Best base for exploring Le Marche Region in July?

Thank you for this wonderful reply, and for giving your reasons for liking that location and hotel. So helpful to get that whole picture! Unfortunately that particular hotel is already booked during the time we’ll be traveling. If you have other suggestions let me know! Keep the ideas coming - more options to consider will be helpful to me and probably anyone traveling to this region for the first time!

Yeah, I'd like to piggyback on this as well, as there's a decided lack of good info on this area.

As of now, for next spring we're planning on starting in Venice, then by train trying an overnight in Bologna near the station, then two nights in Ascoli Piceno in Le Marche after changing trains in Ancona. From there, we head down to Puglia.

Am actually thinking I may need a driver/guide with local knowledge for one of those days in Ascoli. There so much to see off the beaten path around there that it probably wouldn't work to rely on public transportation, unless someone can tell me differently.

omg, Sandra you are amazing, thank you. That B&B sounds wonderful but for me, a hard bed is unfortunately a deal breaker! I had a spinal fushion (back surgery) years ago and I need a bed to have a little cushion to it. But thank you so far for your detailed responses, they are so valuable to anyone looking to stay in Le Marche. Including reasons why a particular lodging is worthwhile is such a gift. I hope to hear more from you and/or others!

Aother suggestion, if you do drive, I’ve heard great things about the village Treia. From there it’s about a 2 hour drive to Urbino, a 25 min drive to Macerata and a 2 hour drive to Ascoli Piceno. We visited the 3 cities by train and bus several years ago. But we regret that we didn’t get to drive around the countryside.

I love Senigallia and think it would make a good base. It's a charming little town, with a fort and daily market, and bus and train connections to the region. It also has miles of sandy beach, lined with hotels and restaurants. We stayed at the Palace Hotel, about a block from the train station and a block to the beach.

Senigallia is kind of a "foodie" town, with two Michelin-starred restaurants, and lots of smaller, less expensive places to eat. Our favorite was La Tartana, where you can sit with your toes in the sand and a glass of wine in your hand, and watch the sea.

Easy daytrips are Corinaldo, a 14th century hill town, and the Caverns of Frasasso.

With a car I would stay in an agriturismo. The area around Ascoli is great with good views of the Sibillin. Picture perfect little towns at the foot of the mountains. Ascoli Piceno is a very nice city plenty to do and see there. Farther North the land of the Montefeltro near Urbino is equally appealing. Beautiful rolling hills with patchwork farms and vineyards. Urbino is a good place to visit on a day trip but not so good as a base. Look at San Leo forget San Marino. Plenty of great agriturismo that are easy no the budget. Brad

Sandra, thank you so very much for checking with the Hotel Gabbiano. Before I saw that, I booked at the Palace Hotel in Senigallia - the other post had me at "foodie". I may still change my mind re: our itinerary, but hopefully someone else will take advantage of your great recommendations!

At this point, I'm thinking I'm going to do 2-3 nights in Ascoli Picente (in center of town), 2-3 nights on the sea in Senigallia, and 2-3 nights at an agriturisimo in the vicinity of Urbino. I might still change this itinerary and am still working out exactly how many nights I'm going to stay in each place (I temporarily booked with some overlap and used booking.com to have that flexibility).

My next step is to do more research on sites we want to see and plot the sites on a map, which hopefully will give me a better sense of how many nights we want to stay in each location. I decided not to JUST have one base, because I prefer not to spend each day driving longer distances, and I also want to have different experiences (town, country, sea) while I'm there.

If anyone has recommendations for specific lodging in Ascoli Picente, or an agriturismo you loved and had a great experience with in the vicinity of Urbino (no more than 30 minute drive), please share! Much appreciated!

Le Marche is fighting it out with Puglia for the top spot on my "next region to explore" list. Thanks for much for the helpful detail in this thread, I'm bookmarking it now.

Hi xtpanza --
I'm glad you're going to Senigallia, and hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

The two Michelin 2-star restaurants are Uliassi and Madonnina del Pescatore. If you decide to eat at one (or both!) you should probably make an advance reservation.

In the heat of summer, the Caverns of Frasassi might be a cool place to stop on a day trip. Have a great time in Le Marche!

Le Marche is fighting it out with Puglia for the top spot on my "next
region to explore" list. Thanks for much for the helpful detail in
this thread, I'm bookmarking it now.

Nelly, why not do both? I think that's what we're doing next April. :)

If you're not going to drive and will rely on public transportation, it could be a challenge but I think that's that's part of the charm--hopefully I can say that after our trip!

Right now the tentative plan is--and this is subject to change with all the great ideas on this and other threads--after 3 nights in Venice we'll be coming down by train, stopping 1 night in Bologna, a hotel right by the station, just enough time to get acquainted with the town and enjoy a great meal. Then on to Ascoli Piceno (change in Ancona) in Le Marche for 2 nights. Finally to Bari (change in San Benedetto Del Tronto) or Polignano a Mare in Apulia for 3 nights.

For some that would be a lot of moving around, but I've done it the other way--basing in one place for 5-7 nights at a crack--and there are pros and cons to both. So we'll see. Keep the destinations coming, great thread!

So after all that, I decided to change my itinerary slightly! As much as I want to see/stay in Senigallica, I decided we wanted to be closer to Ascoli Picente for a bit longer, and I realized that my husband probably wouldn't really enjoy being on a crowded beach as much as I would (his bald head and British skin). I still wanted to be near the sea though, and since Sandra recommended the area of Porto San Giorgio, I looked on a map at that region and found a tiny village on a hill overlooking the sea called Torre di Palme that looked sooooo pretty and isn't far from Porto San Giorgio. So I can get my fix of a crowded beach while my husband has a choice to be somewhere a bit less hectic.

SO...Unless we change our minds again, our itinerary is as follows, although still needing to make a couple of final decisions on how many nights to stay in one place vs. anogher...

Sun July 1-Thurs July 5th - Rome, an apartment/loft in Trastevere (via airbnb)
Thurs July 5th-Sat July 7th OR Sun July 8th - Ascoli Piceno, via booking.com, an apartment in the historic city center
Sat July 7th OR Sun July 8th-Mon July 9th - Torre di Palme, a B&B right in the village overlooking the sea (via booking.com)
Monday July 9th-Thursday July 12th - an Agriturisimo in Mondavio, where we can visit Senigallia and Urbino fairly easily (via booking.com). Flying out of Bologna on July 12th, at either 11am(ish) or 6pm(ish)

All lodging is in the 100 euro range per night.

I have time to adjust the dates if needed. I am having trouble deciding whether I want to stay 2 or 3 nights in the center of Ascoli Piceno, or 1 or 2 nights in Torre di Palme. The two towns are pretty close to each other, we're just switching b/c we like variety and I wanted to be closer to the sea for at least a little while even though it isn't my husband's main priority. Neither of those two places are air-conditioned, so that could be a factor in my decision. In July, will it be a little bit cooler on a hill above the sea? That could be a reason for 2 nights! Does it cool down at night either way? Then maybe it doesn't matter.

Any thoughts/feedback on places to eat or visit in any of those towns or the vicinity would be welcome, although we're definitely developing a plan of action of our own using the Blue Guide of Le Marche and San Marino!

It's quite a bit of moving around, but like the last poster said, there are pros and cons to that. We generally like having different lodging experiences and b/c it's our first time in Italy, I like the idea of moving around a bit more.

Thanks so much Sandra, I'm even more excited hearing that. The thing I'm struggling with the most is whether to do two nights in Ascoli Piceno and two nights in Torre di Palme, or three nights in Ascoli Piceno, and one night in Torre Di Palme. I don't think I want to cut either Rome or Mondavio short. I've temporarily booked overlapping dates, but I don't want to keep things that way for very long b/c it's not fair to the property owner(s).

Lovely story. And perfect, that’s what we’ll do. Two and two. Thank you again Sandra (and everyone else) for taking the time to provide such thoughtful and meaningful input. Xoxo

If you like a more of a road trip pace, that will be fine, but I would not want any less than three nights in one place. The driving is somewhat slow--curvy back roads with the exception of the autostrada along the coast. I also chose Ascoli Piceno and Senigallia (being a sea lover), and they made a great introduction to le Marche.

We were looking for more of a road trip pace for our first trip to Italy, and we had a great time and loved all the places we visited and am glad we did things that way so we learned what we liked best. However in hindsight I do think 5 days in each place would be a better trip for most people. If I was to do the trip again and just pick two main places to stay over the 11 days it would have been Rome and Ascoli Piceno with at least one overnight in magical and beautiful tiny town of Torre Di Palme (we absolutely loved the Torre di Palme B&B for the absolutely wonderful host Patricia and delicious food) and some time on the Ancona coast with the rocky beaches and clear water and gorgeous hikes above Portonovo. I really loved Urbino also, and the agriturissimo we stayed in outside of Mondavio..and I think one could have just as wonderful of a trip basing themselves there instead of Ascoli, especially since it's a lot of fun to visit the beach and surrounding town of Senigallica which is only 30 minutes from there. But I personally preferred the beach at Portonovo, even though it was rocky, because it was SUCH a beautiful setting with clear water....and Portonovo is closer to Ascoli than Urbino. If not wanting to visit Rome, I think touring around Ascoli then going up to Urbino and touring around there would be a great way to see Le Marche. Stay in town if you want the activity of a town (and the beauty and activity of the walled city) or stay in an agriturissimo if wanting a more rural feel. There are so many amazing, beautiful places you can hardly go wrong.