The Season of the Witch

After our two weeks in Florence, we picked up a rental car and set off for the Marche region of Italy. 

Situated on the eastern central coast (the Adriatic side) we made the charming town of Fratte Rosa our home base during our 8 days in the region. Our visit coincided with Halloween which allowed for some extra special stops for the season of the witch. 

Our days were spent wandering through the region, visiting the scenic towns and just enjoying the time on the road. Every drive through Marche was absolutely stunning and one of the top scenic drives we have ever been on (including the PCH in California). Sloping mountains with lush green farms spread far and wide, and the sunsets were spectacular. 

Each evening we would come home with fresh ingredients from the market and cook dinner and drink wine in our rustic cottage kitchen. La Dolce Vita.

Some of our favorite stops in the region included: 

Corinaldo

This medieval town on a hill is home to the Witches Festival, and where we chose to spend Halloween night. The whole vibe of the town was beautiful and a tad spooky. For halloween they had a festival in a park complete with family activities, food trucks, and costume contests. It was a nice glimpse into Italian culture and life to see the community come together in this way. We also wandered the empty streets for a bit of a spooky time which added to the vibe. 

Ancona

We took a day trip to the seaside city of Ancona. It was not our favorite place in the region to visit, somewhat due to the weather and the parking ticket we accidentally got (not our fault, just put the wrong license plate into the App… ok our fault…). Overall it’s a very industrial port city but had some nice walkable features that made for a nice change of pace. We weren’t looking for anything special, it was definitely a good place to get out and about for the day.

San Marino

A country within a country, San Marino is a microstate fully within Italy. The historic center of the country is largely situated on a small mountain peak while the more modern part of the country is found in the rolling hills and flatland surrounding the peaks. The entire country is less than 25 sq. miles.  There is open travel between Italy and San Marino with no restrictions or passport requirements. 

We opted to park in the lowland surrounding area and use the cable car to reach the top of the peaks where the castles and historic center are located. The cable car was an adventure in itself as it is steep and offers amazing views of the mountain and surrounding region. The castles at the top of the mountain were absolutely breathtaking and some of the best views of our whole time in the region. The best part, besides the views, was that almost every inch of these old castles were fully accessible and we could explore everything. We capped off our visit with a hike through the Witches’ Pass to correspond with spooky season. 

Our visit to San Marino was well worth the detour and one that we would highly recommend to anyone in the region.