Healthcare in San Marino, from 118 to the all-night pharmacy

Nobody looks up a hospital on holiday until they need one, and then they need the answer fast. So this page keeps to the point. Where it is, which number to call, which pharmacy is open and the thing most guides leave out, that A&E in San Marino costs visitors money.

Where is the hospital?

San Marino has a single hospital, the Ospedale di Stato, run by the Istituto per la Sicurezza Sociale (ISS), the country’s state health service. It’s at Via Scialoja 20 in Cailungo, part of the castello of Borgo Maggiore. Driving up from Rimini on the main road, the ISS tells you to carry on 4 km past the border, turn right at the «Ospedale» sign and follow it for another kilometre. By bus, AASS line 47 passes the hospital on its way between the Città and Dogana, as I explain in getting around San Marino.

The emergency department, the Pronto Soccorso, is on the ground floor, reached straight from the main entrance, and you ring the intercom to let staff know you’ve arrived. There’s a lift for anyone with reduced mobility beside the reserved parking, leading directly to the waiting room.

Which number do you call?

For anything medical, 118. That’s San Marino’s ambulance and emergency medical line, and it’s the one the UK government tells you to use too. For the police, the UK government lists 112 or 113, while the hospital’s own page gives 113 for the Gendarmerie. The UK government lists 115 for the fire service, and the hospital lists it for the Polizia Civile. I’d keep it simple, 118 for health and 113 for everything else.

One quirk worth knowing. Call 118 from a mobile and you may be answered by a control room in a neighbouring Italian region. That’s normal, and the hospital stresses it doesn’t slow anything down, because the call is passed straight to San Marino. According to the ISS, ambulances take between 8 and 15 minutes to reach any part of the country.

Is healthcare free for visitors?

No, and this is the part that matters. On its emergency department page the ISS sets out three cases. Residents of San Marino are treated free. Residents of Italy are treated free for emergencies only. Patients from any other country pay for both urgent and routine care, and a British visitor falls squarely into that last group.

I’ve looked at the department’s 2026 price list to give you an idea. An A&E consultation is €100, stitching a superficial wound €60, an ECG €30 and a short spell under intensive observation €350. Tests and treatment come on top, so a slip on the steep old town steps can add up quickly.

The UK government is just as clear on cards. Neither the EHIC nor the GHIC works here, it says, and it recommends comprehensive travel and medical insurance, contacting your insurer quickly if you’re referred for treatment. Put the two together and my advice is simple. Buy a policy that names San Marino, even for a day trip, a point I also make in safety and rules in San Marino.

Pharmacies, and the one that never closes

The ISS runs seven pharmacies across the country. The one to remember is at the hospital in Cailungo, open every day, 24 hours, holidays included, though from 23:00 to 06:00 it only handles urgent cases. In the old town there’s the pharmacy on Via Donna Felicissima, open Monday to Saturday from 09:00 to 14:45 and in two short sessions on Sundays. It’s the handiest if you’re sightseeing in the City of San Marino, but mind the hours, as it’s shut on weekday afternoons.

Borgo Maggiore, Serravalle and Gualdicciolo open Monday to Saturday until 19:30. Faetano and Gualdicciolo close in the second and third weeks of August, right when visitor numbers peak. One interesting detail from the ISS is that San Marino’s pharmacies can order medicines not sold in Italy, as long as another country’s health authority has approved them.

What I’d do before going up

Three things, none of them longer than five minutes. Take out travel insurance, save 118 and your insurer’s number on your phone, and remember that the hospital pharmacy is the only one open at night. If you’re bringing prescription medicines from the UK, the FCDO suggests checking the rules on TravelHealthPro first, since the legal status of some medicines differs abroad. And if you were wondering about the water, the lab results are public and reassuring, as I set out in San Marino tap water and its lab results.