Helsinki Essential Running Route

Click here for route map 
Length: 9.2 km (5.7 miles), or break it into 2 loops of 4- and 5-km
Terrain contains some small hills

Helsinki running routes:
Helsinki Essential downtown route
Helsinki North route
Western shore route
Soumenlinna Fortress island route
For more running routes, see Route List.
Pictures courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons

Hopefully, you (as a runner) will be visiting Helsinki in the summer. The first time I went there, in a November, there were already lots of icy patches all over the sidewalks, and I could barely walk around, much less run. Somehow, I managed a few runs anyway, but I was dancing around the ice the whole time.

But in the summer, the town is a running paradise: waterfront everywhere and never-ending evening sunshine. One evening, towards the end of a long run, I ran by Hietaniemi beach at about 10 p.m. and the beach was still full of people, swimming, lying out in the sunshine, playing volleyball and just acting as if it were still 3 in the afternoon. It looked so great, I just had to join them, and I kicked off my running shoes and went for a swim.

Helsinki Cathedral, photo by WordShore

Helsinki shares the same landscape features as other Scandinavian towns. When you move from inland areas towards the coast, there is a slow transition from land to sea. It is never quite just one or the other. Inland areas are full of big lakes, and the coastline is a jumble of bays, fjords and islands, making it almost impossible to tell if a bit of land is part of the mainland or not, or if that stretch of water ahead is part of the Baltic or not.

There's a somewhat provincial air to the city, another characteristic it shares with all Scandinavian towns. And it also has lots of ferry landings and an island where the navy has had its headquarters for centuries, full of old admiralty buildings, just like those found in Stockholm, Copenhagen and Oslo.

The Essential Helsinki Route

Here's a route that will capture a lot of the essence of Helsinki, in my opinion: lots of waterfront, and a mixture of downtown and quiet neighborhoods and parks. Except for one small hill, the route is flat.

The route starts right in the heart of downtown Helsinki, in the Senate Square (Senatintori) in front of the white, domed cathedral. This Lutheran church is the main landmark for the city. There is a monument to Russian Czar Alexander II in the middle of the square. The Russians ruled Finland for a couple of hundred years (after the Swedes had ruled it during the centuries before), until the Russian Revolution toppled the empire.

The big, classical building to the left is the main university building.

Facing the massive steps going up to the cathedral, run off northwards along the cathedral's right side, along Snelmaninkantu.

Just behind the cathedral you'll see two more impressive classical buildings. On the left side is the Finnish National Bank, and on the right is the old parliament building (House of the Estates).

Just after that building, turn right on Rauhankatu and run eastwards the few blocks to the waterfront.

Cross the waterfront drive and turn right to run south directly along the water. There are normally a few windjammers tied up here, and other yachts. Off to the left, you can see your next destination: Katajanokka island. This is the traditional home of the navy (Swedish, then Russian, then Finnish).

Just when you approach Uspenski (Russian Orthodox) Cathedral, with its golden domes, turn left to cross over the little footbridge, then turn left to keep running along the water on the island.

Uspenski Cathedral, photo by Robban Andersson

There is another yacht marina along the shore here. After a while, you'll see some very impressive-looking, massive ships docked-up. This is the fleet of Finnish ice-breakers. When you live this far north, you don't mess around!

And just across from the ships, you'll see the classical facade of the Foreign Ministry, in a rennovated Russian navy building.

Keep running along the shore as it turns to the right, southeast, with a little park. Across the water you can see the island-studded bay.

Right after the first half of the park, turn right to run into the new neighborhood along Merikasarminkatu. This area was redeveloped from the old navy shipyard. You'll find yourself following tram tracks.

You are now running along the backside of the foreign ministry. You will soon come to a strange, factory-like building behind a curved brick wall along the right side. This is now a Best Western Hotel, but was once a prison! They now have a Jailbird Restaurant where you drink from tin cups.

When you come to Kruunuvuorenkatu, keep running straight along Pikku Satamakatu for 3 blocks, as you run straight towards the docks. Turn right at Katajanokanlaituri to run past the Scandic Grand Marina hotel in its refurbished docklands building.

Keep running straight ahead, with the docks to your right for the last few blocks. You will leave the island at the northern tip of the downtown harbor. There is a pedestrian bridge to Kauppatori, the waterside marketplace straight ahead. The waterfront is full of market stands and cafés. Along the right side of the market is a long, classical building, the Presidential Palace.

Helsinki Market, photo by k*teen

We are now just a block south of the start of the run at Senate Square.

NOTE: You could just turn right now and run the block back to the starting point, if you want to shorten the run to 4km. From here, there is a second loop to the south of another 5km.

Just ahead of you, you'll see fountain and a long, tree-lined square, the Esplanadi. But we'll return through it later. Now, let's turn left and continue running southwards along the water at the main harbor.

Run behind the old market hall along the quay, towards the international ferry dock straight ahead. The shore-road makes a slight turn to the left, where a smaller street continues straight up the wooded hill. Cross the zebra-stripes to your right to then turn left and run uphill on the smaller, cobblestone street, called Eteläranta.

At the end of the block, the street turns right, but keep running on the path going straight uphill into the park ahead. Follow the main path as it curves around the hill. The classical, yellow astronomical observatory will appear on the right. This building sits atop the hill, and you will have some nice views from up here, yourself.

The old observatory, photo by Toinen Linja

Passing the observatory, run down the hill to the street along the south side of the hill, Tähtitorninkatu. You'll see another path with stairs continuing downhill between the buildings.

At the next street, Vuorimiehenkatu, cross the triangular cobblestoned plaza and keep running straight along Ullankatu, with the fenced gardens on your right.

At the next corner, you'll come to another triangular plaza, with St. Henry's (Catholic) Cathedral on the right. I'm already starting to lose count of cathedral on this run... St. Henry's looks more like a village church, though, for Helsinki's small Catholic community.

Running past St. Henry's, just keep going straight, on the paved path through Kaivopuisto Park. The path is called Iso Puistotie.

NOTE: At St. Henry's, you could also have taken the street called Itänen Puistotie, which runs parallel to the park path, through a beautiful neighborhood of villas. Sometime, you'll have to try it!

The path ends at the Helsinki's southern tip. There is a pier going out into the water that is worth running out to. The view is beautiful. You can see the old Swedish-build Sveaborg castle out on one of the islands, and the bay is full of other rocky islands and beacons, with ferries and other ships gliding by.

View from the pier, photo by Britta Sunshine Becker

So now turn west to continue along the waterfront, where you'll go by a marina nestled between the peninsula and a group of little rocky islands. My sailor's heart always starts beating faster when I run past this idyllic spot.

During one evening run along this spot, I watched a motorless sailboat gliding through the darkness back to the marina. Its lone skipper was contentedly whistling to himself as he occasionally shone his flashlight on his sail to make himself visible to any other boats. That was a scene of total freedom to me.

At the west end of the marina, you'll see the Carousel Café. Turn right here to head back into town. This avoids a busier street if you had continued to the end of the park.

The marina, photo by Avodrocc

You'll run through the marina parking lot, then straight north along Laivurinkatu, with its art nouveau apartment buildings. There are a lot of art nouveau buildings in Helsinki, but they tend to be much more subdued than those found in Brussels or Paris.

When you cross Tehtaankatu, a tram line turns into Laivurinkatu, and you just keep running straight ahead, next to the tram tracks.

In a few blocks, the road forks, where you take the right-hand street, Laivurinrinne (the tram tracks continue on the left-hand street). You'll run past the neo-gothic Johanneksen church, then the street runs into Annankatu, where you keep running north for 3 blocks.

When you reach Bulevardi, you'll see a square to the right. Run diagonally through the square towards your right. You'll see a classical church on the other side. This is the Vanha Kirkko ("old church", as you can guess, it's Helsinki's oldest church).

The old church, photo by Cai Franke

You will come out on Lönnrotinkatu, where you turn right and run the last bit into the downtown. In just one block you'll come to one of the busiest downtown streets, Mannerheimintie.

Cross the street: you'll see the big Stockmann's department store on the left and the rounded back-end of the Swedish Theater on the right.

Run straight, with the theater on your right, and then continue straight through the long Esplanadi park towards the market where we came through earlier. This is about the most popular and elegant hangouts in the whole city center.

Esplanadi, the elegant hangout downtown, photo by Cormac Byrne

Just before the presidential palace, turn left on Sofiankatu to run the last block past the Helsinki Museum to our starting place at Senate Square.

Edinburgh Arthur's Seat Loop Running Route

Click here for route map 
Length: 7.5 km (4.7 miles), terrain hilly

NOTE: On Sundays, Holyrood Park is closed to cars during the autumn and winter, making it especially nice to run. Pictures courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons. Thanks!

Edinburgh running routes:
Edinburgh City route
Portobello Beach route
Arthur's Seat route
For more running routes, see Route List.  

If you've spent some time in downtown Edinburgh, with all its narrow streets lined with imposing grey-stone buildings, you might be ready for some open spaces and green parkland. Expansive Holyrood park, just outside the city center, is the place to head.

Arthur's Seat, covered in gorse, in Holyrood Park, photo by cyocum

NOTE: see the Destinations Tips page for tips about spending your free time in this great town!
 
If you've already traveled around in Edinburgh, you've already seen Holyrood's barren, cliff-faced crags, Arthur's Seat, dominating various scenic views. This impressive stronghold of nature rising out of the middle of the city is a great place to visit, especially if you won't be traveling on to the Scottish Highlands. This rocky oasis will give you a taste of Highlands wilderness right here in the city.

And this route will also pass by some of the most interesting buildings in town, along the Royal Mile on the way to the park. The only catch is that the route rises about 80 meters as it gently winds around the park, going up 2 peaks. If you can handle the climb, this is a wonderful run, and will reward you with some great vistas.

Start of the run, at Hunter Square, photo by Kaddele

The route will start right in the heart of town, at the corner of the High Street and Bridge Street, at Hunter Square. This is where High Street comes downhill from the castle in the stretch known as the Royal Mile, connecting the castle and Holyrood Palace.

Turn south, with the Bank Hotel on your right, and run straight down High Street, where it continues going downhill. You'll go past Cannongate on the left (where the street name itself changes to Cannongate) and the Storytelling Café. I love the ancient stone buildings that line the streets here, each one with its own unique character.

Cannongate houses, photo by rojabro

Soon you'll come to the tollbooth, with its stone clock-tower. Such fortified tollbooths were common in Scottish towns, where travelers had to pay tolls before entering town.

The tollbooth, photo by Andrew Batram

The scenic Cannongate Kirk (church) is right next to it.

Cannongate Kirk, photo by Dutch Simba

Keep running south, down the street until it ends at a roundabout. You'll see the gate into Holyrood Palace, the queen's official residence in Scotland. You can run up to the gate, but you can't get in. The grounds are open during the daytime to the the paying public. "Holyrood" is Scottish for "holy cross", named after a vision that Scottish King David had on the site.

Holyrood Palace, photo by Colin J. Campbell

The palace is built on the site of an 800-year-old abbey, whose ruins can still be found, right behind the palace.

Across the street, the large, futuristic building is the Scottish Parliament building. What a contrast...

The Scottish Parliament, photo by wok

Turn right at the roundabout, run past the front side of the Parliament, and follow the street as it zig-zags past the main palace entrance and then straight into Holyrood Park.

The park was once the palace grounds, rocky promontories left over from an ancient volcano. The entrance street leads straight towards the cliffs of Salisbury Crags, where it ends at a roundabout. From here, the whole park is ringed by the loop-road in front of you, called Queen's Drive, which we'll take all the way around.

The Salisbury Crags, photo by Jungleboy

Turn right on Queen's Drive and follow it as it gradually heads uphill, with the basalt crags to your left. There is a separate pedestrian path along the street. Soon, on the left side of the drive, you'll see a mown path through the lawn, parallel to the street, which you can take if you prefer it to the pavement.

The lawn path along Queen's Drive, photo by tigerweet

After passing another roundabout and going uphill, you'll see a big path going up the valley to the left, heading towards Arthur's Seat, that big rounded hilltop. Someday you might want to follow those paths through the countryside in the middle of the park. But this time, we'll stay on the gentler rise of Queen's Drive.

Holyrood Park road heading up past Arthur's Seat, photo by nexun chan

You'll need to switch to the right side of the road as it winds along the base of Arthur's Seat. First, it goes downhill a bit, then heads back uphill. There is a great view here towards the city and hills to the west.

View back towards the crags, photo by Tr1xx

When you come to Dunsapie Loch (lake) on the right side, you've reached the highest point of the run. This spot really has a highlands feeling, with the grassy hills rising off to the left, and the loch stretching picturesquely around the rocky peak on the right.

Eagle at Dunsapie Loch, photo by only alice

There are plenty of paths heading off in every direction: it's a very inviting place for cross-country runners (this is my kind of country!).

Now, running downhill, the vista over the coastline to the northeast opens up before you.

When you get to the northern end of the park, the road turns to the left at another little pond, St. Margaret's Loch. There is a picturesque chapel ruins on the hill behind it, St. Anthony's.

St. Anthony's chapel at sunset, photo by Adrian Hart

Now you just keep running along Queen's Drive until you get to the roundabout where we entered the park. You'll see Holyrood Palace and the abbey ruins off to the right.

Turn right at the roundabout, run past Parliament again and then turn left onto Cannongate once again, following the same route (uphill this time!) back to the start at Bridge Street.

Munich Isar South Running Route

Click here for route map 
Length: 8.5 km (5.3 miles), terrain flat

Munich Running Routes:
Best Munich Running Routes: Overview
Englischer Garten
Old town, English Garden, Isar 
Nymphenburg Palace gardens  
Olympiapark  
Isar River south route  
Classical Munich  
Starnberger See lake-side route 
Westpark
Hirschgarten route
For more running routes see the route list.

I ran when it was getting dark, so most of the pictures are from Google StreetView. 

Here's a fairly simple-to-describe route. Just start in the heart of town and run to the river, then turn south to run upriver a few kilometers, then cross to the other side and run back.

NOTE: see the Destinations Tips page for tips about spending your free time in this great town!
 
Munich is blessed with a long, park-lined, fast-moving mountain river, the Isar. There is a whole series of islands and piles of rounded river stones rising out of the whitewater the whole way through the city.

This route follows the somewhat less-used part of the river, heading south through the Ludwigsvorstadt neighborhood.

Let's start at the same place as the Munich Old Town Route, at the Marienplatz, in front of the gothic town hall.

Starting point at the town hall

Facing the town hall, turn towards your right and run eastwards past the gothic Old Town Hall gate-tower and out the street called the "Tal" (the dale).

Isartor, from Google StreetView

You will soon come to the next city gate, the Isartor, built when the city built a new wall further out from the town center. Continue straight past the Isartor on Zweibrückenstraße until you hit the river, at the Ludwigsbrücke.

Ludwigsbrücke: turn right here, from Google StreetView

You'll see the Deutsches Museum complex directly across the river (really interesting technology museum, currently closed for refurbishment).

Turn right before the bridge to run down the sidewalk next to Erhardtstraße, with the river on your left. You will pass another five bridges before you reach the one you'll need. The street name changes to Wittelsbacherstraße.

Along Wittelsbacherstraße, from Google StreetView

Just stay along the river for almost 2 km, until the main street swerves to the right, away from the river.

Wittelsbacherstraße stays along the riverside, here, becomming a quiet riverside sidestreet. Turn left to stay on Wittelsbacherstraße.

After a few blocks, you'll go under a railroad bridge (the last bridge before you cross the river). You'll then run straight into a riverside park, passing an electrical plant on the right side.

Continuing straight for a few hundred meters, you'll hit the busy cross-street, the Brudermühlstraße, also known as the Mittlerer Ring.

Turning onto Brudermühlstraße, from Google StreetView

Turn left here, and cross the bridge over the Isar. At the other side of the bridge, turn left to take the waterside path back north again. This is the halfway point.

There are several paths running parallel to the river. The most interesting is the one that runs closest to the river.

View of the Isar-side path back to town, from Google StreetView

Just keep running under each bridge as it comes. When you come to the Reichenbach bridge (Ohlmüllerstraße), the path close to the water swerves to the right to join up with the main path, following the higher, tree-lined river bank. You will now stay on that main path, which turns into a normal sidewalk at the next bridge.

Finally, you'll find yourself running past the Deutsches Museum again, sitting off to the left, on its island in the river.

Running by the Deutsches Museum, from Google StreetView

When you reach Rosenheimerstraße, turn left to run past the main museum entrance and cross the Ludwigsbrücke again. Now follow Zweibrückenstraße and Tal again back to the town hall.