Decision to Visit San Marino

When our kiddos were 2.5-years-old and six months, we spent a couple of weeks traveling around Europe and decided to make a stop in the tiny landlocked country of San Marino while we were in Italy. San Marino claims to be the oldest republic in the world, with its origins in A.D. 301, and signs at the boarders saying “Welcome to the ancient land of freedom”, so we were quite intrigued to visit. We found very little information about San Marino, aside from generic lists of things to see without many (if any) personal insights, and even less information about visiting with children. As such, we really didn’t know what to expect and didn’t make any specific plans aside from going to the city of San Marino (the capital of San Marino) and then walking around the historic part of the city perched atop Monte Titano.

Getting There

We quickly discovered that San Marino doesn’t have its own airport and can’t be reached by train from Italy, so the only option is to drive or take a bus. As such, we decided to rent a car and drive a loop around central Italy, making a stop in San Marino along the way. We drove to San Marino after our wonderful adventure at Termi di Saturnia hot springs and it only took 4.5 hours, so definitely doable with a toddler and baby. We made one stop after a couple of hours to let them get out and play, otherwise we just powered through. The route we took was quite rural with really lovely scenery and we actually enjoyed the drive quite a bit. Once you are in Italy you don’t need a passport to enter San Marino, so we simply drove into the country without so much as passing a check point.

Good to know: San Marino does not have its own airport and is not serviced by trains, so the only way to reach it by personal transportation methods or a bus service that makes a stop there

Parking

We looked up parking information and saw that there were several different parking lots near or potentially in the historic district. The closest lot to us was “P9” so we entered it into Google maps and quickly located it just outside the walls of the historic city center. It looks like lots P7 and P6 might be even more convenient, but we found P9 satisfactory with covered parking, easy payment via credit card from a self-pay station, and an elevator nearby to haul ourselves and the kiddos up a level to a gate to enter the historic city center. It only took 5 minutes to get from the parking lot to a lovely cobblestone street in the historic center.

Good to know: We paid (in 2024) 4.5 euros for a half day of parking in our P9 lot. The price was 8 euros for a full day and this price appeared to be the same for all the lots around the city center.

*The lot that says “Parcheggio P9” at the left of this photo is where we parked*

*Sign from the elevator near P9 showing which direction to walk and how far to access the historic old town center*

Walkability With Small Children

We found San Marino to be very walkable despite being perched on the side and top of a hill. There were some steep streets, but they were interspersed with flat areas and our 2.5-year-old thought it was super fun to run down the steep streets on our way back down. While there are cars on some of the streets in the historic area, it’s not busy at all and quite a few streets were clearly pedestrian only. Furthermore, the historic center really is quite small with plenty of places to stop for a break if little legs get tired, from shops and restaurants to benches, steps, and lookouts.

*Starting out walk through the historic city center of San Marino. Our 2.5-year old was able to walk 75% of the time by himself.*

*Catching a quick ride, but mainly because he wanted to dart down every side street!*

*Taking a little rest break after the Public Palace*

Can You Take a Stroller?

Yes, if you’re ready to carry it up and down a few stairs. That said, we thought San Marino had relatively few stairs for a city built on the side of a mountain and some of the places with stairs had ramps too for accessibility, so a stroller is definitely doable. We didn’t have our stroller on this trip and carried the baby in our Ergo Baby carrier, which didn’t feel overly strenuous to me. Furthermore, an article from another family about San Marino mentioned that the towers are not really accessible by stroller. If you had a stroller though and wanted to visit the towers, I wager it would be perfectly safe parked at the entrances to the towers.

Sightseeing Train

If you don’t feel like walking quite as much with your littles, consider taking the sightseeing/shuttle train from the lower part of the city to the historic center at the top of Monte Titato. The “train” doesn’t run on rails but is designed to look like a little train that drives around on the roads. We hoped to do this with our kiddos because it seemed like something they would really enjoy simply as an activity, but the website for the train, By Train San Marino, provides very little practical information and we weren’t sure where to catch the train or what the schedule was, so settled for walking. After we had already parked, we found a sign for the train near the elevator with a map and schedule. Apparently, it does pick up passengers from the P9 lot we parked in (with stops at other parking lots too - see the map), but it doesn’t run in the winter months (we visited in February) so we wouldn’t have been able to ride it regardless. However, keep it in mind as a fun option with little kids! Check out this post from Teddy’s Travels if you want to see what the train looks like to determine whether your kids (or you) would enjoy it.

Good to know: The sightseeing train offers a hop on hop off service from the lower part of San Marino to the historic area at the top of Monte Titano. You can choose to either take the sightseeing route with audio guide or the shuttle service that just gets you from the bottom of the hill to the top. You can pick it up from the bus station or various parking lots (see map below) and it takes about 40 minutes to complete the full route.

Cost

Shuttle service: 5 euros per adult for a round trip ticket or 3 euros for a one way ticket. Children up to 120cm (just under 4ft) in height ride free, so could be a variety of ages depending on how tall your kids are! A bit weird but that’s what the sign said.
Sightseeing tour: 7 euro per adult, 5 euro for children 4-14, and free for children 0-3

Schedule

It runs every day every 30 minutes from 10:00am to 7:00pm from June 2nd until September 14th

*The sign for the sightseeing train with more information that the actual train’s website*

Exploring the Historic City Center

There doesn’t seem to be much in San Marino specifically geared toward children, except perhaps the Museum of Creatures of the Night, but that seemed much too creepy for our toddler and also doesn’t have great reviews. However, like all toddlers, our toddler loves to just run around taking in new things, so we decided to simply walk around the historic city center. Once we got there, we decided to head for Guaita Tower, one of the three towers located at the top of Monte Titato that are a symbol of the country, and see whatever we could along the way. As such, we started up a street that looked like it was headed toward where we believed Guaita Tower was. The nice thing about the historic city center is that it’s pretty small so you don’t really have to navigate and can enjoy just wandering and seeing where you end up. You can apparently do duty-free shopping in San Marino and this emphasis was clear as we passed a huge amount of shops initially. No very atmospheric, but eventually we came to a wonderful lookout over the ancient walls of the city with sweeping views of tile roofed buildings, the lower part of San Marino, and the surrounding countryside.

*Beautiful views over the lower part of San Marino and the surrounding countryside*

Public Palace of San Marino

As we continued upwards we turned a corner and found ourselves in the little plaza in front of the Public Palace of San Marino - the seat of government for the country. It’s a beautiful building that gives the sense of being perched at the top of the world, but it’s rather small and not terribly imposing, so we didn’t realize it was their official government building until I went up to an open door and a guard jumped up from a desk and hurried my way. We weren’t sure if we were allowed entry and were enjoying just strolling around outside, so I walked away and we just enjoyed it from the outside. Later, I read that it is open to tourists when official government proceedings aren’t in progress. Some places state that entry is free while other folks talk about buying tickets, so the jury is still out on that one.

*The intricate doors to the Public Palace of San Marino*

*Views from the little plaza in front of the Public Palace*

Basilica of Saint Marinus

We continued our upward climb and eventually came to a beautiful cathedral - the Basilica of Saint Marinus, which is said to contain the ashes of St. Marinus, the founder of San Marino. Construction of the current basilica was started in 1825 on the grounds of an ancient 5th century church. Entry is free to the public, but the doors were locked so we once again just admired it from the outside.

*Continuing our climb (at a run!) towards the towers from the Basilica of Saint Marinus*

*Another view point through an ancient wall on our climb to Guita Tower*

Guaita Tower

After another 10 or so minutes of climbing up narrow streets from the basilica, we reached Guaita Tower. Guaita Tower is the oldest of the three towers, thought to have first been built directly on the bedrock at the top of Monte Titato in the 11th century by the first inhabitants of San Marino. You really get the sense that you’re somewhere with ancient history in San Marino. You can buy a ticket to enter the tower from a ticket booth at the entrance for 4.5 euros, but we decided to pass once again as it was about to close (closes at 5pm) and we were really just enjoying wandering the streets and taking in the amazing views. There was a sort of plaza/viewpoint surrounded by low walls next to the tower so we headed over to it and once again got panoramic views of the surrounding area, which was very pretty in low evening light. Check out this guide if you want to see more pictures and learn more about the three towers to see if it’s worth going inside the two that are accessible to the public.

*Cool gates and passageways as you make your way past Guaita Tower*

Walk the City Wall

As we headed past Guaita Tower, we could see Cesta Tower in the distance, connect by a stone path leading winding along the edge of the city wall. Pretty cool and so picturesque! The drop off from the path is quite sheer in places and you’re really pretty high up at this point, so you definitely want to keep a grip on your toddler if they’re a climber as the walls really weren’t very high in places and had big openings in the iron work fencing that a small child could easily slip through. We really enjoyed this part of our walk though and decided to cut down into a parklike patch of forest just below Cesta Tower to head back towards our car as the sun was getting pretty low and it was getting cold.

*The very picturesque walk along the old city wall connecting Guaita Tower to Cesta Tower*

*Heading back to our car through the little area of forest below Cesta Tower*

Listen to Bells & Take in a Sunset

As we walked back to our car we enjoyed numerous little surprises from views of impressive statues through arched walkways to lovely little plazas and beautiful churches. As we reached the lower wall where we’d first entered the historic city center, bells throughout the city began to ring. Meanwhile, the setting sun was shining right through a window in a tower in a stone church at the edge of the wall to the historic center and I quickly snapped one of my favorite pictures of the trip. It really did feel like a magical end to our stroll around San Marino!

*Sunset over a church at the edge of the historic city center of San Marino*

Bathroom Access

Both our kiddos were still in diapers/pull ups on this trip and didn’t need to be changed during our time there, so we can’t speak personally to the bathroom situation. That said, others state that there is a mixture of pay and free toilets in San Marino, one being at the P9 lot we parked at. Pay toilets cost 0.50 euro per use at the time this was written according to other travelers. Reviews for these public toilets are abysmal (less than 2 stars for all the ones I looked at) but they don’t have very many reviews either, so it’s hard to say if they are disgusting or usually fine. I’d be tempted to use a changing mat and no bathroom for kiddos who aren’t potty trained, and use the bathroom at the San Marino Tourist Information Office in the heart of the city center if a bathroom was a must. I couldn’t find out whether their bathroom is a free or requires payment.

Free toilets

P9 parking lot: Free toilet with a key to checkout, located at the entrance from Via Gino Giacomini or Via Napoleone Bonaparte

P11 parking lot: Free toilet located at the funicular railway, piazzale Campo della Fiera Piazzale Campo della Fiera Borgo Maggiore
P1 bus stop: Free toilet located at Piazzale Calcigni

Thoughts on Visiting During the Low Season

We visited in February, which was definitely the low season for tourists for San Marino. As you would expect, peak season is during the summer. I don’t know that San Marino gets enough tourists to ever be really crowded, but going during the low season did ensure that there was easy parking and zero crowds as we made our way around the city center. The weather was definitely chilly with high temperatures in the mid 40Fs, but we had warm coats for everyone. If you want to sit at outside cafes or really take it slow wandering around, it might be better to at least go in a slightly warmer shoulder season. However, if you love being places when it’s pretty much empty, winter may be the perfect time for you!

Would we Visit Again?

We loved our visit to San Marino. It was beautiful and unique and definitely worth the stop! That said, I don’t think it’s a place we would plan a second visit to. There just wasn’t enough to see to warrant going again, at least not to the city of San Marino. If we’re passing through the area in the future, perhaps we’ll stop at one of the other towns in San Marino.

Final Thoughts

Since you don’t pass a check point to get into San Marino, you don’t automatically get your passport stamped. However, you can go to the Tourism Office of San Marino, located in the heart of the historic city center (close to the Public Palace) and get your passport stamped for a fee. In retrospect, we wish that we had done it as a memento from our stop in one of the smallest countries in the world. Check out 5 Tips for Enjoying San Marino With Children for a few more ideas of things to do with little ones if wandering without a plan like we did isn’t quite your style :)

Good to know: You can get your passport stamped in the Tourism Office of San Marino for 5 euros

Have you been to San Marino with kids? Leave a comment with your favorite sites, experiences, and top tips! We’d especially like to know if you used a bathroom and what it was like.

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