Birthplace of the Renaissance, Florence is the capital of Tuscany and a very popular tourist destination. The beautiful buildings, piazzas, historic bridges across the Arno river, gardens, and hillside setting make Florence a treat to visit. This all makes running in Florence very tempting. The big issue is crowds — if running in the historic center, we recommend going before 8am. One special note for runners: Florence is recognized as a world fashion capital, so bring your nicest running clothes (or buy some there!). If you’d like to have an in-person guided running experience in Florence, we highly recommend our friends at Go! Running Tours.
We’ve put together several great places to run in Florence, including a couple of historic ‘runseeing’ tours. Another highlight is the run up to the Piazzale Michelangelo. The tree-lined streets and paths of the Arno River, which flows east-west and divides Florence into the historic center to the north and the hillier, less crowded Oltrarno to the south, are a treat when not too crowded, and 3.5 km long Cascine Park is the largest green area in Florence. For a quick escape from crowded Florence, the hilly run to the Etruscan town of Fiesole is a treat. We’ve also put together a guide to some other running highlights in Tuscany — see below.
Getting around Florence is quite easy. There are buses and an expanding tram/light rail system.