Acquasanta Terme holiday house: Frazione Novele, Acquasanta Terme

Lovely, clean, well-maintained cottage which fits very well with it's environs. Fireplace (with plenty of wood supplied) helped to maintain the rustic image. We flew into Ancona and hired a car and the owner drove down with us and made sure we were settled in. All the bedrooms were comfortable - we used all 3 of them, Me and my wife in the main double, with our 2 boys (aged 7 and 13) in the nearest twin and their Aunt in the other twin. We all had plenty of room and the boys loved it.

The location is excellent being in a sleepy hamlet halfway up a hill with spectacular views across the valley and great vista of the mountains behind. The nearest larger town is 5 minutes away with good restaurants and a pizza place where all the locals queue for takeaways! You can also stock up on all you need here and there are some fabulous butchers and a mushroom shop. We didn't take advantage of the barbecue this time but there is one setup in a small grove outside the cottage.

We were there for a long weekend and decided to visit the mountains and Casteluccio on a day trip - after about 20 minutes driving we were winding our way up to a mountain pass with the views getting more spectacular round each corner. I will recommend the drive across the plain to Casteluccio in the middle of the mountains which is surreal and must be amazing in the summer when all the flowers are out. On to Norcia with its famous square and birthplace of St. Benedict and all things boar should you be so inclined.

The cottage is also within easy reach of Ascoli Piceno (20 minutes) and the Marche coast (half an hour) which we plan to visit on our next visit in the summer along with Rome which is less than 2 hours away.

Highly recommended and we shall return.