One of my favorite hidden gems I discovered on accident is the tiny micro country of San Marino. During my research for our road trip through Italy, San Marino popped up on a map. Of course, no one else had ever heard of it before, so I knew I’d have to ‘sell’ making this stop on the road trip. If you find yourself in this predicament, I’ve put together my top reasons to visit San Marino in 2025! Be sure to check out my travel guide to San Marino so you know what to expect in this mircocountry.
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If you want a guide to show you around this impressive country, I recommend these tours:
- Historical Center Private Tour
- San Marino Food Tour
- Guided Tour of the UNESCO Historic Center of San Marino
1. Beautiful scenery.
San Marino features stunning natural beauty. Visitors can see rolling hills, lush forests, and picturesque lakes. Mountain views are breathtaking and visitors can enjoy panoramic vistas of the surrounding countryside. No matter where we looked, we had a gorgeous view (unless of course, the castle was in the way). Our favorite thing to do was relax at the hotel with a bottle of wine and enjoy the views of the countryside.
Travel Tip: Take the cable car if you don’t want to walk up the mountain
2. Friendly locals.
Visitors will likely encounter friendly locals everywhere they go. People are generally polite and eager to share their culture and traditions. I loved just walking around and talking to the locals. At Hotel Cesare, we were greeted like friends. The host basically gave us a mini-tour of San Marino, told us where to get her favorite pizza, and what to skip (since we only had one night there)! It was awesome.
3. Affordable prices.
San Marino is known for its low cost of living. Rentals are reasonable and groceries are cheap. However, visitors should budget accordingly because prices tend to rise during peak tourist season. San Marino does use the Euro, but tends to be a bit cheaper than Italy.
4. Delicious cuisine.
One of the best reasons to visit San Marino (and Italy in general) is the FOOD – and wine! San Marino cuisine is a delicious mixture of local herbs with flavors from neighboring regions that highlight local ingredients. Local restaurants serve traditional Italian dishes and pasta. Vegetarians will appreciate the wide selection of vegetarian options. Keep an eye out for torta tre monti (chocolate and hazelnut layer cake). Try a food tour to learn more about their cuisine!
Travel Tip: Have lunch at Piadineria La Capanna. They have outside seating and a fully unobstructed view of the Adriatic Sea.
Check out this walking tour to do at your own pace during your visit to San Marino:
5. History.
San Marino was founded in 301 AD and remained independent until 1865. During World War II, the city was occupied by Nazi Germany and then liberated by Allied forces. It’s got an incredibly lengthy and impressive history. San Marino has a lot of museums that show off this history as well. The history here is lengthy, impressive, and complicated. For any history-loving traveler, this is one of the best reasons to visit San Marino.
Travel Tip: From April to September you can see the changing of the San Marino guard every half hour from 8 am to 6 pm.
6. It’s centrally located
While it doesn’t have a train station or plane station, San Marino is easy to get to via bus or rental car. From Rimini it’s only 30 minutes, Florence is 2.5 hours, and Venice is 3 hours! You can even do a day trip from Bologna to San Marino. It’s pretty easy to get to with the right transportation. Being able to visit easily from most places in northern Italy is a great reason to visit San Marino. Plus, when you tell people about your trip when you get home, you get to introduce new people to this incredible micro-country!
7. Collect another stamp
It is another country – so get that passport stamp! While the borders are open to Italy (meaning no official border entry), you can stop at the tourist information center. Plus it was only 5 euros for a stamp. A budget-friendly souvenir! I don’t collect passport stamps, but I do collect very unflattering jumping photos from every country!
Read More on San Marino
10 Day Road Trip through Italy
So do you think you’ll visit San Marino?
That climb looks a bit daunting, so I’d be the cable car gal. Love your jumping picture!
San Marino sounds like a nice spot. I seemed to have missed all the micro countries when travelling through Europe so this would be a breeze when I get back to Italy.
What a gorgeous hidden gem! That castle is certainly magnificent!
I’m sold! The San Marino castle looks amazing & I’d love to visit. Your road trip through Italy sounds wonderful. Thanks so much for the inspiration!
San Marino sounds ideal – and I love that it’s affordable too. You did a great job capturing all the details – I would want to know about!
Amazing! I’ll be close next year so I’ve added it to my itinerary! Thanks for sharing your tips ☺️
Wow, it looks like San Marino is a real hidden gem. You gave me enough reasons to visit this country. I love the idea of getting passport stamped at the tourist information centre – it reminds me of my passport stamp from Liechtenstein post office!
Never heard of San Marino but you’ve inspired me to visit when I’m next in Italy!
San Marino sounds like my kind of place – beautiful scenery, great food, and history are some of my favorite parts of traveling! I will have to add this microcountry to my bucket list 🙂
Your tips on exploring this hidden gem are incredibly valuable, and I appreciate the effort you put into sharing your travel wisdom. Thank you for inspiring us to add San Marino to our travel bucket lists and for reminding us of the beauty of off-the-beaten-path destinations.
Happy travels!
Glad you found it helpful! Safe travels!