How to spend 3-4 days in San Marino

The Republic of San Marino is one of 3* countries in the World which are landlocked, by one other country. San Marino is surrounded by Italy and is considered the oldest Republic in the World. It is located between the Romagna and Marche provinces (about 1 quarter way down the leg of Italy) and Rimini is the nearest large city. In 2021 it was documented that the population was approximately 34,000 of which 85% were citizens, 10% Italian and 5% other nationalities.

While San Marino isn’t part of the EU, it uses the Euro and they have a limited quantity of San Marino specific coins. I didn’t manage to get any though during my visit. They speak Italian and a San Marino dialect. 

The historic centre of San Marino and Monte Titano are World Unesco Heritage sites.

I travelled via train from Milan to Rimini which cost €96.90 and took 3 hours and 9 mins. I stopped in Bologna and changed trains on both legs. You can get a direct train to and from Milan. I then got the bus from Rimini to San Marino. You walk straight out of the train station and cross the road, where there is a row of shops (including a BurgerKing). You purchase the bus ticket in the small Tabacchi and a return costs €12. The private bus left from a stop just a little further from the Tabacchi, outside the Hotel Napoleon. (well signposted with a timetable attached). The journey was advertised as taking 55 minutes but it took about 45mins the day I travelled, as there wasn’t much traffic on the road. There is also an airport in Rimini, which operates flights from small European airlines to and from European cities. There isn’t a border check to enter San Marino. You can see where it once was and you start to see the distinctive blue and white flags and car number plates.

If you are staying in Old Town San Marino, you stay on the bus until the last stop. Just at the end of the parking area there are some steps up to the street or you can use the modern lift.

You then turn left and walk along to the guarded gates to Old Town. There were two San Marino police officers on duty the day I arrived. They stopped the traffic in rather a theatrical way to allow me cross the road, and I certainly felt welcomed and important.

I walked to my hotel through a series of pedestrian cobbled streets. While initially it seemed very Italian, I was immediately struck by how clean the streets were. There was no litter, cigarette  butts or (thankfully) dog foul anywhere. The cobbled streets were pristine. My hotel was called Hotel Titano (after the mountain) and was right in the centre of Old Town. In April it cost €62 per night for a very spacious room, with a great bathroom. While it overlooked the street, it was quite at night. I never pay for breakfast at hotels, as prefer to have a coffee in a small local cafe, so this cost was for the room only.

I sent 4 nights in San Marino. In hindsight I think 3 nights is probably the maximum I suggest staying. I felt I explored and visited a lot of places during my trip and the following is what I did and learnt.

Tourist Card

The very helpful receptionist at the hotel gave me a map and tourist card when I checked in. The card was great as you get a small discount on admission tickets to attractions. I am the type of person who likes a bit of value, so when I get a discount card, it encourages me to go to more places. 

Castle and Rocca Guaita 

The walls of the historic castle are very impressive and the main castle and two towers are situated along it. The 2nd tower was closed for renovations though. 

I purchased a ticket at the castle entrance which cost €8, with my travel card, and covered the castle, tower and several other museums.

The castle is smaller than ones I have been to in Italy recently. You can walk along the top of the walls and climb up to several outlook points. The panoramic views of the surrounding area is breathtaking. It took me about an hour to see everything in the main area. There is an interesting jail exhibition and several canons on display. The gardens didn’t contain very many plants or flowers though.

I then walked to the tower that was open, via a small wooded path and along the castle walls. You could see all of San Marino, Rimini and out to the Adriatic Sea. I immediately decided I would be getting up to see the sunrise during my stay ! 

I walked back to the centre of town via a woodland area, which was mainly downhill and showed all those amazing views.

Palazzo Publico (Public Palace)

This beautiful building on one of the main squares is where the parliament sits and where official meetings are held. It has a very distinctive bell tower, with stained glass windows and an attractive clock face.

It’s always a pleasure to get to go inside a building where history is still being made. The entrance fee was covered by the ticket I purchased at the castle. No meetings were being held that day, so I was able to walk around and see everything. I was asked not to sit on any of the seats !

The atrium is quite austere as is probably used for large gatherings. There is a huge stone staircase to the right. There are several tombstones on the walls and a bronze head of Abraham Lincoln, who had honorary citizenship of San Marino.

The room where the parliament sits has amazing paintings and banners. One of the main ones, created by Emilio Retrosi in 1894, shows the people of San Marino being granted freedom and independence. There are 60 wooden benches in the room for the councillors.

The other rooms are the aptly named Scrutiny Room, used to count votes and ballots and the Hall of the Council which has another amazing painting.

I did notice that access to this building was restricted on other days. If you pass by and it’s open, visit it when you can.

Museum and Basilica of San Francisco  

The exterior of this Roman Catholic church isn’t very impressive but it’s worth visiting it and the Museum. Entrance to the museum was also included in my previously purchased €8 ticket. Construction of the church started in 1352 and was completed around the turn of the new century.

It has a beautiful rose window and a tomb of the 15th century bishop in the cloisters.

The Museum is annexed to the church and to the convent of the Franciscan friars. It contains an array of paintings and sculptures including ones by Guercino and Raphael. They are all displayed in small rooms and along the corridors of the balconies.

The National Museum (Museo di Stato)

Again I was able to use my trusted €8 ticket and I was surprised at how large this museum was. It has over 5,000 pieces including archeological finds from the Neolithic to the Middle Ages. It has paintings and sculptures by Guercino and Egyptian and Roman artefacts. While most of the signage is in Italian, if you are a history lover, you will enjoy your visit. 

The Wax Museum (Museo Cera)

This museum is situation in a side street on the right, as you walk down from the castle through Old Town. There is a sign on the street but it is just in Italian and I wondered if non Italian speakers knew it was a wax museum. My €8 again covered the entrance fee. This has 100 figures and 40 staged historical scenes and some are very lifelike. It has two very diverse themes, opera artists and torture instruments associated with key historical figures. You can see everyone from Einstein, Rasputin, Lincoln, Marx, Di Vinci, and Verdi, to name but a few.

If you are used to Madam Tussauds this is little different as has no modern waxworks. My favourite was Verdi playing the piano, but Mario Antoinette is very imposing sitting on her throne and Lincoln looks like a man with a lot on his mind !

The Vampire Museum

I forgot to ask if the entrance fee was covered by my ticket, so if you go, do try and use it. I paid €4 to visit after showing the tourist card. I really loved this museum which was situated right across from my hotel. The exhibitions are on three floors and there was very eyrie atmospheric music playing. The temperature also seemed quite cold ! 

The exhibits are just great and some are quite gory. You see everything from Dracula, to werewolves to interactive paintings. There is a great painting of a beautiful young girl who changes into a screaming skeletal figure. The signs are in Italian and English detailing the history of all exhibits. 

There are lots of iconic movie posters, on the walls going up the stairs. These ranged from Dracula to American Werewolf in Paris to the Twilight series.

I have read reviews of this museum on Trip Advisor saying the exhibits are jaded and dated but I don’t agree. I really enjoyed reading all the information and thought they did a great job showcasing the bizarre themes.

Shopping

There are shops on all the streets in San Marino. They all had the same glass shop front so you can window shop before you enter. There was some clear themes apart from the normal tourist kitsch. If you want leather goods, perfume, jewellery, sunglasses, shoes and watches, this is the place for you. There were also a few shops with guns and bizarre looking swords. 

I did buy two pairs of trainers (puma and adidas) and they cost almost half the price I had seen them in Milan for. The jewellery was impressive with lots of local and Italian designed pieces and it seemed that every teenager I passed had shopping bags with cologne in them. 

Tourist Stamp

If you are like me and miss the days when you got a unique stamp entering a country on your passport, do go to the Tourist Office and get the San Marino stamp. It costs €5 and I understand the colours of them do change periodically. It’s a nice reminder of this unique country.

Restaurants and Cafes

This is a great place to come to eat, socialise or sip a cocktail and watch the world go by. There are cafes and restaurants everywhere. While I visited at a quite time of the year, a lot of places were open. 

I was surprised at how cheap it was to eat and the quality of the food was really great. On my first evening I had a pizza, salad, bottled water, carafe of wine and a coffee and it cost €20. The waiter left 3 bottles of liquors at my table (grappa, 2 types of LImonceIllo) and a glass for me to serve myself. He did give me a cheeky grin when he left it down and acted very disappointed when I didn’t partake.

My favourite meal was at the La Terrazza, right beside my hotel. Only one other table was occupied and I was shown to a seat with an amazing view over the valley. It is a silver service restaurant and I had a delicious lemon ravioli with a green and tomato sauce. The portion size was perfect for lunch and I paid €26.70 for it, with a bottle of water, a glass of wine and a coffee. I’d love to revisit this restaurant one evening and watch the sunset.

I got up on two occasions at 6.15am to watch the sunrise and the colours in the sky were some of the best I have ever seen.

The streets were deserted apart from the pigeons and the street cleaners. I found out why everywhere is so clean as they were out every morning emptying the bins and washing the cobbled streets. I was delighted that Bar La Torretta was open early. This is situated just before you enter the gates to Old Town. A really good quality coffee and a brioche (croissant) cost €4.10.

Sammarinese wine was served in all the restaurants I ate in. The main ones are Brugneto and Tessano (cask aged red wines) and Biancale and Roncale (still white wines). Prices per glass averaged around €5.

Other attractions

While it is a relatively small place, I really enjoyed walking around San Marino. There are lots of interesting statues, building facades, seating areas and different views of the surrounding landscapes at every turn.

Historically, San Marino natives had defended attacks on the country using bow and arrows and they have retained Archery as a much loved activity. You can purchase bows and arrows in several shops. Just off one of the main squares is an artery range. I really would love to watch a competition one day. There are also several tours available to take people on treks to learn archery and to practice shooting various types of silhouettes.

I didn’t attend the National Gallery, The Stamp and Coin Museum, the Emigrant Museum or the TItanus Museum. I would like to see them all on my next visit.

I throughly enjoyed my stay in this unique country and recommend you add it to your travel itinerary when next visiting this part of mainland Europe.

Appendix

Other countries landlocked by one other country are The Vatican City (also landlocked by Italy) and Lesotho (landlocked by South Africa)

National Gallery

This beautiful building contains modern art from after the 2nd World War to the 1970’s.

The Stamp and Coin Museum

Situated in the Tourist Office, contains local stamps from 1877 onwards and local coins from the 19th century onwards. 

The Emigrant Museum

During the 19th and 20th century it is estimated that 13,000 residents left San Marino. This museum is dedicated in their memory.

Titanus Museum

One of the restaurant owners gave me a coupon to attend this for €2 (usual admission is €8) and I regretted not attending. It’s a multimedia experience showcasing the history, culture and art of San Marino