Tuscany has long been the dream destination of many people who want a holiday or retirement home of their own. A romantic villa in a picturesque landscape, a little apartment tucked away in a small village, a palazzo in a medieval town – these are the goals of many people from English speaking countries. They just want a fine property in a place with a good climate and cultural life.
Unfortunately, property prices in Tuscany, Umbria and around Lake Garda have rocketed over the past few years and these are the very areas that are not too difficult to get to from Britain. Yet - since Ryan Air is flying to Ancona, Pescara and Forli, also our region can be reached easily now.
Lovers of Italy have been left with one - largely unknown - alternative: Marche (pronounced markay), ‘Tuscany’s green sister’.  ‘We are the whole of Italy in a single region,’ is what the Marchigiani say about their region. Many of the people who are disappointed with Tuscany say ‘This is exactly what we thought Tuscany would be like’.
But don’t get us wrong: Tuscany is incredibly beautiful - and people who live in Marche can easily reach it whenever they feel like it. After all, it’s just the next province. But whilst living in Tuscany is a question of life style (‘We’ve got a place in Tuscany, you know’) the thing that’s special about our region is the quality of life.
Moreover, surveys show that the quality of life in the Marche is the best in the whole of Italy. The two most northerly provinces of this region, Pesaro/Urbino and Ancona, have much to offer that cannot be found in Tuscany: sandy beaches, romantic bays, and delightful hills that lead up to the crags of the Apennines. Seekers of peace and quiet will find both here. But there is also something for lovers of bright lights and entertainment. We are just a stone’s throw away from the coastal resorts of Rimini, Riccione and Cattolica in the neighbouring region of Emilia Romagna to the north. In the Marche itself there is Gabicce Mare, Fano and Pesaro (with its own Riviera), Marotta, Senigallia, Ancona (with its rocky coast line around Monte Conero) - all tourist centres offering a range of facilities normally associated only with Milan, Florence and Rome.
Despite the undeveloped tourist infrastructure (not even the waiters speak English), the Marche offers many cultural attractions. There are towns like Urbino, the birthplace of the painter Raffaelo, which boasts a university, museums, galleries, antiques fairs, a theatre and concerts; and Pesaro, the birthplace of Rossini, with its opera, music academy, the Rossini Festival, museums, galleries, concerts and open air events. Then there is the Roman town of Fano which hosts jazz concerts and summer theatres, a regular antiques fair and historical exhibitions. These are just three random examples that are typical of the entire region, where every village has its ‘sagra’, its festivals and summer theatre.
The provincial capital Pesaro is ideal for opera and concert visits and gourmet evenings in first class restaurants, shopping trips and bathing on clean, sandy beaches that stretch for miles. A visit to the starkly impressive university town of Urbino. is a ‘must’ for art and architecture lovers.  For those interested in history, there is the whole of the Flaminian Way and the Furlo Gorge (Europe’s deepest canyon), an archaeological site with Etruscan and Roman settlements.
If one sets off from the Roman town of Fano (‘Fanum Fortunae’) the Republic of San Marino is just thirty minutes by car whilst the important industrial and commercial city of Bologna with its international airport is an hour and a half away. The port and capital of the region, Ancona, also has an airport and is just 30 minutes away. Rome can be reached via the romantic Flaminian Way (dual carriageway in parts) in just three hours. Arezzo is one and a half hours away. Ravenna and Perugia - both a must for culture vultures - are about an hour away.
More on the quality of life
· The water of the central Adriatic is rated as ‘good’ or ‘very good’ for bathing. Over the last few years there have been no surface algae and there are no large rivers to discharge industrial waste from the interior. The coastal resorts have good sewage treatment facilities.
· Unlike Tuscany and the big towns in the south and north, burglaries are virtually unknown here. Whilst there is petty crime, there is no organised crime, no problem with drugs, no protection racket and no car thefts. People often don’t even bother to lock their cars. There is one exception to this rule: in the height of the summer tourist season some tourists from the north may steal to support their habit. However, that applies only to the coastal strip.
· A rigid building ban - only existing buildings can be extended and renovated - stops unregulated building in agricultural areas.
Anyone thinking of retiring to this area must knuckle down to learning Italian, or they will have a lonely time of it. The people here are certainly friendly and helpful and you can call on your neighbour at anytime, but they are at something of a loss with foreigners because they don’t understand them. But this has nothing to do with hostility to foreigners. On the contrary, the inhabitants of Marche are an exceptionally likeable sort of people.
There is nothing false or sly about their dealings with foreigners; they are honest and hardworking and ‘thoroughly old-fashioned’ in the best sense. ‘Genuine values’ that have been lost in industrialised areas, even in Italy, can still be found in the Marche. People keep their word, a handshake is an agreement, and punctuality is a matter of honour.
The wonderfully hilly landscape and the fact that the houses are often scattered even if they are not actually isolated means that one needs to be mobile. A motor vehicle is a necessity.
Medical care is good, in terms of both first aid and hospitals. But here again, Italian is vital. If you want the company of your compatriots, you would be better off in the ‘Chiantishires’ or the Dordogne.
The climate is less harsh than in Tuscany and consequently the countryside is greener – with countless small rivers that are full of fish. But even here, temperatures in July and August can reach 40 degrees Celsius. From central Italy down, the typical British request for ‘somewhere facing south’ should be changed to: ‘Where’s there a bit of shade?’ People here want somewhere facing north.
Winter comes late - the trees don’t shed their leaves until December and summery days are not uncommon in November.
March is often damp and cold. And at higher altitudes there may even be some snow. But it never gets really cold. The southern sun prevents that and bathes everything in the fantastic light that is so typical of this area.
That was our hymn in praise of ‘our’ Marche. There are many things that we haven’t mentioned because by now we take them for granted. You will discover a lot for yourself when you visit us for the first time. But please do not expect any miracles if you want to buy property here. There are no free gifts in this beautiful area. And we do not believe in bargain hunting, buying a ruin cheaply and doing it up again cheaply. There is a price to pay for quality.
There are nevertheless properties at prices that are unthinkable in England. There are properties in idyllic positions that will rapidly appreciate and can be sold again at a good profit if the buyer wants or needs to sell (for whatever reason). If you buy property in the Marche, you are automatically acquiring an asset that is appreciating by fifteen percent a year. Nevertheless: those who come here to speculate should do so somewhere else. We are looking for people who fit in here, not speculators.
In view of the continuous price increases, many of our clients have decided that the best thing is to buy now, restore the property (roof, windows, doors) and then just leave it like that until time, money and opportunity are right for doing it up completely. This ensures that they can obtain a property that they might not be able to afford in a few years.
We should also like to warn you about a curious phenomenon that affects us either directly or indirectly whenever a contract is signed. When you tell your friends and acquaintances about your intention to purchase a property in Italy, people will at first be full of encouragement.
But - and this has all too often been our experience - when you return home from a visit with concrete plans for a property that you definitely want to buy, an incredible thing happens: you will be surrounded by people forecasting doom and people who 'speak from experience' or 'who know someone who speaks from experience'.
It is not just narrow-minded people for whom Italy is the land of car thieves, kidnappers, bag snatchers, conmen, takers of bribes and the Mafia. Some people, for example, have direct experience of the neighbouring region of Tuscany that they feel they have to pass on. Some of these experiences are genuine enough but others are due to lack of experience, misunderstandings, inadequate knowledge of the language and the culture clash. Anyway, experiences in other regions of Italy are not a reliable yardstick for Le Marche.