Gradara, Italy: The Photo that Almost Didn't Happen

I'm back from a whirlwind press trip to the Le Marche area of Italy. I spent three days attending the TBDItaly conference in Rimini then spent two days in the Marche region touring the coastal area with four other travel bloggers.

Now that I'm back in North Carolina, I'm asking myself, "Where do I begin my Italian story?" Do I start with how my plane broke down on the runway and I had to be redirected from Munich to Bologna via Venice causing me to miss an entire night in the village of Cesenatico.

Yeah, I'll get to all of that and so much more, but instead I've decided to start my trip with this photo of Gradara, Italy.

I'm calling this the Photo that Almost Didn't Happen! 


Gradara, Italy, Castles, Medieval fortress, small towns in Le Marche
Beautiful and charming Gradara, Italy 
Gradara, Italy was not on our scheduled press stop. We had a tight agenda. We were in the National Park San Bartolo, and our eyes kept glancing toward a beautiful medieval fortress on the hilltop. We kept asking questions about the castle upon leaving the park, and we finally wore our tourism guide down by saying, "You know we love castles in America."

Since Gradara was our host's hometown, she decided to let us have 30 minutes to walk around the castle. We were so grateful for this privilege.

I fell in love with this town, and it probably made one of the biggest impression on me during this trip.

I'll share more of my photos soon, but be sure to glance at my Instagram account and Facebook page for more photos from my trip.


This map shows you the location of the Marche area in Italy. In my opinion, this area is an undiscovered jewel for tourism, When you travel to the Le Marche area, I believe you get a very authentic experience unlike other popular areas where tourists line the streets.

Photo from www.mapsofworld.com

For more information on the Italian town of Gradara, visit the Region Marche official tourism site

Disclosure: I was honored to be a TBDItaly Top 100 Blogger, and my visit to Italy was fully-hosted by #TBDI2014. It was a priceless experience, and my opinions about this trip are my own. 

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