San Marino

What's on your list there so far? There must have been a reason you decided to go there.

Well there are the souvenir shops. And I very much agree with Ed. There are so few places there that the ones that attracted you originally must be important. What caused you to select the country of San Marino?

Rick has a video on the Micro Countries of Europe - Monaco, Vatican City, Liechtenstein, Andorra and San Marino. I think it's telling that, while Monaco gets treated in his Provence and the French Riviera Guide, Vatican City gets treated in his Italy and Rome books, and Liechtenstein gets treated (briefly) in his Switzerland guide, the other two are completely ignored in his guides. So, you can look at his video for tips. I've never been been to San Marino, but the impression I get (and not just from Rick) is that it's mostly of interest to stamp collectors and country collectors. Nothing wrong with either of those, of course, but I think you'd have to find one of these to get further info (although I know other Italy guidebooks often have a page or so on it).

Thanks for your replies. This will be our 6th trip to Italy and we look for new areas to explore on each trip. We have seen Rick's video blurb of San Marino and thought it looked quite picturesque, thus decided to make it an overnight stop. We'll visit the castle and probably just explore whatever else is in San Marino. We've yet to be disappointed in bella Italia!

Karen, I applaud your decision-making process - sometimes I go to a place because I've seen a picture of it, or because there's a painting or mosaic I want to see (I went to Cefalu in Sicily because of the mosaic of Christ in the Cathedral there). Or it just calls to me (this happened with Paestum and I go back every time I'm in Italy). Never had a regret about doing it this way.