A QUICK TAKE ON SAN MARINO AND MONTE TITANO
San Marino feels like a different world while walking through the streets as it continues to preserve its style of architecture throughout so many years.
It really fed into my medieval time dreams in present day-you can seriously feel the history while walking through the walls and cobblestone streets up Monte Titano and it is unreal.
The views walking along the streets and pathways overlooking the country’s villages surrounded by Italy’s rolling hills in the distance are unbelievable at every turn too. The capital on top of Monte Titano in itself is a perfect stop during an Italy trip, and the entirety of San Marino is 100% worth visiting.
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SAN MARINO OVERVIEW
San Marino is a tiny 23.63 mi² land locked country surrounded by the rolling hills of northern Italy was a place that I had absolutely no knowledge of prior to beginning to travel Europe despite the country being, debatably, the oldest republic in the world (thank you to the US school curriculum).
The country is the 5th smallest in the world, and it’s economy thrives off of tourism. The capital city, San Marino, on the cliffs of Monte Titano is a beautiful fortress turned into the city center that was bustling with European tourists during the late August days and nights that I was there visiting for.
Even though the republic is so small it does require a good understanding of the lay of the land and a good understanding of getting in and out if you’re not traveling by car.
I visited San Marino in late August and it was perfect weather, and the streets were crowded with a great amount of people walking around, and eating and drinking, and all Europeans from what I could pick up, mostly Italian. I had assumed that as the sun ended setting the streets would begin to empty out as people ended their day trips, but it felt that they only got more crowded as the evening went on, and the energy in the streets was awesome.
GETTING TO SAN MARINO
Even though Italy has such a fabulous railway system throughout the country, there are no trains that go in or out of San Marino. If you are not traveling by a rental car or driver, you will have to follow some steps to get into the country and the center of the city.
No matter where you’re traveling from, if you are traveling by train you will need to make your way to Bologna, and then to Rimini from there. The train ride from Bologna to Rimini does not take long, it is around an hour and a half, and it is very easy.
Of course because I am somewhat irresponsible when it comes to more logical ways of going about things while traveling in order to save money, I took a random Italian bus from Rome to Rimini that was a little cheaper in order to maybe see some more interesting things and to take a break from long Trenitalia and Italo Treno rides.
Just a half full bus of Italians, mostly older people and two sets of mothers with children and I. The bus ride did end up being beautiful when I was not struggling to keep my eyes open due to being so exhausted after my first couple of nonstop days. We made a stop in a random little town in the very middle of the country to let people hit the bathrooms and get an espresso, and having been woken up half asleep stepping outside and seeing the hills and mountains surrounding me on all sides was so unreal.
When you get to Rimini, the stop where you will catch the bus, Bonelli bus company, to San Marino is across the street from the train station not at the Rimini Bus Station.
On the other side of the road you will see a burger king and a Tabaccheria, the stop is right down the street next to the two and you can buy bus tickets at the Tabaccheria, but I bought my ticket on the bus directly from the driver, which seemed like what most people were doing.
I was a little lost trying to find the stop on that side of the road as I was one of the first people waiting, and it was like they made it their goal to make the sign as least visible as possible.
A crowd eventually formed and the bus arrived, it costs €6 and it takes around 50 minutes to get into San Marino, Piazzale Caligni is the last stop, and it is in the old town close to the touristy part of the center city.
STAYING IN SAN MARINO
If you are looking to stay in a spot in San Marino where you will not have to take a car or walk a bit further to hit the most central spot with cafes and stores you will want to stay in the city center on Monte Titano around Hotel La Grotta and Hotel Ristorante Cesare.
The map is a little weird while trying to navigate the streets before visiting, so I ended up staying in a hotel a little further down the mountain, but I ended up walking through the residential cobblestone streets into the city center and the architecture was gorgeous, what a dream to live in one of those beautiful little houses.
Like I said, at every turn the views from the streets are absolutely amazing, you can spend all day walking around Monte Titano alone. There are lots nice little cafés, along with bakeries and gelato and sorbet places, that were right up my alley. There were lots of restaurants, a mix of very casual ones and fancier ones scattered around so there are lots of options.
LEAVING SAN MARINO
Leaving San Marino was much easier for me than getting in just because of all of my adventures while trying to get to Rimini. You can stand at any bus stop and the bus will pick you up.
You can actually apparently stand anywhere by the side of the road and catch the bus because we picked up many people just walking down the street. I took the first bus out the morning that I left and it was a half full bus filled with residents of San Marino heading to work over the border in Italy. Again it was €6 for the ride back, and they drop you right back off at the stop across from Rimini’s train station, and from there you are off to wherever you’re heading to in Italy next.
Overall I really enjoyed what I saw of San Marino and Monte Titano, the beautiful summer nights and weather made my visit much better too.
I would tell everybody, actually I do tell everybody to aim to visit San Marino one day, especially with summer coming up and everyone traveling over to Italy, I hope that many more people make the trip and experience the history for themselves at least once in their lives.
THINKING OF TRAVELING TO SAN MARINO? DO IT.
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