3 Renaissance days in the northern side of Marche, the Montefeltro

This 3-day trip, it's ideal for a quick getaway surrounded by hills who will take you exploring middle-age and renaissance beauties in the Montefeltro area. This area is situated across Marche and Romagna in Central Italy and it's named after the Da Montefeltro family who used to rule the area around the 15th century. The Dukes of Montefeltro set the capital of the Duchy, Urbino to be one of the cradles of renaissance making it one of the most important Italian centers for architecture and art. Here you will be visiting Marche's National Gallery where some great painting examples are kept (to name a couple of artists, you will find Raphael and Piero della Francesca) and visit some towns around Urbino which are true little treasures. We will also take you out for lunch in Acqualagna whose truffles are very famous and much sought after.

This tour is a good balance between art and good cuisine with a bit of nature here and there. We do suggest a light baggage that includes a suitable clothing to visit urban centres. What we strongly recommend is wearing comfortable shoes at all times: Urbino and Gradara are towns built on hills so there will be some up and downs and some walk to do. No need to say, bring a camera and be ready for good food.

Urbino

Urbania

Furlo Canyon

Gradara

1

Urbino

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We will meet in Urbino: after checking in at your accommodation you will visit the city with our guide: be ready to enjoy lot of renaissance art and architecture. Some of the highlights will be Raphael's native house, the Cathedral designed by Valadier (one of the greatest Italian architects of this artistic era) and obviously the Ducal Palace who hosts Marche's National Gallery. Urbino it's also a lively university campus so it's full of bars and good places for a drink after your sightseeing.

2

Urbania and

the Canyon

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On day two you'll drive to Urbania for our excursion "Getting around the Duke's land" and while you travel a magnificent scenery made up of hills will surround you. This town formerly known as Calsteldurante is a town built on the shores of Metauro river. Our guide you will meet will take you exploring this village: its Castles and the Barco Ducale which used to be the hunting place for the Dukes of Montefeltro. You will also visit a very special church, called Chiesa dei Morti. It's very peculiar but we don't want to spoil anything (please don't Google it ;). Once sightseeing is done, we'll drive to Acqualagna, Marche's truffle capital. Your truffle lunch is waiting for you! After lunch we go back to Urbino but travelling through the Furlo Canyon. Before flooding it with a reservoir it's used to be a very deep gorge. Nowadays it still look beautiful, and the presence of the lake makes it totally worth the stop. Once in Urbino, free time for you to chill.

3

Gradara

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After checkout we'll shift to Gradara. This mighty castle, typically from the middle age surrounds the village, and at the top of the hill a fortress dominates the valley underneath. Today there will be no guided tour so you can visit around as you please, we do suggest to take a visit to the Fortress though. This one inspired Dante Alighieri for the Divine Comedy: Paolo and Francesca tragedy (nowadays we'd call it a love story) was based on facts happened here. With Gradara your trip comes to an end; if you have some more spare time you may want to check out Pesaro. Maybe for a coffee or a drink on the beach.