One Day in San Marino

my 33rd country! a guide to the microstate in the clouds

May 17, 2026

Hello friends, happy weekend! I hope this post finds you happy, healthy, and well rested. I’m here this morning to share my latest travel offering with you: One Day in San Marino. In case you missed it, Husband, Bean, and I went on our first ever family trip a few months back, and, as well as galivanting around Italy for a bit, we made it to San Marino. This country, a tiny microstate sitting very picturesquely at the tippy top of the rugged Mount Titano, had been on my hitlist for years — it was so exciting to finally get there! We spent the guts of an afternoon exploring the very best things to do in the city, and I’m excited to share it all here with you now! Shall we?

Everything we know and love about San Marino is listed below. For ease, I’ve divided everything into the following categories: fun facts / getting there / where we ate lunch & gelato / where we tourist-ed / and map our trip. I hope you find it helpful, friends.

PS: in case you missed it, this is my fourth and final post about this trip! You can read the three previous posts here: One Week in Italy & San Marino | Our Itinerary for Baby’s First Trip, The Bologna Diaries, Vol. 05, and A Quick Guide to Rimini, Italy.

Enjoy!

fun facts

I know you love a fun fact just as much as I do! Here are 6 quick ones to keep up your sleeve for your next pub quiz:

San Marino is the 5th smallest country in the world, and the 3rd smallest in Europe! The only two smaller in Europe are Vatican City and Monaco — fun!
even though it’s entirely surrounded by Italy on all sides, San Marino is not in the EU. However, seeing as they also use the euro and there’re no hard border controls, it makes little difference to tourists.
despite the fact that Italy is one of the most visited countries in Europe every year, San Marino is the third least visited country in Europe, after Moldova and Lichtenstein. That’s insane!
founded in 301, San Marino is considered to be the world’s oldest republic still in existence! It has maintained its independence for over 17-centuries.
San Marino Historic Centre & Mount Titano is a UNESCO World Heritage Site! They gained their inscription because they are “an exceptional testament to the establishment of a representative democracy based on civic autonomy and self-governance”. 💪
at any given time, San Marino always has two ‘Captains Regent’. They are the highest elected officials — sort of like presidents — and they only hold office for 6months! Wild.

getting there

Here’s how we made the journey to San Marino:

we took a Bonelli Bus from the Arco d’augusto stop in Rimini to the last stop in San Marino city, Piazzale della Stazione, which took about 1-hour. The shuttle goes between the two cities once every 1.5-hours or so, and apparently they run every single day of the year!
while you can buy your tickets directly onboard from the driver, we bought our tickets online in advance — and I’d highly recommend you do the same. Having a pre-booked ticket ensures you’ll be able to board the bus, even if it’s really full. At the time of our visit, a single journey cost €7.
a note on the bus: although having a ticket guarantees transportation, it does not guarantee a seat! We got on at the second stop and nabbed two of the last three seats on the whole bus(!), and while they do allow standing passengers, it wouldn’t be ideal on the bumpy and winding roads. Would definitely recommend getting on at the first stop if possible.
for the return journey later that same day, we made sure to queue up early to get seats together. The bus pulled up about 15-minutes before the departure time, and, as some of the first people on board, we were able to avail of the two spacious seats up front.
for more info about timetables and fares, visit the Bonelli Bus website here.

where we ate

the creamiest gelato ever, and the tiniest + most adorable beanie baby ever

lunch

Euphoria // a lovely little spot! We wandered past a whole heap of places that felt overtly like they were just catering to tourists, and this was the first place we both thought looked actually nice. We went for a large bottle of aqua frizzante and two piadina to share: one with salami, tomato, + scamorza, and the other with prosciutto crudo and fontina; both were delicious. The staff were lovely, we appeared to be the only non-locals in the place, and Bean made friends with a lady at the table next to us who was blowing her kisses and calling her Bellissima. Would recommend. Address: Contrada Santa Croce, 21, 47890 Città di San Marino

gelato

La Cremeria del Titano // a wonderful gelateria! It was so bitterly cold and windy on our day in San Marino — but we simply couldn’t leave without having some gelato and this place came very highly recommended. We both went for cups of nocciola e pistacchio and they! were! so! good! Husband went so far as to title it our best gelato experience of the trip! A must-visit. Address: Piazzetta del Titano, 4, 47890 Città di San Marino

where we tourist-ed

Porta San Francesco // the entrance gate into the city! Built in 1361, the medieval gate is still very much in use today, with most visitors using it as their main entry/exit point of the city. Would recommend. Address: Piazzale Lo Stradone, 45, 47890 Città di San Marino

Piazza della Libertà and Palazzo Pubblico // the central square of the city’s old town, and the building that houses the government of San Marino. Again, we didn’t try to visit the Palazzo with Bean, but we admired the building from the outside and enjoyed wandering the square — which, btdubz, has an amazing viewing platform! Would recommend. Address: Piazza della Libertà, 1, 47890 Città di San Marino

The Witches’ Path // such a cool walkway! Located atop Mount Titano, this stone path, also known as Passo delle Streghe, connects the iconic Three Towers of San Marino: Guaita, Cesta, and Montale. We didn’t even bother trying to visit the castles with Bean in tow, and instead bypassed them in favour of this exceptionally scenic walkway. We only went as far as the section linking the first two Towers, but that was enough; we could see out in every direction for miles! The views were jaw-droppingly beautiful, and it felt almost magical to see the second tower perched on such an impossibly high ridge. A must-visit. Address: Passo delle Streghe, 8, 47890 Città di San Marino

Basilica di San Marino // the main church in the city. Dedicated to Saint Marinus, the founder and patron saint of the country, this neo-classical beauty was built in the 19th-century over the remains of a pre-existing 4th-century church. To be honest, we found the exterior of the basilica a lot more visually impressive than the interior, but I’ve read a lot of other guides that state otherwise. Either way, would recommend. Address: Piazzale Domus Plebis, 47890 Città di San Marino

Soak up the views // honestly, this was the main thing we did in San Marino. Everywhere you turn there’s a new breath-taking view of the surrounding landscape — apparently, on a really clear day, you can see all the way to the Adriatic Sea! — and it was never not amazing. We were literally looking down on the clouds at some points of our visit! I feel so lucky we got to experience such a place, especially with little Bean in tow ❤️

map our trip

To make life easier, I’ve marked everywhere listed in this guide onto Google Maps for you! Simply click on the image above — or click here — to go through to a digital map that’ll open straight into your Google Maps.

And there we have it: One Day in San Marino. What did you think? I’m so glad we finally got to visit the tiny mountainous country — it completely lived up to the high expectations I had set for it! Have you visited the microstate before? I’d love to hear your thoughts on the place!

Hugs,

Vicki xo