Can anyone give me some info on living

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10/15/2015 - 08:01

Can anyone give me some info on living in La Marche. We are looking at buying in Abruzzo, Molise but I've just been looking at La Marche and it looks pretty nice!

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Le Marche is definitely worth investigating. There's a bit of everything...the sea, the mountains, interesting hilltop towns, and depending on where you are, a relatively interesting ex-pat community. We moved here from Canada 4 years ago and are very happy....if you want more info/ have questions let me know and I'll be glad to answer..

No I don't really know anything about those 2 places but both Macerata and Urbino are great little cities, with a lot to offer. Not knowing what you're looking for / what your interests are its hard to give you any advice. My suggestion is that you visit all the places you're considering in winter/ during off-season because that will give you a true sense of the place.  Everywhere looks beautiful when the sun is shining...it's quite different on a cold, grey day. 

Well yesterday and today would throw you, lovely blue sky and 20c.... But totally agree with Tizianau that seeing these places out of season is a good idea. In fact visits in all the seasons is ideal, as well as trying to get in a prolonged stay. Renting before buying, although additional cost, is well recommended. Better to be sure than spend a lot of money you may find very hard to get back.

We bought in Marche 12 years ago and have no regrets.  The region is stunning.  You are close enough to the airport at Ancona with daily flights from the UK.  We live near Tolentino, and that works out great - in beautiful countryside with amazing views, no more than 40 mins to the beach and the same to the mountains. Advice I would give - be brave if you want to take on a renovation - it always costs lots more than you think.  We bought a renovated house and then just improved it.  Be careful of houses down 'white roads'., i.e. with no tarmac - as you can be responsible for the maintenance and they can sometimes be impassable after heavy rains. Buy close to a substantial town - say no more than 10 minutes drive - it is good to be able to go food shopping and have a choice of restaurants/bars close by. We only live in our house for the 6 summer months - not a lot happens in Le Marche during the winter - and it gets wet and cold.  Let me know if you want more ......

I'm sorry, but I don't agree with you.The best period in Le Marche isn't summer. From autumn to spring you have many events where you can get in contact with the real atmosphere of this region. I mean, when September comes there are lots of events dedicated to grape harvesting for example. Autumn is the season of truffles and mushrooms. It is the best moment to know deeply the tradition of the region. If you like skiing, you don't need to go in the Alps. It snows in Le Marche too wink

I might also not fully agree with clombardelli, but I would never really say so!  I’m sure the OP is just thankful clombardelli has taken the time to write a very good detailed response. We all love the place we live/picked (and Italian I think are ever worse for this), but what suits one person may not suit everyone. I agree airports are important, especially if you intend to travel back and forward and/or have lots of guests, frequent trips there and back can be a pain. You also need to think about getting there in winter and what if Mr O’leary pulls the plug on your chosen airport?I would say I like all the seasons here (and I think there little difference between here in Abruzzo and Le Marche), but I can see summer becoming my least favourite once I get my English lack of sun out of my system. Then again it depends on what you are looking for in your life and what type of person you are. Many ex-pats here find it boring in the winter simply because they love to sun bathe in sweltering heat for hours on end. Also a lot wouldn’t dream of sitting outside in less than 25c and a lot of Italians we find are the same, although they tend to just go by whatever month it is and not the temperature…. We will sit outside at 15c with the fleece on and have breakfast, but yes we have never been “normal”.  The beach can be wonderful out of season and we have been down a number of times (only 30 minutes for us), including in January in shorts and tee-shirt, mind you it was 24c that day. We have also been snowed in for 3-4 days solid. Not that we live so remote, just the drive(s) are about 200m length and steep and we had drifts of 2-3M in places. Of course at first it’s fun, that is until the power goes off (thankfully not often here) and you are running out of battery juice.When it comes down to it I think you would find there is little difference between Le Marche and Abruzzo, except that is on what you will get for your pound. Unless a lot has changed recently, Le Marche is more expensive. We ruled it out on that and the very fact I’ve mentioned above, if Pescara airport goes (there is often a lot of talk of regional airports going), we have Rome, not too sure what you do if Ancona goes or RyanAir pull out.  At the moment we also have 3 flights a day from Pescara to Rome, which is quite good if we want to fly into Manchester… Molise we never even considered as it was just too far South for us and again because of the airport situation.At the moment summer is perhaps not the best month in the country never mind Marche, but it’s on a par with spring and close is autumn. Winter we don’t like anywhere….