Safety and rules in San Marino, the parts that matter

If you’re wondering whether San Marino is safe, the short answer is yes, and the longer answer is more useful. I haven’t found an official body warning of any particular risk in the country. What I have found are a few rules and gaps that almost nobody mentions, and they can cause you more trouble than a pickpocket.

Is San Marino safe?

The UK government, which tends to be thorough, says street crime is very rare and asks only that you look after your passport and cash as you would anywhere. On terrorism it uses the standard wording applied to most countries, that attacks cannot be ruled out. Spain’s foreign ministry goes further and classes the whole state as trouble-free.

That’s enough for me. In a republic of around 34,000 people, with a pedestrian old town full of visitors by day, the precautions are the ones you’d take in any tourist town. The only thing I’d keep an eye on is my bag in the August crowds or during Natale delle Meraviglie, when a lot of people squeeze into little space.

Passports and the border

There are no border checks between Italy and San Marino, but the UK government applies Schengen rules to British passports, including the 90-day limit and a recorded entry into Italy. The detail, from passport dates to EES, is in San Marino entry requirements. The souvenir stamp is something else entirely, explained in the San Marino passport stamp.

What if you fall ill?

This is the gap that worries me most. The GHIC isn’t accepted here, according to the UK government, and the state hospital charges patients from outside Italy for emergency care. So I wouldn’t go without travel insurance, and the hospital, pharmacies and what A&E costs are in San Marino hospital and emergencies.

Rules worth knowing

Stay longer than 30 days, or plan to work, and you must register with the Gendarmerie for a permit of stay. San Marino’s own foreign ministry says the same, and wants it done before day 30. For a tourist it won’t apply, but for anyone working remotely for a season it will. Working, even for a short spell, has its own rules, and the UK government sends you to the San Marino consulate in the UK for those.

The UK government adds a few more. There’s a zero-tolerance policy on illegal drugs, with prison or a heavy fine. Customs rules are the same as Italy’s. And if you drive, you need your UK licence plus the 1968 international driving permit, which can’t be bought outside the UK. Once there, you can’t drive into the old town without a permit, which I cover in where to park in San Marino.

The numbers I’d save

For anything medical, 118, and for the police, 112 or 113. The rest, from the all-night pharmacy to the round-the-clock FCDO number in London, is gathered on the healthcare page.

And the real risk, the one most likely to cost you money, isn’t a crime at all. It’s your phone, because roaming in San Marino works on whatever terms your UK network decides, which I unpick in my roaming guide for San Marino. If you’d like to understand why San Marino isn’t EU despite the euro, it’s in is San Marino a country?