Numana is located along the central Adriatic Sea, at the southern slopes of Mount Conero. Its territory is almost completely included in Mount Conero Regional Park.
The historic center is situated in the area called Numana Alta, as it is at the top of a cliff overlooking the sea; Numana Bassa includes the area below the marina.
The Numana Alta beach includes two bays which the sea created by the cliff, namely Spiaggiola and Spiaggia dei Frati (Friars Beach); the Numana Bassa beach, instead, expands south of the port up to the Marcelli suburb and hosts many beach and camping resorts, and holiday clubs. Especially fit for children is Marcelli beach, with its colorful resorts, particularly equipped for families. In the mainly hilly interior of the territory lies Svarchi, the second Numana suburb. In the southern part of the communal area, coinciding with the southern limit of the Conero Natural Park, there is the mouth of the Musone river, a wet area very important for environment and nature preservation. The beaches awarded with a Blue Flag in 2018 are Numana Bassa/Marcelli Nord and Numana Alta.
The main tourist attractions are: the rest of the bell tower of a church or of a watchtower; an archeological museum, documenting the history of the Piceni tribes who lived here until Rome muscled in; the Shrine of the Crucifix with a crucifix in cedar wood, a remarkable Byzantine sculpture dating back to the thirteenth century; the city hall, a palace built in 1773, once used as a summer residence of the bishops of Ancona; the Costarella, one of the most typical streets of Numana. Sport lovers have the opportunity to practice a lot of activities: hiking, biking, sailing, surfing, windsurfing, tennis and scuba diving. The most important event is the Feast of the Assumption of Our Lady, which takes place on August 14. The feast starts around at 9. p.m. with the celebration of the Mass at the port; after the service, the fishermen pay homage to the patron. At the end there are the fireworks on the sea.
Numana is the first city in the Marche region that has started a program to rescue loggerhead turtles. Numana has run this program since 2001. It collaborates with the Cetacea Foundation for the rescue of the loggerhead turtles. Recently, it has been accepted as part of the ambitious European Project IPA Adriatic NetCet that has the aim to safeguard protected species that may be in danger. This cross – border project highlights the excellence and the experience of the Adriatic city in this field. It is inside this project that it has been decided to create a rehabilitation or pre – realize area here. This is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful part of the Conero coastline. This area has been named “The Turtles Bay”.
The aim of the project is to inform the users of the coast about the treasures of the Adriatic sea and particularly of the permanent presence (and not random) of the loggerhead turtles in the Conero bay. The core moment of the project is the release of the recovered turtles in the sea: those are the so called liberations made from the rehabilitation area named “the bay”. It is well known that lately the good environmental protection practice has become an added value: tourism, in fact, is no more seen only as the staying in a place where you can relax, have fun and enjoy the services but as the research of new strong experiences.
The town is surrounded by vineyards which stand out in the fields. They are the fruit of sustainable environmental policies which promote cultivating methods environment friendly and made Numana, the only town in the Ancona province, earn the Spiga Verde (Green Spike) prize.