26 April 2012: San Marino is a republic in the middle of Le Marche and we decided to visit as it was so close by. From Rimini, it appeared in the distance as a rocky bluff with towers perched on the very edge.

Once inside the city walls, we had a pleasant walk on the zig-zag pathways and lanes up to the top to admire the views of the surrounding hills.

The lanes were lined with countless tourist shops, bars and restaurants. We were intrigued by the gun shops that also sold miniature cross-bows and were not sure if the guns were real although the cross-bows definitely were.

We followed Stella’s instructions along minor roads across country to Urbino and she took us on a wonderful tour of the hills, arriving at our campsite just 2km (as the crow flies) from Urbino on a hill overlooking the town. We caught the campsite bus into town and walked from amazing site to amazing site up and down the very steep hills, fuelled by gelato. Urbino is the jewel of Le Marche and is apparently the most well preserved hill town in Italy. We sipped wine and beer in the evening sunshine sitting next to Palazzo Ducale the most complete and refined early renaissance palace in Italy as we waited for the return bus to the campsite.

We watched the sun set dramatically behind the hills from the van and realised that we were running out of superlatives to describe these stunning towns.

27 April 2012: We are now just south of Ancona by the sea shore resting up ready to visit Macerata tomorrow, another hill top town established in the 10th century between the Potenza river and the Chienti river.