What is sightrunning ?

What is sightrunning?

Well… that’s exactly what sightrunning is all about.

It’s that unique moment. Those unforgettable memories created while discovering the world’s most beautiful cities with your running shoes on.

Sightrunning — a mix of sightseeing and running — is the art of exploring a city while running. Even a city you’ve never visited before. You’re neither a passive tourist nor a runner focused purely on training: you become both at the same time. A surprisingly rewarding hybrid, and an increasingly popular way to explore cities among active travelers.

Enjoying the sunrise, and finding out that Miami is a lot more than a beach

Why explore a city by running?

You’re travelling, on a weekend getaway, or away on a business trip. It’s 7 AM. You have two options: stare at the ceiling of your hotel room for a while… or lace up your running shoes and head out to explore the city before the tourist crowds even leave the breakfast buffet.

Easy choice, right?

Urban sightrunning breaks the runner’s routine and turns every stride into a discovery: sunlight gently touching an iconic monument, a historic square, a famous bridge, a market slowly waking up, peaceful riversides and shimmering water reflections…

The city is all yours, and the feeling is completely different from anything a sightseeing bus could ever show you.

You run at your own pace, eyes wide open — stopping for photos no other tourists will ever take — while the city slowly comes to life around you. No tour group rushing you. No one slowing you down.

It’s just you, your footsteps, your breath… and the city.

A more authentic way to experience a destination

These unique moments allow you to truly immerse yourself in a city: its textures, its early morning atmosphere, the smell of fresh coffee drifting from cafés, locals heading to work while you’re already finishing your fifth kilometer.

Sightrunning creates memories that stay both in your legs and in your mind.

Running through history – Run in Rhodes

How do you run safely in a city you don’t know?

Over the last few years, sightrunning has become a real travel and running trend. And that’s exactly why urbirun exists: to help you discover the city you’ve just arrived in.

No more running randomly. No more getting lost. No more boring out-and-back runs from your hotel. No more ending up in sketchy or uninteresting areas.

urbirun routes are designed by a runner, for runners.

Each route guides you toward the city’s best viewpoints, landmarks, squares, parks, riversides and iconic places — all especially enjoyable early in the morning, before the crowds arrive.

And because you already know the distance, elevation, and so your estimated running time in advance, you can perfectly fit your run into your trip schedule before joining your family, heading to a meeting, or starting your day (even if you’ll probably run a little slower than usual because of all the photo stops).

urbirun is the easiest way to run while travelling.

You, your footsteps, and Florence

Download your sightrunning routes

Choose your running route in GPX format or as an audio-guided running tour… and simply let yourself be guided.

Ready to lace up your running shoes and discover the world differently?

We’re willing to bet that from now on, the first two things you’ll pack before travelling will be your running shoes… and your urbirun route.

How to use the GPX file

Simply download your urbirun running route and open it with your favorite app — Garmin, Komoot, Strava, or any other GPS running app — and you’re ready to go.

Your route instantly appears on your sports watch or smartphone to guide you throughout your run, even in a city you know absolutely nothing about.

No more improvising. No more random runs. No more dead ends or disappointing neighborhoods.

Thanks to the universal GPX format used by GPS watches and running apps worldwide, urbirun becomes your personal running travel guide.

Personally, I usually open the route in the Garmin app on my phone before sending it to my Garmin watch, which then guides me throughout the run. Most modern sports watches now include navigation and mapping features. But of course, you can also simply follow the route directly from your smartphone.

urbirun already offers more than 250 sightseeing running routes across cities such as London, Lisbon, Berlin, Copenhagen, New York, Madrid, Rome, Budapest, Gdansk, Riga, Miami and Amsterdam.

Enough to fill your trips — and your legs — with unforgettable miles.

The Chicago Bean… all for yourself

How to use the audio-guided running tours

With urbirun, you can also discover a city through your headphones.

By downloading your route on the izi.TRAVEL app, you unlock a completely different running experience. Just open the app, start your route, and begin running.

As you move through the city, clear audio directions naturally guide you from street to street toward iconic landmarks, hidden gems and beautiful viewpoints.

And along the way, urbirun also tells you the story of the city, its famous monuments and a few surprising anecdotes.

All you have to do is run, listen… and enjoy.

A unique sightseeing running experience already available on more than 70 urbirun routes worldwide.

Why choose urbirun?

Simply to run with your eyes wide open and make the most of every run while travelling.

Because with urbirun, you run moments, more than kilometers.

There are runs you forget, and some you don’t.