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Ascoli Piceno - Practical Information

Valerie Schneider (Valerie)

Parking

Parking in a medieval city can be difficult and parking tickets are expensive (we, unfortunately, know this from experience). If you are visiting Ascoli Piceno just for a day, there is blue-striped (paid) parking on both ends of the city center – on Corso Vittorio Emanuele near the park, and in a small lot on via Angelini in front of the Tribunale, as well as the via Cristoforo Columbo which ascends behind the Tribunale building (turn right on via Volta next to the ugly white courthouse).

Full day and overnight parking is available as well. The easiest to locate is Ex-Seminario, as it is located behind the Duomo, down the street on viale de Gasperi. Torricella is a large underground structure next to the Castellana river. Both have signs directing you to the lots.

Tourist Information

The tourist information office in located in Piazza Arringo, in the Palazzo del Comune. It is staffed by city employees who do not speak English but will readily supply you with maps and brochures. Open 9:30am - 1:00pm and 3:00pm - 6:30pm. The tourist office that used to occupy space in Piazza del Popolo, funded by the Province, has been closed, and it is uncertain if or when it will reopen, which is a shame because they were always more readily helpful.

Shop Hours

Traditional hours are observed here, meaning nearly everything closes down at 1:00pm for a long break, reopening generally between 4:00 and 4:30pm. This includes churches. The only museum that remains open all day is the Archeological Museum. The nearly-vacant streets and piazzas can present wonderful, leisurely photo opportunities, though.

Internet and Wi-Fi

There are a handful of internet points in town – one in Piazza Bonfine, a computer inside the bustling Rinascita bookstore on Piazza Roma, and one on via della Fortezza (but the owner of this one flagrantly smokes inside the building).

For wireless, however, there is only one accessible hotspot in the centro storico – Caffe Pretoriano on via Pretoriana, just up from Piazza Roma.

Caffe Culture

In the big cities when you visit a bar you must first pay, then take your receipt to the barista to order your beverage. Here it's all more informal; just call out your order to the barista and enjoy your coffee and cornetto. You'll probably have to remind him what you consumed when paying.

Artisans

A listing of ceramic producers can be found at the tourist information office in Piazza Arringo. Ascoli Piceno has a long history of producing fine-quality, highly decorative ceramica.

There are also violin makers in Ascoli, located in via Tamburini.

Resources

Photos of Ascoli Piceno: Larger versions of the photos in this section.

www.regione.marche.it: Marche tourist information

www.comune.ascolipiceno.it: Ascoli Piceno official site

Bill Thayer's Gazetteer of the Marche

www.marcheworldwide.org: Marche Regional Authority

www.le-marche.com: Marche Voyager - the complete tourism & travel guide to the Marche region in Italy

Get more information from the Wikitravel Marche Travel Guide.

Valerie Schneider (Valerie) is a freelance writer, who lived in New Mexico for twenty years before trading the high desert for the medieval hill towns of Italy in May, 2006. She is a regular contributor to Slow Travel, pens travel agency newsletters, and has written for Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel. She and her husband, Bryan, currently reside in Ascoli Piceno where they conduct small-group tours called Panorama Italy. Read about her Italian adventures in her monthly Slow Travel column, Living Slow in Italy, and on her blog, 2 Baci in a Pinon Tree. See Valerie's Slow Travel Member page.

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