A region of hill towns between the Apennines and the Adriatic that most itineraries skip. Urbino was Federico da Montefeltro's court — Raphael was born there, and the Ducal Palace holds Piero della Francesca's Flagellation. The Frasassi Caves are among the largest cave systems in Europe; the Conero Riviera has the only real cliffs on Italy's central Adriatic; and the Monti Sibillini rise to 2,476 m behind them. Ascoli Piceno's travertine piazza is one of the handsomest in the country.
- Urbino's Ducal Palace
- Frasassi Caves
- Conero Riviera and Sirolo
- Ascoli Piceno's Piazza del Popolo
- Monti Sibillini National Park
- Loreto's Holy House
- Best time to go
- May–June and September for the coast and the hills; July–August fills the Adriatic beaches with Italian families.
- Getting there
- Ancona Falconara airport; Bologna and Rome are both around 3h by road. The Adriatic railway runs the length of the coast.
© OpenFreeMap · OSM · terrain Mapterhorn · boundaries © EuroGeographics (Eurostat GISCO)
Headline places
What italia.it leads with in Marche.
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Frasassi Caves One of Europe's largest cave systems — the first chamber would hold Milan's Duomo -
Conero Riviera White cliffs and pebble coves — the only real headland on the central Adriatic -
Ducal Palace, Urbino Federico da Montefeltro's court, with Piero della Francesca's Flagellation -
Monti Sibillini National Park Bare Apennine ridges to 2,476 m, with legends attached to most of them -
Basilica of the Holy House, Loreto One of the most visited Marian shrines in the world, inside a fortified basilica -
Recanati Leopardi’s hill town — the “infinite” hedge and the view he wrote about
Cities & bases
Where to sleep, and what each place is good for.
Our guides
Full destination guides we already publish in this region.
Marche by experience
The themes this region delivers on.
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Art & culture More UNESCO World Heritage sites than any other country on earth -
Food & wine Regional to the point of parochial — and all the better for it -
Coast & islands 7,900 km of coastline and around eighty inhabited islands -
UNESCO Italy Sixty World Heritage sites — the largest tally of any country -
Borghi & villages The hill towns that carry I Borghi più belli d'Italia and the Orange Flag -
Nature & national parks 25 national parks, from alpine glaciers to volcanic islands -
Spirituality & pilgrimage Rome, Assisi, and the pilgrim roads that connect them -
Sport & the outdoors Dolomiti Superski, the Giro's climbs and Garda's windsurfing
