Where to run in ROME?

Good luck! I was just in Rome, running there is an absolute nightmare... I would almost go so far as to say the worst city for 'real' running I have ever been inok, that being said there is a park (i don't know the name of it, it is by a zoo) that is just above the spanish steps (should be about a mile and a half from your hotel)if you take via veneto as far as it goes it should lead to the parkanyway, the park is not big, you can do probably a mile and a half loop or so, maybe slightly more but in all honesty sticking to that if you want to get in quality running is your best beti ran around the monuments (colisieum, ruins, etc.) and while fun to see the stuff you never get more than 5 minutes in a row of continuous runningforget running in the city streets, I felt like I needed gladiator gearmaybe someone else knows some place I don't... good luck

Josh wrote:

Hi All,

I'll be in to Rome, Italy this weekend, and I have runs of 18k, 11k, and 29k scheduled (Pfitz marathon program). Any suggestions of where to go? My hotel is downtown, and if I can run somewhere directly without taking public transportation, I'd prefer it. My hotel is near the Pantheon.

I'm on vacation, and I'll probably run early morning if that makes a difference.

Any ideas are appreciated, links to maps and/or google earth info is especially appreciated! Thanks.

Josh

Josh, hate to say it but it is a tough city in which to run.

I remember running 5min loops around a small park near the Colosseum for 90 minutes one time, but that was in the middle of the day.

I just chimed in to say that the earlier you can get out there, the better. I would run pre-sunrise if I were you for 2 reasons.

1-Avoid the horrendous traffic that abides by no laws whatsoever.

2-Avoid horrible fumes caused by said traffic.

Wonderful city, but definitely not the best for training.

Hopefully someone else posts to give you better advice, which I could use next time I am in the area.

Good luck.

ha, sounds like you and i may have found the same park??

Cough Wheeze wrote:

Josh, hate to say it but it is a tough city in which to run.

I remember running 5min loops around a small park near the Colosseum for 90 minutes one time, but that was in the middle of the day.

I just chimed in to say that the earlier you can get out there, the better. I would run pre-sunrise if I were you for 2 reasons.

1-Avoid the horrendous traffic that abides by no laws whatsoever.

2-Avoid horrible fumes caused by said traffic.

Wonderful city, but definitely not the best for training.

Hopefully someone else posts to give you better advice, which I could use next time I am in the area.

Good luck.

the park is the villa borghese. it even has a cinder track.

it kind of has a cinder track - it's not like there are lanes or anything and you couldn't possibly run towards the inside as it was all mud (smelled kind of like urine at one spot too)but all in all, i liked running in that park

rterthjgh wrote:

the park is the villa borghese. it even has a cinder track.

Thanks for the help guys. I found an article on the runners world web site about Rome, and it mentions the Villa Doria Pamphili as a good place to run on trails - 3 miles south of the Vatican, it says.

Anybody know anything about this place? I'll probably check it out, it says it's about twice as big as Villa Borghese.

Watch out for the Gypsies!

They hang out in that park.

Villa Pamphilli is actually a huge park. if you went out and back on the trals it would be close to 10 miles. It beautiful as well.

I would run on the sides of Tiber River because: a. easy access (although the stairs down may smell like strong piss/amonia) b. impossible to get lost c. down far enough from street level to escape smog and other pollution d. moments of gravel/trails

When you think your done with the path try crossing a bridge and running on the other side. I will warn you that there are bums but they're harmless and as long as you wave and mind your own business you'll be fine; if you run down there enough (like I did), you can develop a friendly non-verbal relationship of a nice wave or head nod with them.

The path starts way up near the vatican but it doesn't get good until a quarter mile past Via Trastevere.

went to villa borghese three times for a run. nice park, had about a 10 minute loop, a lot of which was on grass, rest on sandy gravel, that cinder track talked about is i believe a disused horse gallop of some sort, about the same size as a track but not designed for running. saw a few elite looking masters who were probably local in there so it is a good choise if you're centrally located. traffic is annoying, but run in the morning, and sundays are quiet. enjoy!

Villa Pamphili is a great place to run. If you're at the Pantheon, you should be able to get there in maybe 3-4 miles of running. You'd cross the Tevere into Trastevere, run through the heart of that neighbourhood (quite nice), and then up steep steps and a road towards the Eastern gate of the park.

You should look up your route on the map before going. The last half mile or so will be unpleasantly traffic-heavy, including one very annoying road crossing, but once in the park you'll easily forget about all that.

Also, note that Villa Pamphili is bisected by another busy road. They've constructed one walkway over the road, roughly in the middle. So don't think you've seen all of the park if you hit a road.

maurits wrote:

Villa Pamphili is a great place to run. If you're at the Pantheon, you should be able to get there in maybe 3-4 miles of running. You'd cross the Tevere into Trastevere, run through the heart of that neighbourhood (quite nice), and then up steep steps and a road towards the Eastern gate of the park.

You should look up your route on the map before going. The last half mile or so will be unpleasantly traffic-heavy, including one very annoying road crossing, but once in the park you'll easily forget about all that.

Also, note that Villa Pamphili is bisected by another busy road. They've constructed one walkway over the road, roughly in the middle. So don't think you've seen all of the park if you hit a road.

This guy hit it on the head. From the Pantheon, Villa Pamphili is you best bet. You can run there directly and the park is pretty expansive with a few different little areas that can spice things up. To get there, your best bet would be to go south from your hotel to the Largo Argentina tram stop (#8 tram I think, it is the end of the line) and follow it west across the river. At some point just on the west side of the river, you will need to take a right and try to get uphill. The east enterance to the park is at the intersection of via aurelia anticaand via di san pancrazio (also the north and south borders). I would google map "rome, italy". For reference points, if you look for the island in the middle of the river, the bridge you would cross on is just west/north of there.

You have a few other options. I didn't enjoy running along the river, but it is pretty straightforward. There are a number of hobo camps under bridges though. One place I did enjoy was the circus maximus. It is kind of cheesy to do long runs there, but a full loop is about 1000m(1k) so it makes measurements easy. I used it for occasional 20k runs. You probably would want to take public transportation to get there, though, because running through the city sucks.

There are a pair of parks, villa borghese and villa alda (sp?), further in the north of the city. Again, you would probably want to use public transportation to get there. The second is suppose to be larger, but I never could find it (a bad sign maybe, or I could just be too dumb). Villa borghese is nice, but maybe not after 10 miles.

I think you should look at villa doria pamphili. It is where I did most of my running. And enjoy your trip, Rome is awesome.

Where the hell were all of you guys when I was asking about where to run in Rome?! Oh well. Good advice from Lupo Romano. I'll add that I got 3 1/2 miles out of my Villa Borghesa loop, so while I agree that it's boring after ten miles, that's only a few loops (some were saying it's only 1 or 2 miles around).

For practicality, head to the river. It's out & back, and cobblestone for the first mile and a half if you go straight there from the Pantheon, but that's where you can not worry about everything else and just run. When you run on the river, run out & back to the north, and run on the far side of the river from where you are. After about a mile take the ramp up to the upper path along the river, and then go as far as you like. I ran 19 miles out & back there and it was only getting nicer and nicer. No need to worry about gypsies or bums, they are just trying to get by like everyone else.

Afterwards head to the Scholar's Lounge near the Largo Argentina for some recovery (Guinness). Great Irish Pub.

You guys are awesome.

I think I'll do my first run (18k) in Villa Borghese, then after touring the city that day I'll have a better feel for the river option - I'll either do the long one (29K) or the short one (11k) at the river, and the other at Villa Pamphili. I like the out and back aspect for the river, but running on cement/cobblestones for 29k will hurt me, I've discovered.

Thanks again!

strange that this topic gets so many questions...

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?board=1&id=1468250&thread=1468213

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?board=1&id=1538939&thread=1538939

Why hasn't anyone mentioned the fairly legit public track right in the middle of rome? It has a dirt trail around the outside. While that might be mindless, it guarantees you get steady, safe training in.

you could put some of your miles in on the trail that used to be the circus maximus, it is about a 1/2 mile loop of loose dirt