Vicinal YBa2Cu3O7?? (YBCO) thin films of thickness h = 20–480?nm are grown by pulsed-laser deposition on 10° miscut (001) SrTiO3 substrates. The anisotropic resistivities, c-axis texture, and critical temperature drastically depend on the thickness of vicinal films. High-resolution electron microscopy reveals a defect microstructure with strong bending of the YBCO lattice near the SrTiO3 interface and improved film microstructure at larger distances to the substrate. The required layer thickness for microstructure relaxation and increase of electrical conductivity are significantly larger than the critical thickness of c-axis oriented YBCO films.