CAPE COCONUTSan Marino in a day
San Marino, is it worth a visit? Well, it is the fifth smallest country in the world (just over 61 km2 / 24 sq mi) and completely surrounded by Italy so that alone made us very curious! We visited this tiny nation during our “babymoon” road trip across Italy. As it turns out, San Marino is a great day trip away from the hot and sweaty beaches on the Adriatic coast. And, it is surprisingly (a little) cheaper than Italy. Let’s talk about this little gem nestled high up in the mountains!
Three Towers of San Marino
Upon entering the “country” (no disrespect) you’re almost immediately drawn to its highest mountain, the Monte Titano. It’s pretty much the center of all the action in San Marino! I wasn’t too keen on wobbling my pregnant belly all the way up the mountain, but luckily it’s easily accessible by car or you can hop on the scenic cable car that goes up to the old city center located at the top.
Monte Titano has three peaks, and on each of them the famous Three Towers of San Marino are located. Two of them can be visited on foot: the Torre Guaita (aka La Rocca) and Torre Cesta. The third one, the Torre Montale is not open to the public but is a fantastic viewpoint, although you’ll have to break a sweat to get there (which we didn’t really feel like – remember my huge belly).
Getting to the fortress towers is half the fun. That is, if you like to wander uphill through cosy narrow streets of the old town. All in all, it’s not a huge effort to be done, and you can reward yourself with a cold one on one of the terraces close to the fortress. Choose well, cause some of them really have views to die for!
The Torre Cesta houses the Museum of Archaic Arms, displaying over 500 unique pieces dating back to the Middle Ages, so history buffs are in for a treat!
Centro Storico di San Marino
San Marino’s old town – a UNESCO World Heritage Site – is filled with restaurants and shops to please every single one of those brave tourists that make it here. Strangely enough, it also has a high concentration of strange freak shops. Not sure what that is all about, but hey, it’s a free world!
People here are super friendly, especially after noticing my preggo belly, asking us whether we’re having a bambina or bambino soon :)
When walking around the old town, we eventually ended up at the town center square, the Piazza della Libertà, where the beautiful town hall or Palazzo Pubblico is located. The Palazzo Pubblico is still San Marino’s official government building. There’s not much going on the inside, but the building boasts incredible views over the western side of San Marino, almost equally spectacular as the views from atop the fortress towers.
Getting there
San Marino closest decent-sized neighbour is the holiday beach town of Rimini which is only 30 minutes away. There’s a frequent bus service from here to San Marino, costing only 10 euros for a round trip. Major italian cities nearby are Bologna (2 hours by car) and Firenze (3 hours by car).
Even though San Marino is not part of the European Union it does uses the Euro as its national currency, so no need to worry about getting foreign money :)
Now it’s your turn to discover this wonderful ancient country – let us know your experience!
Cheers!
