Today the beautiful beaches, the towns rich in art and the almost uncontaminated inland cause Marches to be visited by many tourists.
We must mention the seaside-resorts of Pesaro, Fano , Senigallia, Civitanova Marche, Porto San Giorgio, San Benedetto del Tronto and Grottammare.
Mount Conero , that includes the seaside-resorts of Sirolo and Numana , is the heart of the homonym Regional Park. It is an environmental oasis, with a rich fauna and various species of birds. Here we find some great suggestive places, such as the Bay of Portonovo, the beach "delle due sorelle", North Belvedere, Pian Grande, Pian dei Raggetti and eighteen itineraries which ramble through the mediterranean scrub.
The testimonies of art are many : St. Mary of Portonovo, St. Peter to Conero , the Antiquarium on the "picena" civilization in Numana, together with some interesting and specific geological itineraries.
The snowy tops of Mounts Sibillini are evocative and a skiing and excursion destination.
Ancona , once a Greek colony, is today the seat of the local government. Near to Ancona, we can find the Frasassi Caves , which are among the biggest caves in Europe: the biggest one, the "Grotta del Vento" (cave of the wind) could contain the Cathedral of Milan.
To the lovers of medieval villages we suggest paying a visit to San Marino , one of the oldest republics in the world, founded in the fourth century A.C. and San Leo, from whom Dante drew his inspiration for the landscape of Purgatory; here you will be able to visit the fortress where Cagliostro (an eighteenth century adventurer) died. In Urbino we suggest visiting the Palace of the Renaissance (fifteenth century), which today lodges the National Gallery of Marches (where you will be able to admire the famous "Flagellazione" by Piero della Francesca and the "Muta" by Raffaello), next you can visit the Cathedral and then the house of the famous painter Raffaello Sanzio. We also suggest Ascoli Piceno with its central Piazza del Popolo, one of the oldest and most evocative squares in Italy, the Palazzo dei Capitani del Popolo, the Cathedral and the Churches of St. Francis and St. Peter Martyr and the towns of Castelfidardo, Osimo, Offagna and Camerano , where you will be able to admire some churches, fortresses and monuments of historic interest.
Finally, we suggest the religious centre of Loreto , with the Saint House of Loreto and its Basilica, visited every year by three million pilgrims.

LOCAL CULINARY SPECIALITIES:
First course : pasta is homemade and often stuffed, ("cappelletti and vincisgrassi"); among the most common kinds of pasta we suggest the "taglierini al ragù, bucatini alla marchigiana and the macaronis of Campofilone"; brodetto, fish soup made with sole, giltheads, mullet, cuttle-fish.
Second course and cold cuts : lamb, chicken , rabbit and the prized bovine meat, roast sucking-pig, "coppa" of the Marches (a king of pork sausage) , the ham of Carpegna, brawn, the salami of Fabriano; little polyps, cuttle-fish, anchovies and pilchards; as far as the cheeses are concerned, the pecorino of Monterinaldo (sheep's milk cheese), the "formaggio di fossa of Talamello, formaggio vissano, ricotta di Amandola and casciotta di Urbino"; we suggest the olives of Ascoli stuffed with meat, cheese and eggs.
Desserts: "beccùte, calcioni, bostrengo, lonza di fico, the nougat of Camerino, pan nociato, sfrappe and castagnole".
Wines: Bianchello del Metauro, Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi, Verdicchio di Matelica, Colli pesaresi rosso, Lacrima di Morro d'Alba, Rosso Conero, Colli Maceratesi Bianco, Vernaccia di Serrapetrona Spumante.
We also suggest some old traditional liqueurs such as "Anisetta" and "mistrà" Varnelli, a liqueur of anise.