Skip Rimini: Pesaro, the Cultural Capital Between Sea and Music

Pesaro: where the Adriatic Riviera meets culture

Rimini is synonymous with a seaside holiday for millions of Italians and foreigners. But behind the image of nightclubs, row upon row of hotels and endless beach umbrellas lies a less romantic reality: overcrowded beaches, paralysing summer traffic and a historic centre that in summer loses its identity under the weight of beach tourism. Forty kilometres along the coast, Pesaro — Italian Capital of Culture 2024 — offers a completely different model of Adriatic holiday.

A city built for cycling

Pesaro is one of the most cycle-friendly cities in Italy. The Bicipolitana, a network of cycling lanes organised like an underground railway with colour-coded lines, connects the historic centre, the seafront, residential neighbourhoods and the surrounding hills. Here the bicycle is not a tourist attraction but an everyday means of transport: the people of Pesaro use it to go to work, do their shopping, head to the beach.

- Wide beaches: Pesaro's beach stretches for over six kilometres, with generous free areas interspersed with beach clubs. Even at the height of summer you can find a spot without stress.

- Rossini: the birthplace of Gioacchino Rossini celebrates its composer with the Rossini Opera Festival every August, one of the most important opera festivals in the world.

- Hinterland: the Pesaro hills conceal villages, castles and landscapes that foreshadow the Montefeltro and Urbino.

- Reasonable costs: hotels and restaurants cost noticeably less than on the Romagna Riviera.

The historic centre and Rossini

The heart of Pesaro is Piazza del Popolo, dominated by the Palazzo Ducale dei Della Rovere and a large fountain. From here spread the streets for evening shopping and the passeggiata, lively but never chaotic. The Casa Natale di Rossini, on the street of the same name, is a small museum recounting the composer's childhood through memorabilia, original scores and a reconstruction of the nineteenth-century rooms.

The Teatro Rossini, inaugurated in 1818, is a neoclassical gem that during the festival hosts world-class opera productions. But even outside the season, the programme is rich in concerts, theatre and dance.

Do not miss the Musei Civici in Palazzo Mosca, which house the Pala di Pesaro by Giovanni Bellini, one of the masterpieces of Venetian Renaissance painting, and an important collection of Renaissance ceramics from the Marche region.

The Biosfera and the San Bartolo Park

On Pesaro's seafront, the Biosfera — a large glass-and-steel sphere designed by architect Mario Cucinella — has become the symbol of the city-as-cultural-capital. Inside, a tropical garden of plants and butterflies represents the fragility of ecosystems.

North of Pesaro, the Parco del San Bartolo is a green cliff that plunges into the Adriatic: an unusual landscape for this coast, with panoramic walking trails, hidden coves and villages such as Fiorenzuola di Focara, mentioned by Dante in the Inferno. Baia Flaminia and the beach of Vallugola are among the finest in the Marche region.

Where to eat

Pesaro's cuisine combines Marche tradition with Adriatic seafood. The local brodetto di pesce (fish stew) is different from that of every other coastal city: more delicate, with fresh tomato and saffron. Try it at Ristorante Da Alceo, a local institution, or at Trattoria Da Teresa by the harbour. Passatelli in brodo are the traditional first course, while the crescia sfogliata (a layered flatbread) is the Marche street food to eat with cured ham and cave-aged cheese. For the freshest fish, the port's fish market sells the morning's catch every day.

How to get there and when to go

Pesaro is on the Adriatic railway line Bologna–Ancona, with frequent trains. By car, the motorway exit is on the A14. The nearest airports are Federico Fellini in Rimini (30 km) or Ancona-Falconara (70 km). The best months are May–July and September: pleasant sea, cultural events and a lively city without the August chaos. August is the month of the Rossini Festival: busier, but culturally extraordinary.