The village is well placed in southern Le Marche, situated equidistant between the coast and the Sibillini Mountains and has become very popular with British nationals buying property in this area of le Marche.There is also a large museum, an imposing town hall and a civic picture gallery in the village and these have become very popular with both locals and tourists visiting the area.

There are several small cafés, small local shops, bars and a few restaurants in the central village and in the surrounding area many small wine and olive oil producers. The village is very vibrant with an active Pro Loco and the main historic centre has undergone extensive restoration over the past few years.

Montalto delle Marche has two small fractions or hamlets in close proximity, Porchia and Patrignone. Patrignone is the closer of the two and is especially beautiful with an outstanding church tower and small narrow lanes. Porchia is situated to the east of Montalto and is a busy and vibrant hamlet of just a few hundred persons.

The town has a thriving University which was founded in 1290 and it is now very popular with students from abroad as well as native Italians.

The town has many lovely mediaeval streets and there are also many beautiful Palazzi in the centro storico. Macerata has many museums and art galleries and the famous Madonna and Child by Carlo Crivelli are on display in the Palazzo Ricci. The large and imposing Cathedral in the centro storico dates from the 1100s.

In each July and August the world famous Macerata Opera festival is held in the 3,500 to 4,500 seat Sferisterio arena. The large arena was erected in the 1820s by the architect Ireneo Aleandri and the orchestra pit is so wide that musicians at each end cannot hear one another.

It is a truly wonderful experience to hear Opera in the warm night air in the summer in the arena with candles flickering in the darkness.

The ancient Firmum Picenum was founded in 264BC and was the local headquarters of the Roman powers. In 1199 it became a free City and remained independent until 1550 when it was annexed to the Papal States.

Today Fermo has a population of over 35,000 and is a busy and prosperous town with a full range of shops, restaurants, galleries and museums. It has a vibrant nightlife and throughout the year there are many outdoor events including music festivals and sagras staged in the central Piazza, the Piazza del Popolo.

Above this on the commanding Rocca is the commanding 13th century Cathedral and open park area around which are small bars and play area for children. In the summer many outdoor events are also held here and it is a wonderful place to spend a hot summers evening.

It features the best preserved town or village walls in the whole of Le Marche at 912 metres in length. Their maximum height is 18 metres and they enclose the entire historic centre of the Town. The current walls date back to 1367 and were enlarged between 1484 and 1490 by the architect Francesco di Giorgio Martini.

The walls along with the many churches, palaces and other ancient historic buildings make Corinaldo a fascinating place to visit.

Corinaldo does not have a famous Piazza, but instead has a massive stairway with one hundred steps , called the Piaggia and the surrounding houses converge on it in a herringbone pattern. Also in the centre of the town is is the lovely neo classical Town hall andd the oldest house in the town, dating from the 13th Century.

As well as a famous and popular holiday resort for Italian holiday makers it is also one of the most important fishing ports on the whole Adriatic coast. Throughout the summer season the whole resort is busy with festivals and sagra and the shops are open late into the evening.The selection of sea food available in the beach side restaurants is famous throughout both the whole Le Marche and Italy as a whole.

It has a very famous large promenade flanked with up to eight thousand large palm trees and even the wide sandy beach has palms growing in the fine white sand! The sand slopes away gently from the beach into the sea and the shallow water is perfect for children and non swimmers alike.

San Benedetto del Tronto is an extremely popular resort in the summer and attracts a lot of young people because of it’s vibrant night life. There are numerous hotels, restaurants and bars and it is famous for its large selection of shops and museums. During the summer season the central shopping area is often open well into the early hours and there are many large and popular festivals and sagras held in the town throughout the year.

Grottamare is often overlooked as a place to visit, as visitors often bypass  the town while travelling on the Autostrada on their way south to the bigger resort of San Benedetto, or to the north to Porto san Giorgio. But Grottamare is well worth a visit in its own right and it nevers disappoints. I personally think it is one of the more gentle seaside resorts along the Le Marche coastlineand parking is easy most of the year, though more difficult in the summer when numerous antique and general fairs are held all along the beach front.

Also in the hills above the main town is the stunning older Medieval part of the town, Grottamare Alta, with its wonderful views across the town and coast beneath and here can be found some of the best restaurants in the whole of Le Marche. The famous Papa Sisto V restaurant in Grottamare Alta has a large open terrace with panoramic views across the sea and is a wonderful place to spend a long hot evening eating some of the best food in all Le Marche.

Further south along the coast we next find the small resorts of Massignano and then the very popular resort of Cupra Marittima. Cupra Marittima is another seaside resort that offers a relaxed atmosphere and it is reminiscent of the Italian coast just south of Rome.

Running through the centre of Cupra Marittima is the main Adriatica road, lined with small shops and bars and the Adriatica also runs parallel to the main North to South railway line and A14 Autostrada.

High above the main part of Cupra Marittima resort is historic Cupra Alta and the imposing 15th Century Castello di Marano with its pine lined avenues and lanes on the steep hills leading up to the main castle. The Castello di Marano is now the home of the Gristostomi family and parts of it are used for bed and breakfast accommodation throughout the year. The views from the top of the walled battlements of the Castello of the coastal plain and sea below are some of the best in Le Marche.

It is famous for the large houses, so called Liberty villas that are found all along the sea front and in the numerous small palm lined piazza’s just back from the main front drag. The villas are wonderful examples of the Liberty style architecture that was so popular in small Italian resorts in the late 19th Century.

In the main area of porto san Giorgio there are several large avenues filled with numerous small shops, banks and a central train station from which Bologna in the north and Bari in the south can be reached easily. Just up from the station there is a long wide central boulevard and which is always filled with crowds throughout the summer and on market day on a Thursday morning.

In the centre of Porto san Giorgio there are to found many fine seafood restaurants and bars there is also one of the area’s best Ice cream palours or Gelaterias set in a beautiful small piazza just off the main seafront. The beachfront lined with palms and always popular on the long hut summer evenings has many small beach bars and smal restaurants and in the summer the beach is covered with deckchairs and multicoloured umbrelloni. On many summers evenings all along beach front many small kiosks and stalls can be found selling local foods, handicrafts and artisans wares and it is a delight to spend some time here before going for a meal, drink or ice cream.

Porto Recanati is a resort which largely caters for the Italian tourist in the busy summer holiday season. There are many small shops all over the resort and it is very famous for its sea food and the restaurants serving the most wonderful seafood dishes including Brodetto di Porto Recanati which is a well known fishermans dish famous all over Le Marche.. In the summer there is also the famous Aeronautica Militare air show held each year just outside the town.

Close by Civitanova is also another weel known holiday resort for Italian visitors in the summer season. It boasts long sandy beaches and also a striking lighthouse close to the main docks and small industrial area. It also has a long shopping avenue close by the sea front which has a very large variety of shops, restaurants and bars, and off this street there are many small shops offering local Italian foodstuffs. Civitanova Alta just inland of the resort is an undiscovered gem with many old historic buildings and small local artisans outlets.

Sirolo and Numana close by to Portonovo both have wonderful beaches and some of the best Golf courses in Italy! The centres of these small medieval town have wonderful vibrant small shops, tree-lined piazzas with a walled balconies high above the sea, all offering spectacular views out over the Adriatic sea.