Last year’s summer trip around the Balkans was by far my most complicated trip, logistically. For this year’s ‘big’ trip we both wanted to book something easier. J has fancied Italy for a while so we were looking at Italy as a starting point, and then working out where we could easily add from there. Visiting San Marino wasn’t really on my radar, but I do want to visit every single country eventually, so when we realised how close we’d be, spending a day in San Marino was the obvious day trip choice.
Whilst San Marino is a country in it’s own right, you don’t need a visa, or even your passport, to visit the republic from surrounding Italy. That’s really useful, as the border control part is something I always find quite stressful-even though I’m absolutely not doing anything I shouldn’t be!
San Marino is completely surrounded by Italy but the republic is a country in it’s own right, with it’s own army, government, banks, a university and a football team. It uses the Euro, and English is widely spoken, so most travellers should be okay with communication. I read online that internet access was patchy so we were prepared for that, but actually we had no problems with our phones at all. Spending a day in San Marino turned out to be very simple.
As I have Fibromyalgia, a big part of my life is planned around travelling with my health condition and whilst I did manage San Marino Citta, on a bad pain day I’m not sure I would have. If you have mobility issues, do consider that San Marino Citta is very, very hilly, and you’re up and down steep hills constantly to walk around. There are plenty of places to sit and rest, which is good, but it’s still not for the faint hearted. Spending a day in San Marino with a disability, or pushing a pram, might be best avoided, sadly.
How easy is visiting San Marino?
Visiting San Marino was really easy as we were staying in Rimini, there’s a regular, 35 minute bus from the city to San Marino Citta. I use Rome2Rio to plan all my travel but for San Marino it wasn’t telling me a route at all. After checking online we’d seen we could get a bus from near Rimini train station with Bonelli bus. Be aware that there’s a summer and winter timetable. We found it easy to find the bus stop, it was near the train station just outside Hotel Napoleon and clearly signposted. You need to buy your ticket from the tabaccheria (tobacco shop) to the left of Burger King but plan ahead as you need to tell them which bus you’re getting back. The bus cost 6 euros each, each way, and we paid the shop by card.
The bus was comfortable and the journey was fast, driving through beautiful San Marino countryside and then up the mountain to San Marino Citta. The drive was an experience in itself, and definitely a highlight of visiting San Marino.
When you arrive in San Marino, the bus drops you at carpark number 2 and then you can either walk up the hill/lots of steps or catch the little blue tourist train. It’s 5 euros per person for the return trip. It absolutely saved me, my Fibromyalgia and sore knee wouldn’t have managed walking up as well as walking around. The bus back leaves from the same place and you’ll have confirmed your return bus time in advance, so you’ll know there’s a seat for you. You can get the little blue train back down to save on the hill if you want to.
Is visiting San Marino expensive?
The bus cost us 6 euros each, each way. Add in a bottle of water for the journey and you’re talking around £25 for two people to get there. We spent £50 on food and drink during the day including three coffees, a San Marino beer for J, Gelato and a really nice pasta lunch at Ristorante Bolognese. We spent £17.50 on the mini train and the small cable car.
As the shopping there is tax free, I bought some perfume, a little San Marino souvenir and two cute pastel coloured tins of sweets in their shops. Weirdly, there are also plenty of shops selling guns, knives and machetes, which funnily enough we didn’t buy! Overall, we spent £100 throughout the day between us. We could have definitely done it for less if we skipped the cable car, walked up the hill and drank bottled water instead of stopping for so many coffees.
Is spending a day in San Marino enough time?
We didn’t do any of the museums San Marino Citta has to offer as we’re not normally big museum people, preferring to spend that time people watching outside instead. We felt like we’d seen what we wanted to in about five hours in San Marino Citta.
If you’re interested in going inside the towers, visiting the vampire museum or the museum of curiosities you’d need more time, but I’d say you can safely see San Marino Citta in a day. The last bus back is at 7:30 so if you get an early one (we got the 10:30) you’ll have more than enough time to explore properly.
The main point of San Marino Citta, in my opinion, is to see the beautiful views from the top of Mount Titano. As long as you have plenty of time to just wander the streets of the city, too, you’ll get a good feel for the place. I can see the appeal of staying overnight to experience the city when it’s nearly empty, but that wasn’t for us.
Spending a day in San Marino? Things you should do
San Marino the country is very small, about 8 miles north to south, so it stands to reason that San Marino Citta is tiny. You can see it all in a short space of time so it makes a great day trip, and I’ve written about the things you won’t want to miss in this section.
You’ll want to make sure you catch the changing of the guard and the cannon firing, which is by the First Tower, Guaita fortress. We saw it at 11:45 just after arriving and I’m unsure of how often it happens-the internet has told me ‘multiple times a day’ but nothing more helpful! Aim for the 11:45 one and cross your fingers is my advice. Unlike the changing of the guard in some countries, which is full of noise, lots of people and a whole load of pomp and ceremony, San Marino’s was quiet, calm and low key. Well, apart from the cannon fire, which made me jump even though I was watching it happen.
Once you’ve seen the show, you’ll want to head for the other two towers. Walk along the witches passage, Passo delle Streghe, from Fratta to Montale and take in the views. If you head down to the public toilets you’ll get a beautiful view under the witches path too. We had a coffee just off the path, at Hocus Pocus, and it was really good coffee. Legend says that young girls used to dance along the path, and that some of them were witches. I’m not sure about that, but it’s a beautiful part of the city!
You can go inside the first two towers. The second tower, Fratta, houses the museum of ancient weapons-not our thing so we skipped it. It’s only 6 euros to go inside here as well as the first tower, where you can climb a staircase to the top. This does sound like my thing but a knee injury meant I wouldn’t have managed the climb this time. You can’t go inside the third tower.
Shopping is a big reason to visit San Marino, as the shops are all tax free. If you’re after a new leather bag you’ll see plenty. Perfume shops are plentiful too, making San Marino a great place to treat yourself. As much as I fancied a new leather bag I don’t have much luggage space so I got some perfume and reigned myself in.
Just walking around San Marino and taking in the beautiful surroundings is best. See the Government Building, the Titano Theatre and the Piazza della Libertà for a start. I chose not to go with a big list as I wanted to take the city in. If you like museums, San Marino has plenty to choose from. Look our for all the sculptures around too, I really liked this insect one.
If you want to see a little more of San Marino, the cable car, a two minute journey down the hill will take you to the village of Borgo Maggiore. There wasn’t a lot to see or do down there so I’d recommend skipping it if you’re shorter on time. We went for Gelato, simply to make it worthwhile us taking the trip down. I highly recommend the Gelato at Porta Romana.
Would you visit San Marino again?
I think we’ve seen what we want to see in San Marino Citta, so I wouldn’t go again. If I was ever doing Italy on a driving holiday, I may well drive through more of San Marino itself. The 24 square miles of the tiny country wouldn’t take too long to explore fully.
Have you been to San Marino? Is it on your list?
Sounds like you had a lovely day in San Marino! Sightseeing, shopping, good food, and coffee – what a delightful combination! The Vampire Museum sounds fascinating too. Thanks for sharing your experiences and lovely photos!
I loved reading more about San Marino as I know very little about it. It looks and sounds like a lovely place to spend some time wandering around and enjoying the history and food.