Marche is the only Italian region with a plural name, and there's a reason: it's like several regions rolled into one. Sea and mountains an hour apart, Renaissance towns, wild Apennines. This is central Italy that most travellers skip on their way to Tuscany, and they're missing out.
This guide will help you discover Marche properly, and stay where locals will actually tell you about their world.
Urbino is the cultural heart of Marche: Federico da Montefeltro's Palazzo Ducale, birthplace of Raphael, a UNESCO-listed historic centre you can walk across in an afternoon. The countryside around it is dotted with walled villages, ancient churches, and rolling hills.
Don't stop at Urbino alone. Towns like Gradara with its fortress, Corinaldo and Offida are worth the detour by themselves, and life here still moves at a genuinely slow pace.
The Conero Riviera is the most striking stretch of Marche's coastline: a mountain dropping sheer into the Adriatic, white pebble coves, crystal water. Sirolo and Numana are the usual bases, but the real gems, like Due Sorelle beach, are only accessible by boat or on foot.
This is a different kind of seaside from the long, developed beaches you'll find elsewhere on the coast: wilder, more secluded, perfect if you want nature rather than facilities.
Head inland and you climb into the Sibillini Mountains, among the finest parks in central Italy. High-altitude meadows, Lake Fiastra, mountain villages and the wildflower bloom at Castelluccio just over the Umbrian border, which is genuinely spectacular. You'll walk, eat well, and properly disconnect.
Marche's food is a revelation: olive all'ascolana, vincisgrassi, ciauscolo cured meat, and wines like Verdicchio. Autumn village festivals are the best way to taste everything together.
✓ Sea and mountains are genuinely close: morning at Conero, afternoon in the Sibillini, it's actually doable.✓ The inland areas are just as good as the coast and cost less: walled villages are half empty even in August.✓ Marche is what Tuscany was twenty years ago, without the prices or the crowds.
On Italish you'll find independent accommodations across Marche, from the coast to inland villages. Contact your hosts directly, no middlemen, and they're usually the best source for learning what their region is really about.
b&bB&B in San Benedetto del Tronto on the Riviera delle Palme. Small guesthouse tucked in a quiet alley in the town centre, within easy reach of the beach and the palm-lined seafront.
agriturismoAgriturismo and holiday home with educational farm at Monte Giberto, on the hills of the Fermo area between the sea and the Sibillini Mountains. Cooking experiences and farm life.
agriturismoAgriturismo in an eighteenth-century farmhouse on the hills of Montefiore dell'Aso, with views of the Sibillini mountains and the sea. Five apartments, swimming pool, barbecue and wifi among olive groves and vineyards.
Contact the host directly, no middlemen.
