Marche family holidays and breaks

Brits have only relatively recently discovered the delights of this region east of Tuscany and Umbria, so you can wander at ease the streets of rural towns and villages that would be crammed with tourists if you were the other side of the regional border – and family holidays work out much better value than in the Marche's better-known neighbours.

Flying Time	2.25 hours
Carbon Footprint	1.08 tonnes CO2
Timezone	GMT +1
Local Currency	Euro

What to Do

Wander the steep streets of the ultimate Renaissance town of Urbino.

Sit in the Piazza del Popolo in Ascoli Piceno and watch the passiegata while the kids – yours and theirs – treat the travertine square as a playground.  

Discover the white cliffs of the Monte Conero peninsula, although the high-season crowds on Sirolo and Portonovo beaches will remind you quickly enough that this is Italy on holiday. Explore the public footpaths on the Monte and admire the Napoleonic fort and Romanesque church at Portonovo.

Visit the southern Adriatic resorts of San Benedetto del Tronto and Grottamare on family holidays outside of high season and you'll have the beach to yourself.

Explore the great outdoors and follow a family hiking trail in the Sybillini National Park.

Where to Stay

For family holidays in the Marche with the full-on rustic Italian experience, try a stone farmhouse complex with a pool such as Tenuta Le Piane – self-catering will both save you money and give you flexibility. Or you might prefer a sweet little family-run hotel such as the Villa Castellani, which has a lovely pool and family suite sleeping 4.

When

If it's a beach holiday you're after, avoid the three main weeks of the Italian summer holiday in August (unless you're an opera lover – this is when the Macerata and Pesaro opera festivals take place). In the heat, escape to the inland hill-towns, where you'll be free of the crowds too. Our favourite months for family holidays in the Marche, however, are May, June, September and October. 

How

To get to the Marche by train, it's a 2hr 20min Eurostar from London to Paris, then an overnight sleep to Bologna and a connecting train to Ancona (1hr 50mins). See the Man in Seat 61 for all details, and also our family-friendly car-hire page.

There are low-cost flights to Ancona with Ryanair from London Stansted, or you could fly to Bologna in neighbouring Emilia Romagna, to Pescara in Abruzzo to the south or to Perugia in Umbria with the same carrier. Florence and Rome are also within easy travelling distance of the region. See our flight deals page.

Note that there are also ferries between Ancona and Greece, Croatia and Turkey.

Eat

This being Italy, child-friendly pasta and pizza are never more than a few steps away, making family holidays in the Marche an absolute breeze. But make sure to sample the brodetto, a local traditional fish stew, and inland the cured pork and hams, pecorino cheeses, mushrooms and prized white truffles.

Dry Verdicchio white wines make for easy summer drinking but it’s the reds from Conero (Rosso Conero) and the more serious Piceno red that you will remember.

Cost

Despite the strength of the Euro versus sterling, Marche is a good place to experience what Italy has in terms to offer family holidays without the often-inflated prices of, say, Tuscany. 

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