Marche
How to Get Around Marche
Getting Around
The coast is well served by rail; everything inland needs a car.
Arriving
Ancona Falconara is the regional airport, small and with limited European routes. Many visitors arrive instead through Bologna or Rome, both around three hours away by road. Ferries run from Ancona to Greece, Croatia and Albania.
Trains
The Adriatic main line runs the length of the coast — Pesaro, Fano, Senigallia, Ancona, Civitanova, San Benedetto — and is fast and frequent. Branch lines climb a few of the valleys, reaching Jesi, Fabriano, Macerata and Ascoli Piceno, but they are slow and infrequent. Urbino has no railway station, which surprises people: the connection is by bus from Pesaro or Fano.
Buses
Regional coaches connect the inland towns, including Urbino, but weekend services are sparse.
Driving
- A car is effectively required for Urbino, the Sibillini, the inland valleys and most agriturismi.
- The A14 motorway runs along the coast and is tolled; the SS16 parallels it for free but is slower.
- Travel across the valleys inland is much slower than the distance suggests — allow roughly double.
- Most historic centres have a ZTL, camera-enforced.
- Some mountain roads in the south remain affected by earthquake reconstruction.
Regional connections
How easily, and at what cost, can you combine the region’s main destinations?
| Route | Best option | One-way time | Travel Smart take |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ancona and Ascoli Piceno | Train and local bus, or car | ~1 hr 45 min typical, not a timetable | Possible in a day, but it takes most of one. Ancona is a workable base for Ascoli Piceno. |
| Ancona and Urbino | Bus or car | ~1 hr 30 min typical, not a timetable | Possible in a day, but it takes most of one. Ancona is a workable base for Urbino. |
| Urbino and Ascoli Piceno | Bus or car | ~2 hr 30 min typical, not a timetable | Better as a separate stay than a day trip. |
Cost compares the options for each route rather than quoting a fare: inexpensive means the price is not a factor in planning, moderate cost means a real line in the budget, and the expensive option is one worth weighing against the alternative. Fares change from year to year; the ranking between them does not.