Cailungo, the district that keeps the country running

Some places are for visiting and some keep a country ticking over. Cailungo is the second kind. This curazia of Borgo Maggiore holds San Marino’s only hospital, the state company that runs the buses, water and electricity, and the Red Cross. There’s no monument to justify a detour, and I won’t pretend otherwise. But if you’re driving, want a bed without City prices or need a doctor for someone in your group, this is where you’ll end up.

Where it is and how to recognise it

Cailungo lies north of the centre of Borgo Maggiore, the castello it belongs to, on the slope facing the Adriatic. Wikipedia puts it at around 350-370 metres, says Via Ca’ dei Lunghi runs its whole length, and splits it into Cailungo di Sopra and Cailungo di Sotto, upper and lower. It’s a place of shops, public buildings and houses, closer to a suburb than to a village with a square.

Driving up from Rimini, the hospital is your landmark. Once over the border, you follow the main road for a few kilometres and then the «Ospedale» signs, which are the same ones the campsite uses in its directions.

The hospital, the pharmacy and the Red Cross

The Ospedale di Stato shares a site with the Istituto per la Sicurezza Sociale at Via Scialoja 20. It’s the only hospital in the country and its emergency department is open 24 hours. Two things matter to a foreign visitor. The hospital pharmacy opens every day, day and night, though overnight, 23:00 to 06:00, it only deals with urgent cases, and the ISS charges for treatment if you don’t live in Italy. The numbers, charges and insurance advice are all in San Marino hospital and emergencies.

Further along the same street, at number 12, is the Sammarinese Red Cross. Its website notes that it’s an independent society founded on 8 October 1949, recognised by law that November and admitted by the International Committee of the Red Cross in 1950. A useful fact for anyone who thinks San Marino is an Italian annex, since even its Red Cross is its own.

The AASS, the company that keeps things moving

The AASS, the state-owned public services company, has its head office at Via Andrea di Superchio 16. It’s the state company behind the bus lines, the cable car, the water supply and the electricity, and its number, 0549 883700, is also the one for booking the SMUVI on-demand bus. You won’t go there, but any transport question ends up being answered from here.

Sleeping in Cailungo, the bit that actually concerns you

This is the real draw for visitors. The 3-star Hotel Crocenzi describes itself as sitting on the slopes of Mount Titano, 3 km from the old town and 1 km from the cable car’s lower station, with a large private car park and rooms with terraces and sea views. If you’re travelling by car it strikes me as a sensible choice, because parking up in the City is a hassle and here it isn’t.

The other option is the country’s campsite, Centro Vacanze San Marino, at Strada di San Michele 50. It’s a 4-star site open all year, with pitches for tents and motorhomes, mobile homes and a hotel within the grounds. In low season a standard pitch costs €10 a night, and the campsite says the scheduled bus stops right outside on weekdays. Full prices and what’s included are in camping in San Marino. To compare with hotels elsewhere, see where to stay in San Marino.

Is there anything to see?

Not much, and I’ll say so plainly. Wikipedia mentions, just outside the village, the oratory of San Rocco, built in honour of the saint after a plague epidemic, with an oil painting from 1594 of the Madonna and Child flanked by Saint Roch, Saint Marinus and John the Baptist. I haven’t found any opening hours, so I’d treat it as a quick stop if you’re driving past, not a reason to come.

Festivals are another way to see the place with some life in it. The official 2024 calendar listed the Festa di Cailungo from 8 to 11 August. With no 2026 calendar out yet, I’d check before planning around it.

Getting there by bus

AASS lines 7 and 47 leave car park P9 in the City, run down through Murata and Borgo Maggiore and stop at the hospital before heading on to Serravalle and Dogana. They run on weekdays, and AASS waived fares from 2 March to 30 September 2026. Sundays mean SMUVI. From here the neighbouring village of Valdragone is close by, and if I could only fit in one of the pair, that’s where I’d go.