Urbino and the Montefeltro
A Renaissance court on top of a hill, and around it fortresses and clay ridges.
In the second half of the fifteenth century Federico da Montefeltro made Urbino one of the most important courts in Europe: Piero della Francesca, Raphael, who was born here, Bramante and Luciano Laurana all worked on it. The Ducal Palace that came out of it is not a fortress but a civil house, and the two slender towers visible from afar have become the symbol of the Marche.
Inside is the National Gallery, with the Flagellation and the Ideal City. Outside, the old centre is steep and entirely of brick, a Unesco site since 1998, and is walked: you leave the vehicle in the car parks below the walls and go up by lift.
The Montefeltro around it
The country around is made of ridges, clay gullies and fortresses: Gradara with the castle where tradition places Paolo and Francesca, San Leo just over the Romagna border, Mondavio and Sassocorvaro with their fortresses by Francesco di Giorgio Martini, Urbania with its palace. Two days cover them.
Campsites here are very few: the base stays on the coast at Pesaro or Fano, barely an hour away, and you come up for the day.