Day 1
Travelling to LHR is so easy now on the Elizabeth line from Woolwich it was a slick service.
Heathrow was very busy; however, I paid for the My Lounge, wasn’t great value for money they had run out of rose and Chardonnay wines I did make a complaint and was given champagne. Not a great selection of food either.
Excellent flight great service and only 47 passengers on board. Anthony one of the flight attendants was brilliant Flight on time, Rimini Airport is small and efficient. Plenty of cabs outside it’s €25 to the Center takes approx. 15 minutes.
Stayed at the Lime Hotel, which was very nice, room very clean large with a little balcony. We ate at Il Dei Mari, great food, wine and service good value for money and very close to the hotel.
Day 2
Breakfast wasn’t included in the room rate however it’s €8.00 for the buffet which was excellent value. Took a cab from the hotel to the station (€20.00) where we caught the bus to San Marino. Very disorganised at the bus stop. Driver was rude and unhelpful, not one of the best experiences. The bus is approx. €6.00 and takes approx. 55 mins, it drops you off at the main square you then need to walk into the old town as buses and very few cars are not allowed.
We arrived at the Titano hotel at noon lovely first impression with very friendly staff. It was too early to check in so left our luggage and went off exploring. There are a lot of day visitors as it’s an easy option from both Rimini and Bologna. We walked around the old town taking the sights and beautiful architecture, lots of cobbled streets with original houses and plenty of shopping really good value for bags and purses. After about 5pm the place is deserted as the day trippers have left, it was lovely to wander around without the crowds. That night we had drinks La Loggia which has a great view if you are outside and we got to experience the lovely San Marino sunsets which is a must!
Had a lovely dinner at Ritroro dei Lavoratori, traditional family restaurant with average prices.
Day 3
Excellent breakfast at the hotel, plenty of choice. The weather was horrendous heavy rain, so we decided to visit the curiosity museum which was different (entrance fee EUR8.00 per adult) with lots of usual facts! As we came out the rain had cleared, we had blur skies and sun. After a bit of shopping, great value for bags and purses! We walked to the 3 Towers: Guaita, Cesta, Montale and the Witches Path all whivch have excellent views, would highly recommend. Then it was the Cable Car (EUR5.00 return) to Borggio Maggiore, more residential and not much to see but would recommend the cable car for its views. That night we ate in the Hotel’s restaurant Le Terrazza amazing sunset views and fantastic food also good value for money.
Day 4
Another excellent breakfast, although we had purchased bus tickets for the return journey, we decided to take a cab from the Hotel to Rimini Airport (approx. EUR80.00) as couldn’t face the stress that we encountered on our outbound journey, it took about 75mins door to door well worth it.
We also got our Marino Stamp in our passports for EUR5.00 this was from the Tourist Board.
Flight back home was very quiet, departed on time and arrived at LHR early.
Would highly recommend San Marino, you can do it as a day trip from Rimini or Bologna, however I would recommend at least a 1 night stay to get the real feel of the principality as well as the Sunsets.
Excellent food, shopping, history, sunsets, culture, people are very friendly and helpful.
