This 11 km route has it all: grand parks, iconic bridges and stairs, and some of Odesa’s main sights. We recommend starting in Shevchenko Park — Odesa’s largest park, featuring important monuments and sports facilities. Do a loop of the park’s paths, ~3.5 km, running the grand, landscaped ‘Alleys’ (Suvorivska Alley, Holvna Alley). Add-on with a loop around the Fitness Stadium track! Exit the park and head north into Greek Park, then down the iconic Potemkin Stairs, then out the pier to the Sailor’s Wife sculpture, enjoying great water views. Get the heart rate up by coming back up the stairs, crossing the Tioschin Bridge, heading south on Viys’kovy descent to the Catherine the Great monument, then RIGHT (West) along Lanzheronivs’ka St. past the Fountain to the Tree of Love, Monument to Ilf and Petrov, and Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral. Then, return to Shevchenko Park, using Bunina St., passing the grand Pushkin Museum and Odesa Regional Philharmonic.
Note: Potemkin Stairs – Odesa’s most iconic symbol, the Potemkin Stairs, is a vast staircase that conjures an illusion so that those at the top only see a series of large steps, while at the bottom all the steps appear to merge into one pyramid-shaped mass. There are 192 steps.
Options: For a shorter run, eliminate the ‘central Odesa’ section and enjoy a run in Shevchenko Park, Greek Park, and out to Sailor’s Wife. For a longer run, take the ‘Health Path‘ along the water.
Shevchenko Park. Pixabay.
This 11 km route has it all: grand parks, iconic bridges and stairs, and some of Odesa’s main sights. We recommend starting in Shevchenko Park — Odesa’s largest park, featuring important monuments and sports facilities. Do a loop of the park’s paths, ~3.5 km, running the grand, landscaped ‘Alleys’ (Suvorivska Alley, Holvna Alley). Add-on with a loop around the Fitness Stadium track! Exit the park and head north into Greek Park, then down the iconic Potemkin Stairs, then out the pier to the Sailor’s Wife sculpture, enjoying great water views. Get the heart rate up by coming back up the stairs, crossing the Tioschin Bridge, heading south on Viys’kovy descent to the Catherine the Great monument, then RIGHT (West) along Lanzheronivs’ka St. past the Fountain to the Tree of Love, Monument to Ilf and Petrov, and Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral. Then, return to Shevchenko Park, using Bunina St., passing the grand Pushkin Museum and Odesa Regional Philharmonic.
Note: Potemkin Stairs – Odesa’s most iconic symbol, the Potemkin Stairs, is a vast staircase that conjures an illusion so that those at the top only see a series of large steps, while at the bottom all the steps appear to merge into one pyramid-shaped mass. There are 192 steps.
Options: For a shorter run, eliminate the ‘central Odesa’ section and enjoy a run in Shevchenko Park, Greek Park, and out to Sailor’s Wife. For a longer run, take the ‘Health Path‘ along the water.
The 'Path of Health' is the iconic run in Odssa. The seaside promenade, which runs most of the way between Lanzheron Beach and Arcadia Beach features great views of the beach and Black Sea. Run this one-way, and the Zdorovya multi-use path for the return.
A route featuring the more southern beaches in Odesa. There's a quite nice seaside promenade path a good part of the way for 5 km from Beach 8 south to Zolotyi Beach, with great views of the Black Sea. Can continue for another 1.5 km to Cape Velsky.
Put together 4-5 km on the beautifully landscaped grounds of this Arboretum in southern Odesa. Can combine it with the Path of Health park/trails 1.5 km to the east, or use our mapped route from central Odesa on wide boulevards.
A lovely oasis in the western part of Odesa. There are ~3 km of paths that are very pleasant for running, with some nice gardens and couple of small ponds. It's ~2.5 km from central Odesa with some nice wide boulevards providing good running access.
Good spot for some steppe trail running along this large estuary 10 km north of Odesa. The terrain is a mix grassland/scrub/dunes. Best bet for running are the paths along the eastern or western shoreline, but there are other steppe paths as well.
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