Ancona, Italy

Severely damaged by war and earthquakes, workaday ANCONA has few historical monuments embedded in its tangle of commercial buildings. The modern centre is a grid of broad avenues and palm-shaded piazzas, while the station area, with its heavy trucks travelling noisily to and from the port, will probably make you want to take the next train out. However, as one of the Adriatic's largest ports it's a convenient departure point, and you may well pass through in order to catch one of the regular ferries to Croatia, Greece and Turkey. These days the city is even more of a gateway to the Marche region with Ryanair's direct flights from the UK to Falconara airport, 10km away.