A Different Tour of Italy

The view from Le Case
Have you traveled to Italy before and seen most or all of the bigger and more popular cities? Do you want to go back to Italy, but not be bothered by all the tourist attractions? In a new article up on GoNOMAD, travel writer Vera Marie Badertscher talks about a trip to lesser known parts of Italy, just as beautiful yet untouched by the tourism craze. Le Marche, a section of Italy that still seems like it’s in the Renaissance, is the focal point of the piece. Here’s a selection about Urbino, a college town in the mountains.

The crowning jewel in his duchy, Urbino, housed Fredereco of Montefeltro and his government. Considered a model city of the Renaissance, the town’s castle hosted dignitaries from popes to leading scientists and artists. Fairy-tale towers soar above and the interior shines with the best work of fifteenth and sixteenth century wood carvers, painters, sculptors and mosaic artists.

In Urbino, a university town since 1564, signs still advertise student apartments along cobblestone, pedestrian-only streets. The castle sits on top of a hill, and the city rises even higher above the castle. Somehow, these streets look much less steep and the distances decrease on our flat city map. Exploring the byways, we walk off the effects of luncheon pasta.

Having returned to the fifteenth century in Urbino, we keep going back until we reach the first century A.D. We travel part of the Via Flamina, a Roman road leading from the coast inland through one of Italy’s most dramatic sites.

The Furlo Gorge does not compete with the Grand Canyon, but we relish the combination of driving through a tunnel hacked through rock by the Romans and the natural beauty of towering rock walls surrounded by dense forests.

Many regional and national parks and nature preserves like Furlo attract summer visitors to the camping and hiking trails throughout Le Marche.

You can read the entire article on GoNOMAD.com