San Marino is not in fact part of Italy. Yes, they speak Italian. Yes, they have the same currency. No, they do not have the same government. It only appears inside my Italy gallery because I have too few photos to create a top level gallery.

The Republic of San Marino is a mountainous, land locked micro-state of 61.2 sq km (23.6 sq mi) which was founded in 301 AD.

If you have heard of the San Marino Grand Prix... it isn't held in San Marino. There just isn't room for it. It's held in Italy on behalf of San Marino.

If you want to buy leather goods? Do it here. The taxes make it worth your while.

San Marino is not easy to get to since the RAF bombed its only rail link to Italy in WW II. (And yes, they are still justifiably filthy about that here (San Marino was a neutral state), though you would need to be able to read the Italian descriptions on history plaques since they don't translate that bit into English.) You have to come by road and our coach had to park down the mountain a bit and we needed to just take what we needed for the night from our luggage.

It's worth it, though. This place is like a step back in time. Looking at the sunrise over the Adriatic from the mountain tops while surrounded by stone medieval towers was an unforgettable and breathtaking experience.