I would like to begin with a warning: San Marino is more than crowded of tourists and is anything but surely not an "off the beaten path" destination. Prices are high and something like authentic life is hard to find if you have stayed in San Marino holiday apartments in the historical center. But if you are interested in more than collecting Euro coins, stamps or countries, just follow the masses of italian families and do a daytrip to San Marino.

The old town of San Marino has many beautiful buildings to see and. Some of them have small museums, however some of them may not be that interesting. Among the highlights are the three defense towers from where you have an incredible view on the surrounding area and the old governmental palace (Palazzo Pubblico) with its small square in front of it. By walking through the streets of the old town and visiting the one or other place, you will learn a lot about the history of the

San Marino is the world's oldest Republic with a history dating back to the 4th century. Although small in size, it is not a city state, but a small state consisting of nine small towns. It became a Republic in medieval times and its size remains unchanged since the 16th century. San Marino was always object to attacks of surrounding kingdoms and had to fight for its independence. This is why there are still many defense structures around the old town of San Marino. After having not used the death penalty since 1468, San Marino became one of the first states to abolish it. Today, the state remains factually independent, although, it depends on Italy in the one or other way. San Marino has around 30 000 citizens, with many of them living in Italy. And it has one of the worst national football teams in the world :) The country has its own stamps, coins, license plates and an own police. But as there's almost no crime, policemen are mostly dealing with traffic issues.

The small, peaceful republic has many admirers. And perhaps, it won another after my visit in April 2006.