Secret Italy
Draw up a list of all those wonderful reasons for going to Italy: Renaissance art and architecture, Blue Flag beaches, national parks, medieval hilltop towns, historic palaces, classical gardens, nights at the opera and lots of fine wine and seafood, and you’ll find them in the Marche, in between the Apennines and the Adriatic. Stay at Casa Isabella, just outside Montegiorgio (Friday market, bars and shops...). It sleeps eight, has a pool and sits in seven acres with landscape views. Book through holidaylettings.co.uk.