Practical Information for visiting Ascoli Piceno

Ascoli is reachable without difficulty but is not on any main line.

The railway is a branch from San Benedetto del Tronto on the Adriatic coastal line, about forty minutes, with connections north towards Bologna and south towards Lecce.

By road, a fast dual carriageway runs down the Tronto to the A14 at San Benedetto in about half an hour; Rome is about three hours across the Apennines, Pescara about an hour and a half.

The nearest airports are Pescara at roughly an hour and a half and Ancona at about the same; Rome Fiumicino is around three and a half hours.

Coaches run daily to Rome, which for many locals is the practical way to the capital.

Coverage for mobile networks is good in the city and unreliable in both mountain ranges.

Ascoli is a safe and quiet city and visitors are not a target.

Petty crime is low; ordinary care in the market and during the Quintana crowds is enough.

The dominant risk is seismic. This is one of the most active corners of Italy, the 2016 sequence was centred a short distance away, and aftershocks continue to be felt. Know how to get out of the building you are sleeping in.

In the upper Tronto valley, damaged buildings and closed zones remain. They are fenced for good reason; do not enter them, and do not photograph inside the red zones of villages where people still live nearby.

Mountain weather in the Sibillini changes fast and the range has a serious accident record; the Laga is wetter and its river crossings rise quickly.

The travertine paving of the squares is slippery when wet, which is a genuine and frequent cause of falls.

Emergency services are reached on 112.

No vaccinations or special precautions are needed; standards are those of Italy generally.

The flat centre makes Ascoli much easier than most historic Italian cities for anyone with limited mobility, though the polished travertine is slick in rain.

Summer heat in the enclosed squares is real and lingers into the evening; there is shade under the arcades and little in the open.

Ticks are present in the grazing country and scrub of both mountain ranges.

At altitude in the Sibillini, above 2,000 metres, weather and exposure are the issues rather than the height itself.

Ascoli has a hospital with an emergency department serving the whole southern Marche, and pharmacies operate a published night rota.

Provision in the mountain villages is thin, and some services have not returned since 2016.

EHIC and GHIC cards are accepted; travel insurance covering mountain activity is worth having if you plan to walk.

The single emergency number across Italy is 112, reaching police, ambulance and fire, generally with English-speaking operators.

Other numbers still in use: 113 police, 118 medical, 115 fire.

The Ospedale Mazzoni in Ascoli has an emergency department and is the referral hospital for the southern Marche; San Benedetto del Tronto has a second, about forty minutes away.

For mountain rescue in the Sibillini or the Laga, call 112 and ask for the Soccorso Alpino.

Report thefts to the Carabinieri or the Polizia, both with stations in the city, for the report an insurer will require.

The nearest foreign consular representation is in Florence or Naples; embassies are in Rome.

Ambulances reach the whole of the old city, which is flat and gridded; the pedestrian zone is open to emergency vehicles.

In the event of an earthquake, civil protection information is issued through the comune and through the national system, and both publish in Italian only.