Ascoli Piceno

Ascoli lies between two rivers and is built from local travertine, so streets, palaces, churches and paving are all the same pale stone. Piazza del Popolo is closed on three sides by a Renaissance loggia and faced by the Gothic church of San Francesco and the Palazzo dei Capitani, with the Caffè Meletti of 1907 in a corner. The olive all'ascolana is a large local green olive, pitted, stuffed with a mixture of meats, breaded and deep fried, made here for around two centuries. The Quintana, a jousting contest in fifteenth-century costume between the city's six sestieri, runs twice each summer.

What you actually see

• Piazza del Popolo - a travertine square enclosed by Renaissance loggias.
• The stuffed olives - the ascolana, a fried meat-filled olive of the city.
• The Quintana - a costumed joust between the six city districts.
• The travertine city - streets and buildings all in the same pale stone.

When to go

April to June and September to October; the Quintana is run in July and August. Carnival here is one of the liveliest in the region. Summer is hot inland.

Honest expectations

Quintana days close the centre and fill accommodation. The city is off the main tourist routes with fewer English services. Museums keep limited hours.

Nearby

The Sibillini rise west; the Adriatic coast is east.