Vacation in Italy: tourism vs. running, who wins?

September 30, 2022 — Nico Cartron

I recently went on a family trip to Italy, and I brought my running gear.
This fun article aims at comparing my experience as a tourist and as a runner :)

Naples

Tourist

We started our trip in Naples, which we found to be a quite stressful city: loads of cars, scooters, not much space for tourists/walking - you literally have to force your way at crosswalks, otherwise cars won't stop to let you go.

We also visited Pompei and the Vesuvio while in the Naples area, which we enjoyed a lot.

Runner

With the above said, I didn't run at all in Naples: I didn't feel safe running in this environment.

Who wins?

Obviously, the tourist :)

Rome

Tourist

We visited the Colosseum, the Forum, walked quite a lot. There was a super nice ice cream place downstairs our Airbnb, and of course food wide, we went to some very good Italian restaurants, enjoying pizza and pasta.

I even managed to meet Raffaele, a colleague, to get a gelato with him :)

Runner

I did 2 runs in Rome, running nearby the most famous monuments, but also some less nice areas - that was not unsafe at all, to be clear, but a lot less enjoyable.

Pics!

Who wins?

The tourist - even though my runs were nice, the visits we did win by far.

Florence

Tourist

We used a "hop on/hop off" bus to see Florence's monuments, and then the day after, took a bus to go up the hill to

Runner

I also did 2 runs in Florence, and surprisingly there was a bit of elevation, which I was not expecting.
Once I passed those hills, I ended up in the countryside, and since I was running early, the surroundings were just fantastic.

Pics!

Who wins?

The runner, for sure.
The 2 runs I did were really great, combining city, hills and countryside - not quit a trail yet, but close enough.

Monterosso (Cinque Terre)

Tourist

Certainly the most touristic place we've been to in Italy - lot of people there to go to the beach, or hike.
Still we enjoyed it, we went to the beach and some nice restaurants, and the view was amazing!

Runner

I did only one run there, but that's the best one I did in Italy!
It was a proper trail run: since Monterosso is on the sea side, and the village is literally sitting on the mountains - meaning once you get out for a run, the elevation is there right away :)

That run was a bit challenging: since we were backpacking and taking trains in between cities, I brought my super thin Merrell Vapor Glove running shoes - which were nice for running in the cities, but not so nice when trail running with a lot of sharp rocks.
But I made it, I just walked a lot more than I would have with proper shoes.