San Marino

Is San Marino safe to visit?

Yes. San Marino is one of the safest places in Europe for a visitor, and the risks are small and practical. The FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary describes street crime as very rare and advises against travel to no part of the country. The national statistics office recorded 12 road deaths in the ten years from 2016 to 2025, none at all in 2023 or 2025. We score it 88, below Monaco (93), level with Liechtenstein (88) and above Italy (84), which surrounds it.

The catch is data. A country of about 34,000 people has too few crimes for stable rates, and neither UNODC nor the World Bank publishes a homicide figure for San Marino. Our crime scores rest on the FCDO's assessment rather than a number, so confidence is medium.

Crime: what the data does and does not show

There is no published homicide rateHomicide rateThe number of people killed on purpose each year for every 100,000 residents. It is the most comparable crime figure between countries.More in the glossary, and we have not been able to find a national crime total. The 2025 activity report of the Polizia Civile, one of San Marino's three police forces, lists four cases of assault and 13 site visits for theft or attempted theft over the year. It covers only that force's work, so treat it as a sense of scale, not a crime rate.

What the FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary does say is clear: street crime is very rare. The pickpocketing that affects Italy's resorts and trains, which the US cites in its Italy advisory, is mostly a risk on the way there. Keep your bag closed on trains and buses and in summer crowds.

Roads are the measurable risk

Road safety is the one area with good local data, and it is mostly reassuring. WHO's model puts San Marino at 5.9 road deaths per 100,000 people in 2021, the figure we score on, but the local count is lower. San Marino's statistics office counted 1,163 crashes with casualties from 2016 to 2025, which killed 12 people and injured 1,441. Deaths halved between the two five-year periods, from 8 to 4, which works out at about 2.3 per 100,000 residents a year since 2021.

Injuries are going the other way. The five years from 2021 to 2025 brought 41% more injury crashes and 53% more injured people than the five years before. The report names speed and distracted driving as the leading causes, and about a quarter of crashes happen on the Superstrada, the 9.8 km dual carriageway that carries traffic from the Italian border up towards the capital. Outside it, Via Sottomontana and Via Piana stand out, with two deaths each in the decade.

If you drive, the FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary says British licence holders need a 1968 international driving permit, which can only be bought in the UK. Take care in winter, when ice and snow can make the upper roads slippery, and in summer: July had the most crashes of any month over the decade (161), which the statistics office puts down to tourist traffic.

Health care and insurance

Disease risks are low, but the FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary makes one point that catches many visitors out: the EHIC and GHIC cards are not accepted in San Marino, though they work in Italy a few kilometres away. Emergency treatment is at the state hospital, and bills for visitors are private. Take out travel insurance with medical cover, even for a day trip.

Earthquakes and weather

San Marino sits in a seismically active part of Italy, but the hazard here is moderate. The INGV catalogue lists no earthquake stronger than magnitude 4.4 within about 50 km since 1985; that quake struck near Forlimpopoli on 15 July 2005. The weather is the more practical concern, with summer thunderstorms, winter ice on the ridge and steep paths up to the towers that are slippery after rain.

Practical tips

• Carry your passport. There are no border checks, but you may need to show a Schengen entry stamp.
• Get travel insurance with medical cover before you go, because the EHIC and GHIC do not work.
• Wear shoes with grip for the cobbled lanes and paths up to the towers.
• For emergencies, call 118 for an ambulance, 113 or 112 for the police and 115 for the fire service.

How we scored it

Conflict (92), violent crime (90) and petty crime (90) are all strong, and health (88) loses points only because visitor care is private and the main hospitals are in Italy. Road safety (85) uses WHO's 2021 estimate of 5.9 deaths per 100,000, a few points up for the lower local count. Natural hazards (82) is the weakest factor, for moderate earthquake risk and winter conditions on the ridge. The weighted average is 88. The lack of any homicide data keeps confidence at medium.