From Ancona, the first port of call is Portonovo, the smallest retreat on the Conero Riviera. You wind down the dead-end road to a collection of hotels, restaurants, campsites and makeshift beach huts on a narrow strip of beach.

The strand is split in two by the Fortino Napoleonico, a squat, blank-eyed fort built in 1808 by Napoleon's Italian Viceroy to fight off English ships. It is now a luxury boutique hotel. At the end of the road, where the evergreen oaks that smother the mountain come down to the sea, stands the early Romanesque church of Santa Maria. Built between 1034 and 1048, its curious form is unique in Italy and looks as if it might be more at home in Normandy.

Back on the main road, the Conero trail skirts the base of the mountain with views inland. Around 8 km from the junction for Portonovo, follow signs for Monte Conero to drive up to Badia di San Pietro, built in the 12thC as a Benedictine Hermitage and now a hotel. This is the highest road on the mountain and worth the journey for the views.