San Marino; Friday, 22 March, 2019

I had expected the bus to start climbing long before reaching San Marino, as I had a picture in my mind of the whole of the country being mountainous, but in reality the climbing only really started once we had crossed the border.

The bus quickly climbed up the hills to the walls of San Marino city and the furthest into the city that public transport can reach, so then I was a pretty hefty 15 minute hike up hill with heavy luggage to the hotel. Having checked in, freshened up, and got my breath back from the hike up the mountain, I headed out into the city to have an explore.

As I was almost at the highest point already I continued climbing up alongside the city walls that my hotel was up against to the 1st tower, actually a small castle, located almost immediately above the hotel.

From up here the views across San Marino and Italy towards the Adriatic coast were spectacular, as were the views of the different towers of the city perched on the edge of almost sheer drops.

A couple of steps away from the first tower was a small restaurant, perched on the side of the cliff looking over the country and towards the sea, and I suddenly realised that I was quite peckish so I stopped there for a bite to eat taking in the views.

After lunch I continued descending down through the city taking in the sights, stopping off at the Cathedral to have a look around before ending up in the Piazza della Libertà, home of the country’s parliament. I stopped off at one of the little café bars on the edge of the square for an early evening drink which was promptly accompanied by quite a lot of free snacks.

Feeling quite full again, I continued on wandering down to the northern end of the city by the funicular from where there are once again excellent views over San Marino, Italy and into the mountains in central Italy. From the funicular I started to head back up through town again towards the hotel, stopping off on route for a quick ice cream before making back to my room.

I freshened up and then a little later headed out again to find somewhere to eat. I had quite a long wander around trying to find somewhere that was open in the evening – most of the restaurants appeared to cater just for the day tripper market – but I eventually found a restaurant immediately below my hotel and had a very nice meal there.

It did mean that after dinner it was a very short walk back up the hill to my room and bed.