This is the least-visited country in Europe – and you’ve probably never heard of it

It can only be reached by train or cable car
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You may already know that Italy is home to one micro-country – the Vatican City. But did you know it was home to a second?

San Marino is located in northern Italy and is a mountainous micro-state within the country.

Whilst the Vatican City receives millions of visitors each year, who come to see the home of the Pope and the Renaissance frescoes of the Sistine Chapel famous for Michelangelo’s ceiling, San Marino is the least-visited country in Europe.

According to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation, it only had 60,000 tourists visit in 2016. Comparatively, Vatican City welcomes around five million visitors each year to their museums alone.

So why do so little people visit this country?

San Marino is situated inside northern-central Italy and is just 23.6 square miles in area. The only way to reach the city is by train or cable car up the Titan Mountain.

San Marino (Pixabay)

The mountainous landscape makes for spectacular views over the countryside and the township is filled with charming old buildings, statues and sculptures.

San Marino is the world’s oldest-surviving sovereign state and oldest republic – it has been around in its current form since 310AD.

The fortress on the hill, Castello della Guaita, dates back to the 11th Century and was briefly used as a prison.

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Located inland from the East coast of Italy, another reason it receives so comparatively few visitors might be that the closest major destination, Florence, is a three-hour drive away. Adding to that, tourists do tend to flock west to the coast, to traverse the Cinque Terre or live like celebrities on the Amalfi Coast.

In any case, San Marino makes a great day trip from the coastal town of Rimini and should certainly be one for the Italian itinerary.

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