What language they speak in San Marino, and how to get by

Short answer, Italian. The more interesting answer is that San Marino also has a way of speaking all of its own, which hardly any guide mentions and which tells you something about the place. Here’s both, plus what you actually need to get around if your Italian stops at ciao.

What language is spoken in San Marino?

Italian, for everything. The country profile published by Spain’s foreign ministry in April 2026 lists it as the official language, and it’s the language of every street sign, menu, bus timetable and museum panel you’ll see. You arrive on a bus from an Italian railway station, pay in euros and read Italian from start to finish, which is exactly why so many people end up asking whether it’s really a separate state. I deal with that in is San Marino a country?

I find that more telling than it first looks. A republic that dates its independence, by tradition, to the year 301 has never needed a language of its own to feel distinct. The towers, the Captains Regent and the history do that job, not the vocabulary.

Sammarinese, the language you won’t see written down

The same Spanish profile names a second language, «romañolo sammarinese», and marks it as unofficial. It’s the local variety of Romagnol, a Romance language in the Gallo-Italic family that’s also spoken across Romagna in Italy. Wikipedia places it somewhere between the speech of Rimini, the Marecchia valley and Urbino, with Serravalle sounding closest to Rimini, which makes sense once you look at a map.

What strikes me is how fragile it is. There’s no official spelling and no standard, and the first dictionary only appeared in 2021, published by the Ente Cassa di Faetano. Wikipedia says 83% of residents speak it and calls its state critical, with a projection that it could be gone by around 2040. Those figures are undated and second-hand, so I’d treat them with care, but the picture fits what’s happening to dialects all over Italy.

That dictionary also gives the local names for places. Dogana is Dughéna, the capital is San Marèin and Borgo Maggiore shrinks to Bórg. If you’re at the Thursday market in Borgo Maggiore and two older locals are chatting, chances are you won’t catch a word, and that’s about as authentic a moment as the country offers.

Will English get you by?

Honestly, I can’t give you a figure, as no official body I’ve come across publishes one. What I can confirm is that the State Museums run their website in English as well as Italian, which suggests the main sights expect English-speaking visitors. I’d count on English in the busiest parts of the old town and fall back on Italian everywhere else, from the bus driver to the pharmacy.

The good news is that Italian is forgiving for an English speaker when it’s written down. «Uscita» is the exit, «chiuso» means closed and «biglietteria» is the ticket office, and after an hour you’ll be reading menus without much trouble. Spoken Italian at full speed is harder, and the trick is simply to ask people to slow down. «Più piano, per favore» does the job. If something medical or official goes wrong, the UK government keeps lists of English-speaking doctors, lawyers and translators, though the ones it points to are in Italy rather than San Marino itself, which is worth knowing before you need them.

The ten phrases I’d take

The table above has ten phrases of standard Italian, chosen for what you’ll actually do. Greeting someone in a shop, asking for the bill, finding the bus stop and buying the ticket back down to Rimini, which is where most visitors get tongue-tied. Times and fares for that journey are in Rimini to San Marino by bus.

Don’t try to memorise the lot. Buongiorno, grazie, per favore and il conto will already change how people respond to you. And if you’re stuck, a smiling «mi scusi, parla inglese?» opens more doors than starting in English as if it were a given.

What the language doesn’t change

Hearing Italian all around you doesn’t mean you’re in Italy for practical purposes. Your phone is the obvious trap, because UK networks set their own roaming terms for San Marino whatever language the adverts are in, which I cover in phone and roaming in San Marino. The border has no checks either, but the passport rules for British travellers still apply, and they’re set out in San Marino entry requirements.