Leisure: fish, Mercato delle Erbe, Passetto, Conero, Ancona football

Food and markets

Ancona's dishes: brodetto all'anconetana, a fish soup with thirteen varieties, stockfish all'anconetana with potatoes and tomato, Portonovo moscioli (wild mussels gathered on the Conero cliffs, a Slow Food presidium, in season from April to October), Adriatic fish fried or grilled. From the Marche inland come vincisgrassi, ciauscolo, olive all'ascolana, crescia, and the Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi and Rosso Conero wines.

The Mercato delle Erbe, on corso Mazzini, is the historic covered market with food and fish stalls; the fish market and the port stalls sell the day's catch; the Piano market is the largest open-air one.

Sea and nature

The urban beach is the Passetto, rocks and platforms below the War Memorial, reached by the staircase or the lifts; to the north, Palombina has a sand-and-gravel beach. In the Conero Park: Portonovo (gravel, beach clubs and free beach), Mezzavalle (free, on foot), la Vedova and il Trave; the park trails from Poggio to the summit of Monte Conero cross the woods and viewpoints. The Cardeto Park, above the centre, is the urban park with the lighthouses, the Campo degli Ebrei (the old Jewish cemetery) and the view over the port; the Cittadella has gardens.

Sport

Ancona football club plays at the Del Conero stadium, at Baraccola; the city has a tradition in sailing and rowing (clubs at the port and Portonovo), swimming (Passetto) and cycling on the Conero roads. Running happens along viale della Vittoria, at the Passetto and the Cardeto.

Evenings and free things

Evenings concentrate at piazza del Papa (piazza del Plebiscito) and the alleys of the centre, at the redeveloped old port with the bars below the Lanterna, and in summer at Portonovo. The Mole Vanvitelliana hosts concerts, festivals (Adriatico Mediterraneo, La Mia Generazione) and exhibitions; the Teatro delle Muse has an opera, drama and concert season.

Free: the Passetto and Mezzavalle beaches, the Cathedral, sunsets from the Passetto and the Cardeto, the Conero trails, the San Ciriaco Fair in May, first Sundays of the month at state museums.