In this guide to San Marino, I highlight my time in this small country tucked away in the gorgeous Italian countryside. San Marino is its own country and oldest sovereign state as well as the oldest constitutional republic, dating back to at least 301 AD. We travel here as the last stop on our European vacation.

I do not know what to expect while traveling to San Marino and in fact, we knew of nobody that has visited here. We told people in Rome about our future travels, and they looked surprised we were heading to San Marino. And to be fair, it’s not a destination that most would consider going to, but I’m glad we did. What we found in San Marino was beautiful countryside, a charming capital, and minimal tourists.

Map of San Marino:

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A Map of San Marino

Itinerary:

Get In:

We arrived by train from Rome via Bologna and Rimini. It takes around 3 hours from Rome central station to get to Rimini, and from there we took an express bus to the country of San Marino. It was confusing at first, but we figured out that we needed to buy tickets at the Rimini train station tourist office. For I think twenty dollars, we got two roundtrip tickets from Rimini to San Marino.

The San Marino bus parks right across the street from the train station and we had to wait until we saw a sign for San Marino. This route is perhaps the easiest way to get into San Marino and the cheapest. San Marino doesn’t have an airport and doesn’t have its own train station. You could rent a car and drive your way in as well.

San Marino – Mountains of Italy and San Marino

Hotel:

So there are not many hotels in San Marino to choose from, maybe maximum 10. And all of them will be somewhat pricey. San Marino downtown area is small and easy to walk around, and it’s where you’ll want to stay. San Marino is not that big of a country, and there are other villages to consider, but you’ll need a car to access those parts. We stayed at the Hotel La Grotta and had a fantastic view from our hotel window.

Day 1:

Arriving from Italy, it was late afternoon as we strolled up the steep streets of San Marino. We checked in our hotel and put down our luggage and then had a pleasant stroll around the downtown. Now San Marino is tiny, no more than a mile wide and about a thousand feet from south to north. So it’s easy to explore even in an evening.

Given that light was going down we went to near the top of Mount Titano, the highest point of San Marino. We took some pictures before the sun went down and then went for some pizza and wine. Everything shuts down pretty early, so we chilled at our hotel while overlooking the beautiful scenery at dusk and enjoying some limoncello.

Day 2:

After a free breakfast, we then walked uphill again to view San Marino from the highest point. There is a spot where it’s possible to get a great view of the city and the surrounding countryside. To do that we needed to pay to get into the castle that has this view. It wasn’t too much money, and it did have interesting army gear and other artifacts. Obviously, we paid to get the view.

Down the hill, there are restaurants and shops all along the street. We first decided to go watch shopping as we had seen these unique watches earlier. In fact, we learned that the brand, Niko, was a San Marino brand and you could only buy these watches in San Marino. We spent some time picking out our new watches and bought two.

From watch shopping, we then went to sit down to have coffee spiked with alcohol at Cafe Domus. Here’s the thing about San Marino, there isn’t much to do. This was perfectly fine with us, though, as we had already walked and experienced so much on this trip. We were ready for a stop where all we had to do was sit and look at amazing views.

At lunch, we decided to have some wine and pizza. San Marino food is pretty similar to surrounding Italy as you can imagine and I wouldn’t say anything we ate was much different. It’s actually not that expensive to eat in San Marino, and we were surprised by that.

San Marino – Shawn with his Niko watches

At dinner, we went down to the town square and ate at a spot that offered amazing views of the landscape below. It was somewhat of a windy place, but wine helped curb our annoyance. That’s pretty much what we did all day. Going from spot to spot and just relaxing throughout our day. Never having to have to do something just for the sake of doing something. Overall pleasant day in San Marino.

Day 3:

On the day we were to leave the only thing we did was to sip some coffee at Cafe Domus. We chilled before our bus was to leave to Rimini. We had to take the hour bus ride back and then about a 3-hour train ride back to Venice, where it all started!

Favorite:

Some of my favorite restaurants and spots around San Marino.

Restaurants

La Grotta

Domus Coffee

Da Pier Bar Pizzeria

Spots

Monte Titano

Palazzo Pubblico

The Street “Salita Alla Rocca”

What to Wear:

In this guide to San Marino, I want to help male travelers style when deciding what to wear in San Marino. This section is only for men as I don’t speak for women style.

Shirts

San Marino is a fashionable place, but average tourists will probably stick to more casual clothes. It can be hot in San Marino, but because the capital sits on a major hill, it will be cooler near the top, even during the day. At night you may want to have a jacket. Linens, cottons, and jean material are fine. The ideal would be to stick with a more refined looked with nothing too flashy and softer colors. A patterned tee works great for the day, and then at night, you can transition to a button-down if you feel like dressing up.

Note that in the winter it can be cold and sometimes you may need cold-weather gear like a scarf. Jeans are undoubtedly acceptable, and in fact, you’ll see Italian men wear jeans all year long.

Pants/Shorts

Like your shirts, you’ll be most comfortable with cotton and linen material as it can be warm during the day. Perhaps at night if you feel like dressing up, bring some slacks, but it’s not necessary. The idea for your pants and shorts is that it will be the base color for your outfit and something to mix and match. I like a cute printed short or a beautiful solid color like blue or khakis.

During the winter months, you’ll probably need to bring just jeans, pants or slacks as San Marino can be cold. I found it chilly at night even in the summertime and wouldn’t have mind pants.

Shoes

Sandals, flats, or sneakers would be the ideal shoes to bring. You’ll be walking a lot, so comfort is crucial. Leather is a good look with sandals and canvas material for shoes are pretty comfortable. I wore a pair of Toms that were easy to walk in and stylish. Break them end before you head to Europe though! I would stay away from any tennis shoes as this is not a typical European look.

Accessories/Gear

You don’t need too many accessories, but perhaps a necklace, watch or bracelet would be stylish. As a traveler, you may need to carry a backpack to store your valuables. Heading to touristy destinations just be careful with expensive items, although more likely than not, you should be fine. I had a costly camera and GoPro for all my trip and kept them secure in a Tortuga backpack.

Design

San Marino is a little more refined and not as flashy as Rome would be. I would say the style is more classical looking so for an average male tourist, stick with your basics. Fitted clothes with some design in them like printed shirts or printed shorts. Polos would be a great look and having them tucked, keeping it more refined.

I encourage designs that are modern and classic for men. American design tends to be broader and not as form-fitting, but that’s not how San Marinese wear their clothing. Obviously, go with what makes you comfortable, but if you’d like to fit in think of clothing that is more form-fitting, sleek, and metro.

Your materials should be simple, and I would choose simple designs, nothing too elaborate. Prints are perfectly okay, and I encourage them if they are paired well. Below I have an example of the ideal look.

What I Loved:

An Ideal Look:

What I Loved:

San Marino surprised me because nobody ever talks about it. And I guess that’s why I loved it so much. Even at the height of summer, there are few tourists around, and downtown San Marino may be the only European capital not to feel quiet in the summer. It’s warm but somewhat chilly, which is perfect compared to stifling Rome.

And the landscape of San Marino is perhaps it’s biggest draw. San Marino is a beautiful country and should get talked about more as a tourist destination. Just sitting from San Marino the city you’ll get views of the entire country. It’s undoubtedly one of the more unique capital cities.

What I Disliked:

I’m not sure there was anything I disliked in San Marino. The only thing that is kind of annoying is carrying luggage up and down from where the bus drops you off, but that was indeed my only complaint. The hotel was beautiful, the people were friendly, food was good, and the environment was super chill.

Ideas and Tips:

Hotel La Grotta is an excellent choice if you can’t decide on your hotel. We got lucky with the view, but I’m sure you could request it.

Eat at a restaurant overlooking the whole of San Marino like Cafe Domus.

The bus from Rimini is easy and comfortable. Recommend taking it.

Two nights is probably enough for your time in San Marino. If you have time or care, you can travel to other parts of the country. It will take you minimal time.

San Marino – One of the public buildings in San Marino

Thoughts:

Overall I think Roman and I were blown away by San Marino. We told people we were going there in Rome and everybody looking surprised, saying, “Oh nobody ever goes to San Marino.” And I’m not sure why. It is a little bit out of the way, but you’d think tourists would catch on to how beautiful this country is. It wasn’t even that expensive to stay there!

I would go back to San Marino, and I highly recommend it to anybody that wants to go. Just take a short train ride from Rome or Venice via Bologna!