Travel to Wellness is a website dedicated to spa + wellness-minded travel around the world. Go to Travel to Wellness for more great spa + wellness articles.
New city tours now mean that visitors can see the sights on-the-run – and we do mean that literally.
Running tours are the hot new way for runners (even fast walkers) to see the city sights and Why Go for a Running Tour.
Top running tour companies: New York City, Rome, Los Angeles, Berlin, Buenos Aires & Quebec City
1) New York City-based City Running Tours (www.cityrunningtours.com) is one of the largest running tour companies is owned by Michael Gazaleh, a practicing chiropractor who was working in a small New York gym when he launched the company in early 2007. Since then, the business has branched out to include Chicago and Washington, D.C., Austin, Charleston, and San Diego with a roster of about 40 running guides.
The company offers about a dozen standard routes, which they will customize upon request so “every run is just a bit different,” says Gazaleh.
2) Los Angeles-based Off’N Running (www.offnrunningtours.com) appears to have been the “fore-runner.” Owner Cheryl Anker says she launched the company about 15 years ago to cater to business travellers who needed to get a run in but didn’t want to be stuck on a treadmill. The company offers a number of tours in the 6-8K range, plus the recently introduced “Running from the Paparazzi,” a 90-minute event that takes participants along Robertson Blvd. past many of the shops and boutiques known for celebrity spotting. “The street itself is usually lined with paparazzi, and they often become the highlight of the tour,” says Anker.
3) Carolina Gasparetto, director of the Rome-based Sight Jogging Tours (www.sightjogging.it) says her business caters mostly to a middle-aged clientele from North America, Britain and Germany. She explains that the company’s 15 tour guides undergo a training period to test both their fitness level and cultural capabilities. “They have to be fit, educated, responsible and, of course, fluent in at least one language other than Italian,” says Gasparetto.
4) Mike’s SightRunning (www.mikes-sightrunning.de) in Berlin is the newcomer amid a handful of similar German-speaking tour companies in the country. Owner Michael Horstmann says he and his guides are experienced marathon runners and all run on a regular basis year-round. Tours include the area around the Berlin Cathedral, another that follows the River Spree to the city’s historical centre, and others that include the government district and the most popular tourist attractions. According to Horstmann, attractions such as the summer residence of the Prussian Kings “are lined up like pearls on a string along the riverside.”
He says the tours are perfect for Berlin visitors, who plan to tour the German capital for a short time and wish to keep their personal fitness but also experience Berlin and its many sights. The company has plans to expand, but at the moment has “assigned priority to co-operations with Berlin’s five-star hotels wanting to expand their wellness programs,” says Horstmann.
5) In Buenos Aires, Argentina, Urban Running Tours (www.urbanrunningtour.com.ar) offers tours seven days a week in Spanish, English, Italian and French. Their six standard tours take visitors through the main neighbourhoods of the city, and they also assemble personalized tours.
6) Launched in the spring of 2008, Quebec Jogging Tours (www.quebecjoggingtours.com) owner Dominic Menard says, “people may have 45 instead of 70 minutes and want us to cut some time off the tour.” There are those who either go faster or want to walk from time-to-time, so they “adapt our rhythm to each runner,” says Menard. Sometimes, people want to stop to catch their breath, he says, while others push us to go a little faster.
Owner Dominic Menard recalls one extreme runner once asked to be taken to a challenging spot, so, on the Plains of Abraham route, he took a little detour to the Escaliers du Cap-Blanc, “the longest and highest stairway in Quebec City, linking the Lower City with the Upper City with over 400 steps.” This is the place, says Menard, “where local athletes go to really push themselves.”
Find out more about City Running Tours on TraveltoWellness.com.
Looking to book a spa getaway? Check out the tripatlas.com/new Trip Builder where you can request a quote local travel agents who are waiting to offer you custom prices on your trip.
Find more great spa articles and reviews at Travel to Wellness.