Perched on the sunny coastal stretches on Italy’s eastern edge, the lively port town and regional capital of Ancona has long been a naval nerve centre of the country as a whole, receiving and sending out cruise ships and tankers and merchant vessels to the deep blue of the ocean, across the Adriatic to Croatia, Greece and beyond.

Today, the place still throbs with all the earthy energy expected of a booming trading centre. Behind the frenetic medley of cranes and containers though, lies a truly enthralling town awash with unexpected sites and cultural attractions. On soaring Guasco Hill, the Byzantine frontispieces of the famous Duomo sparkle while cypresses sway in the salty breeze at the Parco del Cardeto. Ancona tour guides also proudly reveal a chipped and chiselled Arch of Trajan, an ancient testimony to the city’s long and tumultuous past. Of course, beaches are part and parcel in Marche’s seaside capital, with pristine sands stringing their way along the coast at the base of nearby Mount Conero, and creamy beaches primed for sunbathers at Sirolo and Marcelli just to the south.