allowed with conditions
The 2021 hiking-network law prohibits by default both camping and — in that word — bivouacking along its trails, with a €100–1,000 fine, save for necessity or emergency or where a use regulation opens a route. The positive door is authorised rural tourism.
Checked July 2026
This is not legal advice: it's what the official sources say, checked by hand, plus what I lived myself. Verify before you bet the fine on it.
Forest and ordinary ground
The trail network: prohibited by default
San Marino has a 2021 law on its hiking network, and free camping along it is prohibited unless a use regulation or other normative measure opens a route. The administrative fine runs €100 to €1,000.
- Situations of necessity or emergency are excepted.
- The law covers the mapped network, not every parcel in the country.
Fine: €100–1,000 administrative fine (Law 86 of 4 May 2021: art. 12(2)(d) prohibits free camping on the hiking network and art. 14(1) sets the range).
Sources
Legge 4 maggio 2021 n. 86 — rete sentieristica, articles 12 and 14 — Consiglio Grande e Generale
Checked July 2026
And the bivouac, by name
A detail worth flagging: the statute expressly names bivouac alongside camping. So there's no tent-versus-sleeping-bag distinction to exploit — the provision closes both.
Fine: €100–1,000 administrative fine (art. 12(2)(d) expressly names bivouac; the range comes from art. 14(1)).
Sources
Legge 4 maggio 2021 n. 86 — rete sentieristica, articles 12 and 14 — Consiglio Grande e Generale
Checked July 2026
Where you can: the official network
Authorised rural tourism
San Marino's positive route: open-air camper hospitality within an authorised rural-tourism activity, with the operator on the register. It isn't "camp on any farm with the owner's consent".
Before you go
Sleeping for free was half the budget
€3.16 per person, per day. The trip's full accounts — and the playbook to do it yourself — are in the budget dossier.