The Marches region, on the Adriatic side of the Italian Apennine mountains, has many charming towns like Civitanova Marche, which holds Blue Flag status and is a popular seaside resort with a long beach, a fishing and tourist port, and three cycle paths. Leaving the town you can start your itinerary by visiting Civitanova Alta, the original settlement, an ancient village built on a hill inside the walls of a Medieval castle.
The town of Loreto is an important pilgrimage site
About 20 minutes by car from Civitanova Marche you can find one of the most important pilgrimage sites in the Catholic world: the town of Loreto which owes its fame to the Basilica with the relic of the Holy House of Nazareth. Here, according to tradition, the Virgin Mary was born, lived and received the announcement of the miraculous birth of Jesus. Among the many great artists who contributed to this famous sanctuary and its frescoes are Luigi Vanvitelli, Pomarancio, Luca Signorelli, Melozzo da Forlì and Federico Zuccari. 
Orange-flat environmental-status towns and sandy beaches
A few kilometers from Loreto we come to Recanati the birthplace of Giacomo Leopardi, one of the greatest Italian poets, and Beniamino Gigli, the famous opera singer. Close by we find Porto Recanati, a seaside resort with stony and sandy beaches, smart bathing establishments and playgrounds for children, water sports and cycle paths. Going inland you will be able to explore some of the most beautiful villages in Italy as well as little towns of great artistic and historical interest. Montecassiano, which holds the Italian Touring Club’s Orange Flag tourist-environmental status, is a late-Medieval town where you walk along narrow streets and alleyways and cross squares that have remained unchanged since the 15th century. Don’t miss a visit to the Collegiate Church of S. Maria Assunta with the monumental altarpiece by Fra Mattia della Robbia.
Ancient basilicas and a Benedictine Abbey
Near the town of Montecosaro you will find the Basilica of Santa Maria a Pie 'di Chienti, a masterpiece of Romanesque architecture. Montelupone is another Orange Flag Medieval village with old city walls and four gates that once defended the town. You should visit the Abbey of San Firmano a Benedictine abbey founded in the last years of the 10th century to admire the handsome raised presbytery and imposing staircase.
