As part of our road trip from Vienna via Verona and San Marino to Cavallino, we only planned one night for our stop in San Marino. Next time we will certainly take more time and not only explore the capital and old town, but also the surrounding areas and hills. There are numerous accommodation options in San Marino, both within the city walls, in the capital and outside. If you stay outside the old town, you can take the cable car to the old town or hike up the mountain.
Where to stay in San Marino Città
For our one-night-stayover, we chose an apartment in the middle of the old town, because all the sights we wanted to visit were within walking distance and we really like living in the city center. A serpentine road leads to San Marino Città and to the numerous car parks outside the city walls. The parking lot cost € 4 per day (as of Oct 2022). We arrived in the early afternoon, checked into our apartment and immediately went in search of lunch. Because at least three of us four tend to hunger-related mood swings. So it is always better to start looking for food early. And every now and then we actually manage to think about it in time.
In San Marino, as in surrounding Italy, most restaurants close in the early afternoon and don’t reopen until early evening. Therefore, just a few minutes from our accommodation, in Piazza della Libertà, we went to the first restaurant that we found. The food was ok, rather expensive, but at least we didn`t have to explore San Marino Città hungry. San Marino Città, the capital of the Republic of San Marino, is located on Monte Titano and was protected by three city towers, which are still standing and can be partially visited.
The Towers of San Marino
End of October there were hardly any other visitors in the city and after the first view of the surroundings – you can see Rimini from the terraces – we started walking to San Marino’s famous towers. The towers can also be found on the flag of San Marino: three castles on the three hills of the old town. The first tower, La Guaita, is the oldest and largest castle tower in San Marino and you have to pay an entrance fee. With a combination ticket (family ticket: € 20, as of Oct. 2022) you can visit two of the three towers – you cannot enter the third – and also visit three museums. It is possible to split the visits into two days, for example.
In the end we didn’t manage to visit a museum. The weather was gorgeous with blue skies and sunshine and we felt more like spending time outside. Unfortunately they didn’t tell us that the second tower was closed due to construction work, so our combination ticket didn`t really pay off (as of October 2022).
But the first tower was worth a visit. The castle is easy to explore, the view is impressive, even a few rooms can be entered. A narrow staircase with a very narrow passage leads up to the main tower, and you can also walk along the castle wall.
The walk from the first to the second tower takes about 10 minutes along a beautiful and narrow path, the Passo delle Streghe. Later we read that this place is supposed to be especially beautiful at sunset. And romantic. But nobody has probably tested this when accompanied by potentially hungry children.
The fact that the second tower was closed and therefore not accessible was a disappointment for all of us. So we immediately tried our luck with the third tower. However, the third tower is not accessible at all. That was the exact moment when our youngest traveller turned hangry and we made our way back to the apartment where we had our daily dose of pasta with pesto. This is really a huge advantage of living in the middle of San Marino Città: we could just quickly stop by the apartment and fill our empty stomachs before we headed to watch the sunset.
Aperitivo with kids
On the way to the accommodation we met our hostess and asked her for a restaurant recommendation for dinner. She recommended us two places: one for aperitivo, the other one for dinner: La Terraza for aperitivo and Bar La Guaita for dinner. We would not have thought of going for an aperitif with the children. In Italy and also in San Marino, the aperitivo feels just as much part of the daily routine as breakfast or coffee in between. And of course we try to somehow adapt to the places we travel to, not at all uncomfortable with traditions like this. And so the kids got juice for the aperitif, we got wine and the obligatory snacks.
Before that we watched the sunset with a little wind – probably normal for the exposed location. Even though it was a bit cloudy, the mood lighting was really nice. Before the trip we bought sketch books for the kids with the idea that they could observe and perceive places differently and maybe even calm down while drawing. We didn’t expect that at every short stop they would actually ask for the sketchbooks to draw. So they drew while watching the sunset and when we all had our aperitif.
After the aperitif we went to La Guaita, which is named after the first city tower. It is just outside the city walls. The pizza was excellent and it was nice that the bar was mostly local and not very touristy.
We ended the day with a leisurely stroll through the calm, nightly and almost empty San Marino, which really has a special charm.
Also the sunrise is beautiful in San Marino. At the end of October the sun rises almost next to the first tower. It is well worth setting the alarm clock early and strolling through the somewhat sleepy San Marino in the morning.
After sunrise and breakfast we checked out and almost lost our drone in the rocks of San Marino during a short drone flight over the city towers. Luckily it found its way back to us and we set off for the next stop on our road trip.
