Hello. We are planning a 2 week trip this October to Italy. Flying in and out of Rome. Our second week will be spent in Tuscany at a Villa relaxing and visiting towns and wineries. For our first week, we would like to be on the east coast, and perhaps do an independent walking trip. We have done trips to Italy before. We have seen Amalfi, Portofino, Naples. We don't want to go to Sicily or Puglia, as we would like to keep the train travel to a minimum this trip. Are Pescara or Ancona good spots? Would welcome any suggestions. Thank you. Also any suggestions on companies that do independent walking tours. Thank you!.
Posted by
4836 posts
I'm assuming you plan on having a car since you will be at a villa in Tuscany, but you could easily get east by train or bus and then pick up a car. Ancona is a city that I had to make the decision to bypass on my trip to Marche. Just south of Ancona, Monte Conero has many trails and cute little towns (I saw Sirolo). The other coastal area I enjoyed was San Bartolo, north of Pesaro. Many trails were closed due to landslides (the area experienced a fire a few years ago), but it is just lovely--a blend of nature, villages, farms.
There are many opportunities for hiking in the interior mountains (Gran Sasso, Monti Sibillini), so a route through the hill towns is what I would shoot for in October. Maybe Spoleto and then Ascoli Piceno, exploring in between, or go toward Gubbio and then back toward Tuscany. Lots of options!
What exactly were you looking for in terms of walking tours?
Posted by
OP
2 posts
Thank you very much for the information. We actually won't have a car until the second week. My thought was to have a "different" view from Tuscany for the first week. So your suggestions are excellent. I am looking for a walking company that offers self guided tours. Looking for a company that offers outlined trails, and books the lodging, takes your luggage from place to place, etc. Any suggestions are welcome. Thank you
Posted by
4836 posts
No I've never done that, but out of curiosity I wanted to see if they were common in the region and googling "marche walking tours" brings up several results. You'd make out better cost-wise paying for a rental car, but I get that the experience is sometimes worth the expense! I imagine October would be wonderful--spring was nice, but I bet the trees are lovely.