Where to park in San Marino, and what it really costs

First, a warning you won’t find in most guides. The San Marino car park prices doing the rounds online are ones I couldn’t verify from an official source. They’re published by a private website, sanmarinosite.com, which says it takes them from the Republic’s parking office, and the tourist board’s own site, which would have the definitive version, isn’t one I could consult. So here’s what’s known, with that label attached.

Why you can’t drive up to the square

The Città’s old town is a restricted traffic zone. Only authorised vehicles enter, and hotels inside give guests a temporary permit to load and unload luggage, according to the same private site. Everyone else parks in a ring of numbered car parks lower down. It isn’t a whim. In 2025, 591,497 cars carrying 1,774,491 visitors entered San Marino, according to the statistics office, and the town sits on a mountain ridge.

The map, from P1 to P12

The private site describes twelve, some split in two. P1 is on Piazzale Lo Stradone and you walk up from there. P2 has two barrier sections, one for coaches. P3, on Viale Kennedy, leaves you near Piazza della Libertà. P9 is multi-storey with two panoramic lifts to the centre, and P10 next door takes motorhomes and has EV chargers. P6 and P7 are described as shaded and close to the lifts.

One detail makes me cautious. The page doesn’t label every car park in its text, and the names for P3, P6, P7 and P8 are inferred from the order of the rows. There’s no P13 either. If the sign on arrival says something different, trust the sign. The same goes for the phone number the site gives for the parking office, 0549 883808, which I’d only use to double-check prices before a long stay or a motorhome trip. For a two-hour visit, the machine is all the information you need.

How much does parking in San Marino cost?

According to that site, a car pays €1.50 for the first hour, €3 for two, €4.50 for three to five hours and €8 for the whole day. Barrier car parks read your number plate. You pay from 1 April to 30 September between 08:00 and midnight, and from 1 October to 31 March between 08:00 and 20:00. Outside those hours, it’s free. Half a day would come to €4.50, which is less than two people on the bus from Rimini.

There’s a €6-a-night hotel rate for guests of participating hotels, valid until 23:59 on your departure day, and you give your plate number to the hotel. If you’re staying at the top, ask when you book, and compare the areas in my San Marino hotel guide. Some hotels sort it out themselves. The Grand Hotel San Marino has a valet garage, Hotel Rosa gives a free private space to guests who book direct, Hotel San Marino iDesign, outside the walls, has free parking, and Hotel La Rocca sends its guests to P6 and P7.

Motorhomes and coaches have their own rates on the site, €13 a day for a motorhome in winter and a flat €25 for a coach. Booking a space ahead isn’t possible, according to the same site. To spend the night in a motorhome, I’d head for camping in San Marino, with hook-up and a service point.

My pick, P11 and the cable car

I wouldn’t drive to the top at all. I’d leave the car in P11, on Via Ventotto Luglio in Borgo Maggiore, next to the lower cable car station, and ride up to the Città. Cabins leave every quarter of an hour for €4 one way, and at the top you’re under five minutes from the basilica. Watch out for 21, 22 and 23 October 2026, when it closes for testing. Fares and hours are in my cable car guide, and the town below in Borgo Maggiore.

Busy days and P12

On the busiest days police send cars to P12, on Viale Campo dei Giudei, and a shuttle runs up to Piazzale Stazione until 21:00 for €5 a person including parking, free under 120 cm. Again, that’s the private site’s information.

Two autumn dates I’d bear in mind. Rallylegend runs from 8 to 11 October 2026 in Serravalle, with its own parking at €25 a day on the Saturday and Sunday, and Natale delle Meraviglie takes over the old town between 28 November and 6 January. The full calendar is in events in San Marino.

Coming for the outlet, or ditching the car

The San Marino Outlet’s car park is free and covered, and that one does come from its official website. If your plan is shopping, you don’t need a Città car park at all. And if you’d rather forget the car altogether, the local buses and SMUVI are explained in getting around San Marino.