Le Marche sits on the Adriatic side of central Italy, just over the hills from Tuscany and Umbria. The same rolling countryside, the same food and wine, the same stone hill towns. A fraction of the tour buses.
Most first trips go Rome, Florence, Venice, and you share all three with millions of other visitors. Le Marche is two to three hours from each of them and feels like a different country. Shops still close for lunch. The waiter tells you what is good today. The hill town you wander through on a Tuesday is full of people who live there. We have been coming here for more than 25 years, and that is still what we love most.
Tourism here is mostly Italian. Visitors are still a pleasant surprise, and you will feel it at the market, in the bar and at the vineyard.
Urbino, Corinaldo, Mondavio, Mondolfo. Walled towns with castles, piazzas and Sunday markets, and no timed tickets.
More than 100 wineries within an hour's drive. Verdicchio and Bianchello del Metauro are the local whites. Our favourites are Guerrieri, Bucci, Santa Barbara (Antonucci) and Sartarelli, where the person pouring is often the person who made it.
White truffles from Acqualagna, olive all'ascolana, brodetto fish stew on the coast, handmade pasta in every village. Restaurant prices are noticeably lower than in Tuscany.
From the villa gate you can already see the sea. Beaches at Marotta, Senigallia and Fano, where Italian families spend their summers. Sand or pebbles, a sunbed at a beach club or a free spot on the public beach. Mornings at the sea, afternoons by the pool.
A private pool, a real gym with dumbbells up to 110 lb, a Smith and cable station and a power sled, a football pitch and quiet hill roads for running and cycling. Padel and tennis courts a short drive away.
Approximate driving times from the villa. Plan a little longer in summer traffic.
You will want a rental car: the best of Le Marche is in the countryside. Rather not drive after a long flight? We arrange a private transfer from Rome, Bologna or Ancona.
Saving up for one special dinner? Senigallia has two of the best seafood restaurants in Italy: Uliassi (three Michelin stars) and Madonnina del Pescatore (two stars). Book months ahead. Florence and Rome work better as a stop on the way in or out than as a day trip. Two or three nights in Rome, then a week here, is our favorite combination.