero della Francesca's Flagellation.
Basilica della Santa Casa
Loreto The hilltop basilica enclosing the Holy House tradition says angels carried from Nazareth.
Frasassi Caves
Genga The Marche's vast karst caverns, discovered in 1971, with a paved kilometer-long visitor route.
Ancona Cathedral
On Guasco Hill, San Ciriaco layers an Aphrodite temple tradition, a Romanesque-Byzantine cathedral, sculpted portal lions and a Vanvitelli shrine above Ancona’s gulf.
Arch of Trajan of Ancona
Trajan’s slender white-marble arch of 115 AD, standing free on Ancona’s harbor mole.
Monte Conero
Ancona A limestone Adriatic headland of wooded trails, quarry traces and cliff viewpoints above Portonovo and the Due Sorelle stacks.
Sferisterio of Macerata
Macerata's 1829 ball-game arena, reborn each summer as the open-air stage of the Sferisterio Opera Festival.
Piazza del Popolo of Ascoli
Ascoli Piceno Ascoli's travertine main square, ringed by Renaissance loggias and the historic Caffe Meletti.
The short answer
- Where to sleep
- Urbino, Ancona, Ascoli Piceno
- At least
- 5 nights
- Within a day out
- 7 of these 8
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How many nights in Marche?
Choose your nights and the route redraws: where to sleep, what to see, and the towns an easy day out from each base.
3 nights in Marche: Urbino for 2 and Ancona for 1.5 nights in Marche: Urbino for 2, Ancona for 1 and Ascoli Piceno for 2.7 nights in Marche: Urbino for 2, Ancona for 2 and Ascoli Piceno for 3.10 nights in Marche: Urbino for 3, Ancona for 2, Recanati for 2 and Ascoli Piceno for 3.
Add your first day and each link opens on that stop's dates.
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Where to stay in Marche
Each stop with what to see and, where we have them, a day out and the hotel we'd book.
A restored eighteenth-century farm village in the hills between Urbino and Pesaro, with a spa, organic vineyards, and horse and e-bike outings.
Check dates: Tenuta Santi Giacomo e FilippoMore in Urbino
Palazzo Giusti Suites and Spa Urbino
A historic Urbino palazzo with five suites named after local figures and a spa in its vaults among Roman finds.
Check dates: Palazzo Giusti Suites and Spa UrbinoAura Relais
An adults-only hillside retreat above Urbino with a spa and infinity pool, for couples wanting quiet, views and a restaurant on site.
Check dates: Aura Relais
70 km from Urbino as the crow flies
A restored noble palace in Ancona with harbour or rooftop views from every room, and a boutique feel with a strong wine focus.
Check dates: Grand Hotel PalaceMore in Ancona
Ego Hotel Ancona
A modern seafront hotel on Ancona's Via Flaminia with a sauna and hammam wellness area and Adriatic views, for a spa-minded stay.
Check dates: Ego Hotel AnconaAgriturismo Il Colle Dei Lecci
A farmstay on the hills above Ancona, close to the city and a free beach, with sea-view or hill-view rooms and a pool.
Check dates: Agriturismo Il Colle Dei Lecci
25 km from Ancona as the crow flies
The hometown of the poet Giacomo Leopardi gave Italian literature one of its most loved lyrics.
On the Colle dell'Infinito, the hedge and horizon that inspired his poem L'Infinito are still there to be walked, poetry made place.
85 km from Ancona as the crow flies
60 km from Recanati as the crow flies
Other places to stay
Hotel Le Grotte
A countryside hotel and spa in the Frasassi park, with a saltwater pool under a waterfall and calm rooms for unwinding.
Check dates: Hotel Le GrotteB&B A Portata di Mare
A small B&B in Loreto's old centre with free private parking, and breakfast at a bakery cafe on the square facing the Basilica.
Check dates: B&B A Portata di MarePalazzo Cortesi Boutique Hotel & SPA
A historic palazzo on Piazza Cesare Battisti in Macerata, mixing period architecture with modern design, with a spa and a wine-bar restaurant downstairs.
Check dates: Palazzo Cortesi Boutique Hotel & SPADjenga: rock 'n rooms
A music-themed country house near the Frasassi caves, with rooms named after musical inventors, a homely feel and a relaxed base for exploring.
Check dates: Djenga: rock 'n rooms
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A traditional dinner from Marche
Every course is one the region actually serves. Change any of them and the wine, the timing and the shopping list follow.
Antipasto
Olive all’Ascolana
Tender Ascolana Tenera olives with a three-meat filling, breaded and fried until crisp.
First course
Vincisgrassi
The Marche’s grand baked pasta: silkier than lasagne, layered with a chicken-liver-enriched ragù, besciamella, and patience across two days.
Main course
Coniglio in porchetta
Rolled rabbit from the Marche, filled with pancetta, cooked ham, liver and wild fennel, then roasted with white wine.
Dessert
Bostrengo
A dense rice-and-bread cake holds dried fruit, nuts, cocoa and grated apple, with orange zest in the crumb.
What to pour
A Rosso Conero, Montepulciano grown on the slopes above Ancona: its ripe fruit, spice and structure match the richness of ragù and besciamella.
Conero
Start the Vincisgrassi the day before: 16 hr 45 min, most of it waiting.
Taste it there
Hunt truffles, then make pasta
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What Marche is known for
You will find these here and nowhere else.
Stand on the east side of Fermo's Piazza del Popolo and thirty vaulted Roman rooms lie under your feet, the reservoir that once held the town's drinking water.
Leo XII, born in Genga, wanted it here: an eight-sided temple of white travertine tucked into a rock shelter at the mouth of the Frasassi caves.
Two places for Verdicchio
Verdicchio offers two distinct starting points in Marche: the Castelli di Jesi and Matelica names belong to separate denominations. Around Esanatoglia, vineyards form part of the landscape associated with Verdicchio di Matelica. Choose one local area and read its towns with the cultivated land around them, rather than treating the grape name as a complete itinerary.
Sources and citations (4)
The year in Marche
The rituals, races, and processions the region still keeps.
At Christmas
Frustingo gives a Christmas table from the Marche a dense sweet of dried figs and nuts. Vincisgrassi and Ancona’s stockfish offer two substantial savoury directions: one depends on a layered baked preparation, the other on rehydrated fish and slow cooking. Read the methods before choosing the centre of the meal, and leave the more demanding preparations their own time in the kitchen.
