Surroundings

The Hill is surrounded by treasures. If you've never been to this area before, you're in for a treat. As well as the astonishing Urbino, we're close to the Appennine mountains (for walking) and the Adriatic coast (for swimming and its fish restaurants)

Monday is Day Out day. Well, we don't call it Day Out Day. Just the Day Out. On the day of your Day Out (Monday by the way), you have the chance to explore these local treasures

Let's start with the obvious: Urbino.

One of the reasons we chose this location was its proximity to Urbino.

It's the birthplace of Raphael, and a UNESCO World Heritage site. It's possibly the most important renaissance town in Italy, as it was established by Duke Federico in the 15th century, who was the original Renaissance Man. He used the vast fortune he earned from being very good at killing people in wars to fund his interest in the arts (and literature and sciences, Renaissance Man you see)

He patronised, amongst others, Piero Della Francesca (and no, that doesn't mean he used to stand over young Piero saying 'Cripes, what do you think that is? I could do better than that'). You'll find Piero's famous 'Flagellation' and 'Ideal City' in the Palazzo.

So you can spend a day exploring the art of Federico's enormous palace; visiting the churches, getting lost in the numerous narrow alleyways that sprawl across the town, drinking aperitifs in the piazza or stuffing yourself on ice cream whilst you gaze at the beautiful Italians.

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Or you might prefer to spend the day in Fano, a Roman town on the Adriatic coast. You can spend some time sunning yourself on the beach, swimming in the crystal clear sea, then enjoy a fish meal at La Quinta where the fishermen's wives cook the fresh catch of the day. Then roll into Fano centre in the afternoon for the 'passagiata', where everyone dresses up (not as anything in particular, just smart, like) and goes out for a walk to do some people and shop-window gazing.

And that's not all

We organise guided walks in the nearby Appennine mountains (on the border with Tuscany and Umbria). The local professional guide - who is an academic who specialises in the flora and fauna of the area - may take you on walks to see 'the sun city', an ancient city built on a high rock, but abandoned before it was finished, or the caves and waterfalls of Monte Nerone.