Le Marche

This 9-day trip takes us to the delightful and little known southern part of Italy’s Le Marche region (sometimes referred to as The Marches in English). The name Le Marche is derived from the German mark, meaning boundary or frontier. A plural name for a region with a plural personality and one that is decidedly different from the rest of Italy. Le Marche is one of central Italy’s more mountainous regions, it is bordered to the west by the Apennines, Umbria and Tuscany, to the east by the Adriatic, to the north by Emilia Romagna, and to the south by Abruzzo.

Our trip begins in the remarkably beautiful southwestern part of the region at the foot of the Apennines and close to the historic university town of Camerino, which rises above the surrounding countryside along an extended crest protected by ancient fortifications. We spend a couple of days exploring the area’s lumpy patchwork quilt landscape and pretty towns and villages, some of which are still slowly recovering from the earthquake that struck on October 30, 2016 (the largest in Italy since the 1980 Irpinia earthquake). 

From here we move on to the Monti Sibillini, a striking narrow line of ridges that act as the watershed between the Adriatic and the Tyrrhenian seas. Here we enjoy a couple incredibly panoramic walks that provide us with both magnificent views of the limestone mountains and the coast. We venture into the heart of the Monti Sibillini National Park by means of a deep and narrow gorge to emerge amongst hidden alpine meadows. We visit several other picturesque villages before finally arriving on foot at Ascoli Piceno, undoubtedly one of Italy’s most attractive cities (and best kept secrets!), and one of great historical importance owing to its strategic position at the confluence of two rivers, and the easy passage from the mountains to the sea.

Over the course of the trip, we walk amongst beautiful agricultural land dotted by castles, churches, hermitages and monasteries. We traverse lofty ridges and grassy uplands abounding in vivid wildflowers and surrounded by soaring limestone mountains. We explore plunging gorges cut by idyllic mountain streams and thickly wooded pristine valleys. We encounter alluring lakes and eerie calanchi, small parallel gullies and ravines caused by the topsoil being washed away from the underlying clay deposits, creating a landscape of elephant’s feet. We explore on foot some of Italy’s most beautiful and charming medieval and renaissance towns and villages possessing a wealth of well-preserved historic monuments and wonderful collections of artwork.

The terrain is very varied and also generally very good and includes: unpaved country roads, forest and farm tracks, historic drovers’ roads and ancient commercial routes, forest paths, pilgrim paths, historic mule/cart tracks, valley floors, open pastures and ridges.

We stay in 3 lovely and very comfortable small 4-star hotels, and also in one very charming and tastefully done agriturismo (2 nights at each place) located in very privileged setting.

For a detailed itinerary and/or further information, please contact us at [email protected]

KEY INFORMATION

The fitness level for all trips is classified according to the average distance and elevation gain of the walks offered, with fitness levels ranging from 1-5, see here for more details.