I visited San Marino in the summer of 2018 for the mere fact that it was difficult to get to, I had an extra day in Venice and I wanted to scratch one more country off my list. San Marino is completely landlocked and mountainous. The entire country is surrounded by Italy so I made Venice my home base and decided to make it a day trip out to visit the country and come back later that night. There are no airports or train stations and no border control. San Marino has more cars than people. The only way to get to San Marino is by private transportation or by public bus. Which made this whole day a little longer than it needed to be but I was up for the challenge and had nothing else to do.
Getting to San Marino
I started by taking a taxi to the train station in Venice to Bologna; once I got to Bologna I took another train to Rimini; then once I arrived in Rimini I left the train station and there’s a convenience store (bodega) across the street from the train station that sells bus tickets to San Marino and the bus takes you to San Marino. Essentially the bus takes you up the mountain, the entire country is only 23 miles long to give some perspective the entire country is about 1/3 of the size of Washington D.C.; It is the least visited country in Europe so the locals are very friendly every time a bus full of tourists make its way up the mountain.
The way home to Venice is the same as the way to San Marino except you need to be aware of the time. Rimini is a small town, so the ride from Rimini to Bologna was fine, however the ride from Bologna to Venice was tough. I didn’t keep track of the time and apparently it was rush hour and I had to stand for the entire 1 hour ride to Venice. But I always say you haven’t experience a train ride in Europe until you’ve done it standing, sitting on the floor or in on the stairs.
Food
There are plenty restaurants to try out that serve typical Italian food and souvenir shops where you can get your San Marino souvenir. Since there isn’t any border patrol entering or leaving San Marino this is your time to prove you were in the country. There is an elevator and a staircase to get you to an elevated point to see the famous mountain site below from San Marino.
History of San Marino
It has had more females heads of state than any other country in the world. San Marino is considered a microstate and like many microstate it’s a tax haven with one of the highest per capita incomes in the world. It is the 3rd smallest country in the world. The population is approximately 30,000 people. The most unknown fact is that San Marino is the oldest Republic in the world and it made Abraham Lincoln an honorary citizen.