Le Marche

The region of Le Marche, pronounced ‘lay markay’, lies between the Adriatic Sea and the Sibillini Range of the Apennine mountains. With either the sea or mountains as backdrop, and medieval towns nestled on hilltops, it is a truly stunning landscape. Though less known than Tuscany or Umbria (it is sometimes referred to as The New Tuscany), its beauty is comparable and in many ways less spoiled. Over the past five years greater numbers of foreigners have bought and restored houses in Le Marche, always with a sense that they’ve discovered a magical part of the world.


When you spend time in the Marchigiana countryside, you are stepping back in time. Most of the inhabitants still farm, and are self-sufficient in their living: growing all their food, making wine, keeping animals and bees, and heating their homes with wood from their trees. That is not to say that Le Marche is removed from the modern world. Well connected with an airport (daily flights from Ancona to London), a drive to Rome averaging 2 ½ to 3 hours, you can enjoy the countryside without ever being too far away from the big city.

In the summertime, you can enjoy the myriad beaches along the Adriatic coast for sunbathing and swimming. The bigger resorts are San Benedetto del Tronto and Porto San Giorgio. There are hundreds of wonderful restaurants, serving pasta alla marinara, pesce alla griglia and cold Verdicchio wine, as well as ice cream shops for Italian gelato.



The Sibillini Mountains have some of the highest peaks in the Apennines and contain a national park with protected land. Because you need to cross these mountains through Umbria to get here, they tend to keep Le Marche a quieter region. There are miles of hiking trails and refuges for the serious hikers, as well as paragliding and climbing for the extreme sports lovers.There are lakes to cool off in the hot summer, and in winter you can enjoy the ski resorts above Sarnano, which is the holiday town for many Romans.

The cities of Southern Le Marche are Ascoli Piceno, Fermo and Macerata. Ascoli is an old medieval town with still much of its Roman structure. It is built in white travertine, and has exquisite Romanesque churches and towers. Fermo sits on a steep hill five miles from the coast. It has one of the most elegant piazzas in Italy, which is the venue for a weekly antiques market in the summer. Both these cities have a regular program of music, opera and theatre. Macerata has a large university and also holds the international opera festival within the neoclassical Sferisterio in the summertime.

Le Marche is an important region for wine producing. Well known wines such as the Verdicchio, Rosso Piceno, Rosso Conero, Pecorino are all from this region. There are many award winning vineyards, especially in the area of Offida and Ripatransone. You can visit all the producers, for tastings and stocking up on bottles or demijohns of vino sfuso (on tap) which you can bottle yourself.

There are markets everywhere, selling local organic produce such as cheese, salumeria, fresh eggs, as well as fruit and vegetables. Because the local population still runs small farms, we are spoiled for good food. You can also find great shoes and bags, as Le Marche’s main industry is leather goods.