After my journey across the Balkans, I made a decision to make a detour to Italy as I wished to tick one new nation off my bucket record. That nation was San Marino and to get there, I needed to discover myself a metropolis fascinating sufficient to function my base. Given Italy’s many quick trains, it’s fully potential to base your self wherever in Central Italy and have the ability to do San Marino as a day journey. However, probably the most sensible cities to make that journey with the least potential connections can be Rimini and Bologna. Rimini will get you there the quickest attributable to a direct bus, but it surely’s extra of a resort city and I wished a spot with some historical past and good meals. I then appeared a bit farther on the map and located Bologna, which solely required an extra 1 to 1.5 hours from Rimini. So Bologna it was. Bologna is one in every of Italy’s nice cities and is probably most well-known for its meals. Tagliatelle al ragu instantly springs to thoughts!
Where Exactly is San Marino?
When I used to be about to enter San Marino, I ran a ballot in my Instagram account and requested individuals in the event that they knew the place San Marino was. For a really small nation, I used to be shocked to search out that greater than half really knew! I ran an identical ballot asking individuals in the event that they knew the place Bosnia and Hercegovina was and fewer individuals acknowledged that far bigger nation.
san marino (proven with the purple arrow)
San Marino is among the smallest international locations on this planet – the fifth smallest to be precise. It is a landlocked nation, situated in between the Emilia-Romagna and Marche areas of Italy. Geographically talking, the nation sits someplace close to the central a part of Italy however it’s north of Rome.
If you might be visiting San Marino from Bologna, listed here are the simple steps you’ll must comply with to get there.
Step 1: Purchase your practice ticket from Bologna to Rimini
The very first thing you have to to do after you’ve determined to make that journey to San Marino and to make use of Bologna as your base in getting there’s to ebook your practice tickets. For Italian trains, your greatest wager is to ebook through Trenitalia, the official web site of Italy’s practice system or ItaliaRail, an company the place you possibly can ebook practice tickets. It is greatest to check as fares could be cheaper in both one. In my case, I booked my tickets a day earlier than my supposed departure and located a less expensive worth from Trenitalia.
There are not any direct trains to San Marino as San Marino doesn’t have a practice station. Instead, you’ll first must make your strategy to Rimini (Stazione di Rimini), the closest giant city from San Marino. For the Bologna to Rimini route, there are numerous sorts of trains you can select with journey occasions of as little as 53 minutes to as a lot as 1 hour and 41 minutes. You may select between direct continuous trains in addition to trains with a number of stops, relying in your price range and whether or not you might be pressed for time. In my case, I selected a fairly quick Freccebianca practice that had 4 stops and which introduced me to Rimini in just a bit over an hour.
To select the very best practice timing, chances are you’ll need to take a look at the Rimini to San Marino bus schedule to be sure you don’t have to attend unnecessarily lengthy. You can verify the up to date bus schedule right here.
Step 2: Head to Bologna Centrale to catch your practice
As with the same old case in Italy, the town’s most important practice station is just not too removed from city. You can simply attain Bologna Centrale after round 20 minutes of strolling from the previous city.
Step 3 – Purchase bus ticket when you arrive in Rimini
It is fairly widespread to do day journeys to San Marino from Rimini and ticket kiosks to the small republic aren’t tough to identify when you arrive in Rimini’s station. The native vacationer workplace there sells tickets for the #72 Bonelli bus that goes to San Marino. It prices EUR 6 for a one-way ticket and EUR 12 for a spherical journey ticket. Cash solely. The tickets aren’t timed so for those who miss a bus you possibly can all the time take the following one.
If you might be planning to depart your baggage someplace, it’s potential to take action on the practice’s station vacationer workplace for a nominal payment. Do notice the workplace is open from 8:30AM to five:45PM.
Step 4 – Board the Bonelli bus #72 heading from Rimini in the direction of San Marino from the bus cease
that is the queue that shortly kinds when boarding the san marino-bound bus
Once you’ve got your ticket, head to the bus cease. From Rimini practice station’s exit, you will discover it throughout the street simply close to the Burger King. Do notice that there are literally two bus stations outdoors Burger King. The one straight in entrance of Burger King is a bus cease that serves the locality of Rimini. You’ll need to go to the opposite one additional down for the buses that go to San Marino.
Tip: The line of individuals ready for the bus to San Marino can get very lengthy so it’s necessary to attend in line as quickly as you arrive in Rimini. Just as a result of you’ve got already purchased your self a bus ticket doesn’t essentially imply you possibly can simply wait it out contained in the Burger King or a restaurant close by. If there are extra individuals than seats, chances are you’ll end up having to face for all the journey (in the event that they even permit that) or await the following bus.
Step 5 – Alight at San Marino
the gorgeous view of the rolling plains from the bus cease at san marino metropolis (citta)
The journey time from Rimini station to the final cease in San Marino takes roughly 50 minutes however runs by a number of cities within the nation. You formally “enter” San Marino at roughly the 23-minute mark, passing by bigger cities equivalent to Serravalle and Rovereta. Unless you have an interest to do a little bit of duty-free purchasing, most vacationers will get off on the final cease which is within the namesake city of San Marino.
The capital of San Marino, a metropolis (citta) with the identical title, lies on the slopes of Mount Titano. The bus will drop you off on the bus car parking zone on the decrease elements of city.
The City of San Marino
san marino metropolis
Once you’ve arrived, you possibly can spend the remainder of your time exploring the zigzag streets of the capital – a extra complete information will come quickly! The citta is an enthralling little city stuffed with quaint retailers, loads of viewpoints from which to glimpse all the nation (and Italy past it) in addition to get a style of this nation’s fiercely unbiased tradition. I extremely counsel taking one of many earlier practice/bus combos and arrive in San Marino earlier than 9AM. You will discover the town all to your self in some elements!
In my case, I spent round 5 hours there. I arrived at round 10AM simply when the crowds begin to arrive. In that quick span of time, I managed to climb two of the three towers, go to the museum, take a look at the parliament constructing and go for a spot of lunch. If you’ve got a number of days to spare, it’s really worthwhile to remain an evening in San Marino. The metropolis is thought for its fog throughout sure months. As the city is excessive up the mountain, you possibly can generally see a “sea” of clouds in entrance of you with the lowland areas utterly lined up with fog.
