Running in Venice can be a challenge. The city is like a labyrinth with constant turns, dead ends, narrow passageways and bridges that can sometimes be difficult to find. If you live in Venice and are familiar with how the city is laid out, this might not be too much of a challenge, but for those of us who are on vacation, it can be tricky to find a good route that isn’t too confusing.
There is one particular route that is both beautiful and isn’t too confusing. That is to run along the south side of the the main islands from Piazza San Marco to the east as far as you can go.
I started early in the morning, before sunrise, knowing that it won’t take very long before workers and tourists fill up the streets. I like to get out early when its not too busy. Our Airbnb was near the Rialto Bridge, so the challenging thing to me, navigationally, was to run from Rialto Bridge to Piazza San Marco.
I wound my way through the narrow streets toward Piazza San Marco, following the signs that point the way. In a short amount of time, I saw the side of the Basilica di San Marco. It’s pretty amazing to see the Piazza early in the morning when its not completely full of people. It’s not exactly empty, but it is pretty great without all of the noise and crowds.
I then ran through the pillars that mark the edge of the Piazza San Marco and turned left along the water. Right outside of the Piazza is a series of docks for gondolas that aren’t yet in service.
Running along the edge of the water toward the east, there is a lot of activity from all of the docks, restaurants and hotels that are getting their morning deliveries. This is normally a very busy area of Venice, and they need to get their supplies early before things get too busy.
As I ran to the east, things got calmer and calmer, until finally I reached an area with a lot of trees. It’s a place called the Giardini Della Biennale, which has 30 pavilions, each housing an art exhibit from a different country. These exhibits change and are part of a biennial art exhibition called the Venice Biennale.
Moving out of the Giardini, I crossed another bridge and entered another park called the Parco deile Rimembranze. It was a nice serene park with tree lined paths. There were a number of folks walking dogs and enjoying the early morning.
It didn’t take too long before I ran out of park and I arrived at a bridge leading to a military base. Honestly, the last thing I expected to come across in Venice was a military base, but I had reached the end of the line and it was time to head back.
On the way back, the sun was higher in the sky, everything was a little brighter and quite a bit busier. It didn’t take very long for the area with all of the restaurants, bars and hotels to begin to fill up with people, probably people heading out for an early cappuccino.
Coming back from the east, there are fantastic views of the islands known as Guidecca. It is just a short distance across the water from the main islands. Also visible is San Georgio Maggiore, a small island that once housed the San Georgio Monastery established in 982. It’s belltower and domed church are striking from across the water.
I finished up by running back through Piazza San Marco and then back to the Airbnb. It turned out to be around 5 miles, and the portion from Piazza San Marco to the Naval Base and back is around 4 miles.
When choosing a place to run in Venice, unless you know your way around, you’ll probably want to stick to this route. If you need to stretch out the distance, you’ll probably want to run around in the parks near the art exhibits and the Naval Base. No matter how you do it, it will be a gorgeous run – you’re in Venice after all!
Newby to Expert Traveler 