The Marche (also known as the Marches in English) form the eastern seaboard of central Italy with the regions of Emilia-Romagna to the north and Abruzzo to the south. From the relatively narrow coastal plains the land rises sharply to the peaks of the Appennines which form a natural boundary with Umbria and Tuscany to the west.While the coastal areas are heavily populated the beautiful inland countryside is sparsely inhabited. The total population of the region is around 1.5 million with an average density of less than 150 inhabitants per square kilometre. The region covers just under 10,000 square kilometres.The inland mountainous zones are mostly limestone and are noted for bare peaks, rushing torrents, dramatic gorges and many complexes of caves. In contrast, the areas nearer the coastal plain are celebrated for their fertile rounded hills topped by ancient fortified towns.
The highest point in the Marche is Monte Vettore in the Sibillini mountains at 2,476 metres. The coast itself boasts long sandy strands; apart from the limestone Conero peninsula, it is virtually all flat.Economically, the region is mostly reliant on medium and small scale productive industries, often family run. Shoes, clothing and furniture manufacture are amongst the most successful businesses.
The relatively poor soil and the general movement away from the land has meant that agriculture now plays a minor role, apart from the production of Verdicchio, the Marche's famous white wine in the central areas. By the coast, fishing remains an important activity.

LE MARCHE CUISINE
Cooking in the Marche is deeply rooted in peasant tradition and remains impervious to the arrival of frozen bastoncini di pesce (fish fingers). Here the home cook rather than the professional chef rules and even the smartest restaurants seek to produce food just like nonna, or grandmother, used to make.
The use of fresh, top quality materials assembled with the minimum of fuss marks marchigiano food. But as dishes are strictly based on tradition and local produce, each local area has its distinctive cucina tipica.
As with any rural diet, much use is made of food gathered from the wild; funghi, game, nuts, field herbs and - the area's greatest culinary treasure - truffles are an important feature in the Marche.
Waste, too, is frowned upon, and many of the now most fashionable dishes were first developed to use up such things as stale bread or the less appealing parts of the pig.
Not surprisingly, the best food is still to be had in Marche homes rather than in restaurants. The arrival, however, of tourists in smaller towns and villages has often raised the standards in local restaurants and led to the "rediscovery" of long lost traditional dishes.
The old labels ristorante, trattoria and osteria have become somewhat interchangeable in recent years; many of the smarter, and most expensive places, call themselves osterie and take pride in reinterpreting strictly local dishes with great flair. Many restaurants also double as a pizzeria, but note that pizzas are usually only available in the evening when the wood-fired oven is lit.
Generally, though, a ristorante will at least have a written menu and a broader choice of wines. In trattorie, particularly in country areas, you will often have to cope with a menu rattled off at your table by the proprietor - at your blank looks a son or daughter with some English or French will often be brought out from the back to assist.
Avoid the temptation just to order dishes whose names are familiar to you from back home - you will frequently be missing the best the house has to offer. If you are touring in summer or early autumn, look out for posters advertising the local sagra - a festival dedicated to a town's particular speciality where you can try the food in question in every guise imaginable. We've put a few of the more curious sagre in Marche Voyager's calendar of events.
A word of warning - Italian law requires that you always take your receipt, or ricevuta fiscale, with you from restaurants, bars and shops. The aim is to stop sales tax fraud and plain-clothed tax inspectors do stop people outside places and can fine them if they don't have a proper receipt.
Eating - keep an eye out for...
Official statistics claim that marchigiani eat more meat than any other Italians and it shows. In many country areas going out to a restaurant is basically an excuse to fuel up on enormous platters of charcoal-grilled meats - grigliata mista di carne. Relief, however, is on hand along the Adriatic coast with some of the peninsula's best fish. Print out the Marche Voyager menu translator to help you order.

For an antipasto, mountain salt-cured ham and lonza (salt-cured fillet of pork) reign supreme. If you see it, also try ciauscolo (a soft, spreadable pork salame).
The classic primo is a generous plate of tagliatelle dressed with a sugo, or meat sauce.
The region's unique pasta dish is vincisgrassi, a rich baked lasagna without the usual tomatoes. Urbino is also famous for passatelli, strands of pasta made from breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, and egg cooked in broth. Apart from the ever-present meat grilled alle brace, on embers, delicious stuffed pigeons (piccione ripieno) and rabbit cooked with fennel (coniglio in porchetta) are a Marche speciality. In some areas, stewed snails (lumache) occasionally creep on to the menu.

By the coast, particularly around Ancona, try brodetto, fish stew which must be made with 13 species of fish, no more, no less. Thin spaghetti dressed with vongole, or baby clams, is always good here as is spaghetti allo scoglio, "on the rocks" dressed with seafood.

In the northern Marche look out for piadina, a flat, unleavened bread often served with cold meats at roadside snack-bars. The sheep's' milk pecorino cheese is excellent here and is best eaten in the spring with young raw broad beans or fave. Look out, too, for formaggio di fossa - (a strong-flavoured cheese aged by being walled up in limestone holes in the ground

Numana
The southern spur of Conero shelters the riviera's two chief resorts. Sirolo is the most attractive, with a spruce medieval centre and a tree-lined, balcony piazza that teeters high above the sea. The best beaches are accessible using a half-hourly bus service that drops down to each of the coves. The mass of campsites and hotels below the old town runs seamlessly into more of the same at Numana. Still, it has a fine long beach to the south and an archeological museum documenting the history of the Piceni tribes who lived here until Rome muscled in (Via La Fenice, 4).
Just south of Ancona rises the solitary limestone peak of Monte Conero whose steep slopes slide down to the sea and the prettiest beaches on the whole of the Northern Adriatic shore. The beauty of the place means that its three small resorts offer standing room only in July and August; come in late May, early September or, best of all, June.
Portonovo
From Ancona, the first port of call is Portonovo, the smallest retreat on the Conero Riviera. Gasp at the picture postcard views out to sea as you wind down the dead-end road to this collection of hotels, restaurants, campsites and makeshift beach huts on a narrow strip of beach. The strand is split in two by the Fortino Napoleonico, a squat, blank-eyed fort built in 1808 by Napoleon's Italian Viceroy to fight off English ships. It is now a most singular hotel.

At the end of the road, where the evergreen oaks that smother the mountain come down to the sea, stands the early Romanesque church of Santa Maria. Built between 1034 and 1048, its curious form is unique in Italy and looks as if it might be more at home in Normandy.
Back on the main road, the Conero trail skirts the base of the mountain with sweeping views inland. Around 8 km S from the junction for Portonovo, follow signs for Monte Conero to drive up to Badia di San Pietro, built in the 12thC as a Benedictine Hermitage and now a hotel. This is the highest point on the mountain reachable by car and worth the journey for the views.

The whole area was declared a regional nature park in 1987 and a web of signed footpaths cover the peak - maps and information from the Consorzio del Parco del Conero at Sirolo. On the summit (572 mt) traces of a Paleolithic settlement dating back 100,000 years have been discovered - the earliest signs of human presence in the region.

To escape from the crowds make for one of the many small isolated coves only reachable by boat - regular services in season from Numana, Sirolo and Portonovo.
Sirolo also boasts the Conero Golf Club, the region's fine course for golfers.
http://www.conerogolfclub.it/ The club has two paths. The 18 championship holes (a par 72 5.969mt long), and a wide zone at the bottom of a valley -with water obstacles and differences in height-, create the perfect scenario for situations always different. The second path "Executive" (9 holes par 29 1.408mt long), is ideal both for the newbees and those who want to perfect the short game. For practicing, the driving range with partially covered positions and a wide putting green. A teacher of the Federazione Italiana Golf is always available for lessons, together with a vast calendar of championships and high-level event.

GETTING THERE
by air: The low fares airline RyanAir flies daily from London Stansted and - from autumn 2006 - Liverpool to the region's own airport, Ancona Falconara.

Both Alitalia and British Airways offer daily flights to Bologna airport (2-3 hours by car to Ancona). Easyjet from summer 2006 flies to Rimini and Ryanair also flies to Forli which it dubs "Bologna Forli" though it's half-way between Bologna and Rimini. Prices vary dramatically according to season and type of ticket - shop around for the best deal.

Rome airport (3 hours by car to Ancona) offers a wide choice of airlines.

by rail: Unless you loath flying, competitive air fares make the train journey really only worthwhile when combined with a cut-price rail pass allowing further travel within Italy. The Eurail Pass available in North America and the Inter-Rail pass (for the latter you have to have been resident in Europe for at least six month) provide economic and unlimited travel throughout Italy and the rest of Europe. If you are under 26 or a senior citizen there are further tempting discounts - enquire at a main railway station for details. If you want to take your own car to Italy but can't face the drive, you might consider using one of the express car sleepers - expensive but a good option if time is short and you want to carry mounds of luggage, children, tents, etc. For more try the Italian State Railways site.