The Rocca del Sasso and the Villanovian museum in Verucchio, the Forte di San Leo with Cagliostro's cell, the Pieve and the Duomo.
Two hilltop villages in the Marecchia valley. Verucchio is the cradle of the Malatesta family, and before that it was a city of the ancient Villanovians, whose unique treasures are preserved in the museum. San Leo is an impregnable fortress on a sheer rock face: Dante and St Francis passed through, and the Count of Cagliostro died here as a prisoner.
Times are a guide: driving times are worked out without traffic, then come the visits and ten minutes at every stop to park. In summer towards the coast and at rush hour allow extra time.
This is where the power of the Malatesta began: Malatesta da Verucchio, Dante's 'Mastin vecchio', set out from this fortress to become lord of Rimini at the end of the 13th century. From the walls the view stretches from the coast to San Marino and San Leo.
Reduced hours in winter: check before you go.
Housed in the former convent of Sant'Agostino, it contains grave goods from the tombs of the Villanovians, the people who lived in Verucchio between the 9th and 7th centuries BC. There are amber jewels that came from the Baltic, weapons, vases and above all wooden objects and textiles preserved by a miracle, including the famous carved wooden throne: finds that exist almost nowhere else.
Separate ticket; reduced hours out of season.
A fortress on a rock with sheer walls, redesigned in the 15th century by Francesco di Giorgio Martini for Federico da Montefeltro. Machiavelli considered it one of the finest military works in Italy. Later it became a prison of the Papal States: here Giuseppe Balsamo, the Count of Cagliostro, alchemist and adventurer, was imprisoned and died in 1795. You can visit his cell, the 'pozzetto', where food arrived through a trapdoor in the ceiling.
Separate ticket; in winter open with reduced hours.
One of the oldest churches in the area, pre-Romanesque, built in stone between the 9th and 11th centuries. Inside it is bare and silent, with the 9th-century ciborium above the altar.
Free admission.
The Romanesque cathedral of 1173, in sandstone, dedicated to St Leo, the companion of St Marinus who evangelised the mountain and gave it its name. Beside it, the bell tower on a hillock. In the village, a plaque recalls the verse from Purgatorio in which Dante mentions San Leo; and another commemorates St Francis's visit in 1213, when he was given the gift of Monte della Verna.
Free admission.
How long it takes from each town, the drive back included. Tap a town to see the plan from there.
Almost every old town has a limited traffic zone (ZTL) with cameras: park outside and walk in. The fine reaches your home, abroad too. ZTL and car parks town by town
Romagna Transfer picks you up at your hotel, drops you in front of every stop and brings you back: no parking, no ZTL, and the wine is yours to enjoy.
The Tiberius Bridge, Borgo San Giuliano, the Arch of Augustus, the Domus of the Surgeon, the Tempio Malatestiano and Piazza Cavour.
5 h 55 from Lido delle Nazioni Half day
The plan
The Fellini Museum between Castel Sismondo and Palazzo del Fulgor, the Fulgor cinema, the murals of the Borgo, the Grand Hotel and the director's tomb.
6 h 55 from Lido delle Nazioni Full day
The plan
The tufa caves, the Marchi printing workshop with its mangle, the Ganganelli Arch and the castle of the Azzurrina legend.
6 h 55 from Lido delle Nazioni Full day
The plan
Tonino Guerra's Places of the Soul, the Dalai Lama's bell, the Rocca Fregoso and Sant'Agata's wooden theatre
7 h 20 from Lido delle Nazioni Full day
The plan
The Rocca and walls of Gradara, where tradition places the love story sung by Dante, and the Rocca Malatestiana of Montefiore.
7 h 00 from Lido delle Nazioni Full day
The plan
The Ducal Palace with the National Gallery of the Marche, Raphael's house and the Oratory of San Giovanni.
7 h 30 from Lido delle Nazioni Full day
The planTrips written by our editors from the facts of our monument pages and the official sites. Opening days and hours change: the note under every place tells you what to check before you leave. No prices: you find them on the museums' sites.
