sam007

guys

I'm currently considering breaking down my 10 day vacation between 2 bases - trying to choose between macareta, ascoli, urbino or maybe a smaller town like San Ginesio, San Severino Marche or a coastal town like Senigallia

I'm wondering if urbino would be too many steps for a stroller and taking the carrier everywhere would give us a back ache. Any suggestions?

Thx

Non-NonRev

Will you have a car? If yes, you could base in Pesaro; very close to Urbino and accessible to the other towns. The old town is flat so stroller should not be a problem.

PWMTrav

I think you'd be better off with a stroller than a carrier. Urbino has a decent sized pedestrian area, too, so fewer cars to contend with. The biggest issue we've found anywhere in Italy with a stroller is the pavement - lots of cobblestone, brick, etc. And things are narrow. Basically, what you don't want is a crappy umbrella stroller, the wheels are too small and you'll get stuck in every crack, but something of those dimensions but a little sturdier like a Maclaren would work ideally. We take our City Mini, which is a bit bigger, and that does very well because of the larger back wheels. But sidewalks don't exist everywhere, so you have to be okay going in the street sometimes. Or if the sidewalk is clogged, deciding whether you're going to use the street or make the people clogging it move for you.

As far as steps (the stair kind, not the one foot in front of the other kind) go, something on the lighter side helps. We'd normally take our daughter out and have her walk up (if she was old enough) and I'd just carry the stroller up.

I'd say what you really don't want is a big heavy stroller or a conversion type system. Keep it light and sturdy and you'll be fine. Italians themselves do it.

PWMTrav

He's talking about Urbino. Urbana is in Veneto. I think you meant that since you mentioned Pesaro in Marche. Just pointing it out so OP doesn't accidentally end up in the wrong place

Non-NonRev

Thank you for catching that. I did type Urbino, but the over-aggressive auto-correction on my tablet changed it.

I will edit my post.

PWMTrav

Your tablet probably wanted to go to Illinois really bad for some reason. I type in both English and Italian on my iphone most days and would really like some kind of mixed-language spellcheck capability. Even something really crude, like combining the two dictionaries, just so spell check doesn't change every meaningful word because I didn't manually switch languages.

sam007

haha - like both the conversations on here; )

So which two bases would you folks choose for a 1st visit? Our travel style is usually avoiding the very large tourist sites and instead enjoy open-air natural beauty, find a cute neighborhood cafe and people watch, leisurely stroll in a park, eat at restaurants that locals flock to, check out any outdoor music or festivals and so on

I was originally thinking Macereta which has the outdoor Opera Aug 5-7 and Quintana in Ascoli is on Aug 7

Thx

PWMTrav

I'd lean toward Ascoli Piceno. It's the largest of the places you've listed (I think). The reason I chose that is that a lot of Italy starts to slow down in August since Italians go on vacation. It centers around August 15 (Ferragosto), but the entire month can be hit and miss as to what is open/closed. A bigger town will give you a balance between things to do and not being swarmed with tourists. You'll also be a ~40 minute train ride from the beach if you want to do that. San Benedetto del Tronto is another large (50k people) town on the shore, connected by regional train to Ascoli Piceno.

Plus, the stroller implies a younger child. Public jousting will be way cooler than the Opera

This is definitely not the usual first visit. I plan those for people, and ~90% include Rome, Florence and Venice, which are all awesome. But for the time of year you're going, I like the plan to avoid the cities, especially since cities aren't your thing to begin with.

Where would you be flying from/into?

sam007

so you mean you'll choose urbino + macereta (planning 4-5 nights each) and of course day trips on most days. if baby puts a fuss up, we'll stay local and stroll around

PWMTrav

I was thinking Ascoli Piceno over Macerata, if your dates coincide with Quintana. Keep in mind Urbino is smaller than both (under 20k people, IIRC). If you start there and get bored before 5 nights, your best bet is to change the plan on the fly and move on.

I wouldn't count on day trips most days with a baby. I've tried that and it becomes a lot of trouble to pack up and spend the entire day away. Mid-day breaks when your clocks are all screwed up really helps. My experience is that really small kids don't adjust to the time as readily as older kids or adults would. All kids are different, of course.

sam007

another Q - how hot does it get in august - is the 90's very common?

PWMTrav

It can get into the 90's, but if I recall correctly, mid/upper 80's is about average. It's warm by my tastes, but I live in Maine and admittedly don't like heat.

Non-NonRev

The Macerata festival includes both indoor and outdoor performances. The outdoor are held in the Sferisterio, which is an ancient sports stadium converted to a performance venue.

KLouis

If you get close to Urbino and have a little extra time, visit the Chiesa dei Morti in Urbania (with an i!). Tens of "dressed" mummies, it gets really funny. Amazing to see how many weird things they came up with in Italy in order to decorate their churches...