Instead of the Cinque Terre: the Conero Coast in Le Marche, the Riviera the Adriatic Keeps Secret

When people think of Italy's most beautiful coastlines, the Marche riviera rarely comes to mind first. Yet Monte Conero — a white limestone promontory that plunges into the Adriatic south of Ancona — offers a coastal landscape that has nothing to envy the Cinque Terre, with the advantage of being still relatively unknown.

The beaches of the Conero are the hidden jewel: the Spiaggia delle Due Sorelle — two white limestone sea stacks rising from turquoise water — is reachable only by boat, and in summer a ferry service connects it to Numana. Portonovo is a bay sheltered from the maestrale wind with water so transparent it looks tropical. San Michele and Sassi Neri offer white pebbles and perfect snorkelling depth.

Sirolo, the medieval borgo atop the cliff, is the heart of the Conero: a small square with views over the Adriatic, white stone lanes, artisan gelato shops and an atmosphere that turns magical in the evening. From Sirolo a path descends to the Spiaggia di San Michele through a holm-oak wood — a twenty-minute walk that serves as a perfect introduction to the park.

Numana, a little further south, has a small leisure harbour and a high beach with the characteristic white rocks emerging from the water. The Rivellino — the medieval gate — marks the entrance to the old borgo where you dine with the sea in view.

Monte Conero can be explored on foot along trails marked by the CAI (Italian Alpine Club) that cut through Mediterranean scrub among broom, strawberry trees and lentisk. The highest point (572 metres) offers a view stretching from the Romagna coast to the Gargano.

Eating on the Conero is an Adriatic experience: brodetto di pesce in the Marche style (different from the Romagnola version — redder and spicier), moscioli selvatici (wild mussels that grow on the Conero rocks, a Slow Food Presidium), baccalà alla anconitana and olive ascolane. The wines of the Conero — Rosso Conero DOC from Montepulciano grapes — are full-bodied and fragrant.

The Conero is reached by car from the A14 motorway (Ancona Sud exit), by train to Ancona station and then a local bus, or by flights to Ancona-Falconara airport. Prices are those of Le Marche: a full fish dinner for twenty to twenty-five euros, a sea-view B&B for sixty to eighty euros a night.