San Marino

San Marino certainly doesn't have much in terms of sightseeing destinations, an abundance of churches, or anything like that. But, it does have great views all around from atopmountains on one side and the ocean on the other. It also has a unique small town feel of its own, with small, narrow winding streets throughout. Sure, it has a bunch of small touristy shops left and right, which isn't my thing, but others may enjoy it. But, overall it certainly has a unique feel to it, making it fun to explore. If you find something like that worthwhile, then I'd recommend stopping by. Just take a bus up from Rimini. Enjoy your travels!

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We went to San Marino in 2009, and enjoyed our one-night visit there. Our 10yo daughter liked the idea of such a tiny country, and one that many Americans have never heard of! The views are incredible (assuming you get good weather) and the old towers are interesting. However, I don't think San Marino is really "on the way" from Venice to Florence. If you drive, it's really easy to get from Venice to San Marino. But to get from San Marino, it's at least a 3-hour drive, either south through Arezzo, or northwest through Bologna (which is a great city worth a visit). I would imagine the trip by train would be similar, except that you might need to take some sort of bus from and to Rimini to San Marino (there might be a train to the lower part of San Marino, but I know there's no train that could get up to the old part!). When we visited, we were heading from Florence, spent time in Bologna, spent the day in Ravenna, then drove to San Marino for the night. The next day, we headed from there to spend about a week in the Marche region, so it really was in the direction of the other parts of our trip. I don't think I would spend the time to visit San Marino if I wasn't already in the area. (I'd choose Bologna over San Marino any day.)

Thanks for the input! We'll be wandering slowly from Venice to Rome and I'm just trying to look for some new places to visit. I guess I'll put San Marino on hold until I retire and can take all the time I want. Thanks again!

I have a different perspective. Surprisingly there are several hill towns in Italy on the East Coast, most off which have a sea view. San Marino was my least favorite and did not have a view of the sea. It had the most touristy shops with the most tourists! The others were lovely, were very typical Italian villages, and had historical importance. All of them were terribly steep. We had several older people in our group who were not up to the hills and this type of walking. So not so bad to miss this tiny country for this or any other trip, in my opinion!

Bobbie~I'll bite......what were the hill towns you liked that had sea views? We'll be driving from Bologna as far as Fano and then inland, to Urbino, then on to Gubbio, then spending a week in the Spoleto, Todi, Narni, Orvieto region before heading to Rome. I'm still trying to decide on an overnight stop on that route that might offer an Adriatic sea view, as well as a picturesque, inn-type setting. A great breakfast and restaurant/evening meal would be a bonus..... Anybody have any suggestions?

Bobbe - If you're driving from Bologna to the coast, consider a stop in Ravenna. It's full of the most amazing mosaics, even better than those in Rome (partly because many of the mosaic buildings in Ravenna are smaller, so you can get closer to the mosaics). We took almost the same route you're considering. From Bologna, to Ravenna, then down the coast. But we went to San Marino; see my comments above. From there, we went to Urbino, but via a hill-town route. I loved Urbino. It's a beautiful town in gorgeous surroundings, with some great places to visit. My primary goal was the Duke of Montefeltro's studiolo, in the Ducal Palace. My family had to drag me away from looking at them. We also like visiting Raphael's childhood home. I like Raphael, so that was one reason to go. But it was also a good example of a middle-class house from that time period. The town of Gradara, northeast of Fano, has an interesting old castle. The town is pretty touristy, but the castle is worth a visit if you like castles. If you're a purist, note that the castle is much-reconstructed. The town is not right on the ocean. From there, we drove south to Senigallia, a beach town that's also a foodie destination, for lunch. On that route, we did take a coastal road that included several pretty little villages on the water (some of them on the cliffs above the water), but I don't seem to have included the names of the villages, or the route, in my trip notes. Looking at google maps, though, we probably took SS16 south from Gradara.