Reports by Allan Nelson and Konrad Orlowski

The Marche region lies to the east of the Apennine mountains, and has every kind of terrain you could wish for. From long sandy beaches on the Adriatic coast to rolling hills and valleys leading to the high mountains of the Sibillini in the south of the region, and the highest of them all, Monte Vettore at 2,476m.

According to one book I read, Marche is 69 percent hills, and 31 percent mountains. Certainly, if you're not going up, you seem to be going down, and only on the extreme coastal strip is there flat riding to be had. On top of that, it has more castles and hill top towns than you can shake a stick at. Like Umbria was a few years ago, Marche (apart from the coastal area) seems to be one of Italy's best kept secrets, and that's fine by me!

This one was probably a little tougher than our previous tours of Tuscany and Umbria even though the mileage was a little lower, but it was well worth every extra bead of sweat, just as enjoyable, and I'd go back tomorrow.