I was scheduled to meet my team for work in Rome, Italy, for a week. We all stayed at a hotel in the Prati neighborhood, in the central part of the city. I had never been to Rome. Our itinerary contained a lot of meetings and work, but not so much that we wouldn’t be able to escape to explore the city. I was definitely excited for the trip.

I woke up on the first morning of our offsite at 6am. I made a cup of instant coffee and I put my running clothes on. The sun came up around 6:30am, and I was out the door shortly after. I needed to be back in time to shower, eat breakfast, and be at an 8:30 meeting, which meant that I had roughly an hour.

I had glanced at a map in the days prior and I knew that the easiest route option was going to be a run along the River Tiber, which runs through the city. I ran the few blocks to the river and made a left, upriver, which was a completely arbitrary decision. The river surface is very low relative to the city level. On each side of the river, a wide and flat stone-covered bank exists. There are large walls, probably 2-3 stories tall, that reach up from the riverbanks to the street level. At many of the bridges that cross the river, there were pedestrian staircases to descend down to the riverbank level. Otherwise, it was impossible to get down there without free-soloing a huge stone wall.

My first few miles were along the riverbank, below the noise of the city. It was nice for a while. There was a paved bike path that eventually disappeared, and I found myself running for a couple miles on old, uneven stone. I ran north until the wide riverbank ended and I was forced to backtrack to a staircase to get back up to street level. The impassable section that I had encountered was the Ponte Milvio, a bridge that dates back to 206 BC and has been the site of several famous battles. I ran across the bridge to the other side of the river.

On the other side of the river, I found a bike path on the street side. I followed this back, more or less, to my starting point. As far as river bike paths go, it was very disappointing. Much of the view over the river was obscured by fencing. The riverfront itself, at least on this side, was occupied by private businesses, including an absurd number of clay tennis courts (in the dozens).

My next runs in Rome were slightly more interesting than the first. I chose to go south, downriver, for those runs. There was a paved bike path on the riverbed in this direction, which was much more comfortable to run on than the old, uneven stones to the north. However, there still wasn’t much to see in the sunken riverbed area. Up at the street level, sometimes there was enough of a sidewalk to run on. The downside of the street level was the car noise and exhaust.

I saw a lot more runners and cyclists on the bike path next to the river than I saw at the street level, or in any other parts of the city that I visited during my stay. I saw maybe a hundred or two on each day that I ran. Given that the city has a population of 2.87 million people, a few hundred cyclists and runners is hardly a significant amount.

My conclusion after staying in Rome for a week is that Rome is not a great city for runners. The streets and sidewalks in the central parts of the city are simply too crowded, narrow, and discontinuous for runners to use. The riverbank, with it’s uninterrupted bike path, is fine, but for a city with so much to offer in the way of amazing sightseeing, the below-street-level river path is very boring. Runners and cyclists on the path can’t see anything but the bridges and the river itself for miles and miles.

I’m not alone in wishing for more uninterrupted paths with incredible views and beautiful settings. Cities that have these features are mobbed with pedestrians in nice weather. Even in bad weather, the most dedicated runners can be found in these inspiring settings. San Francisco’s Embarcadero, Golden Gate Park, and Land’s End all offer fantastic settings for running. Of the places that I’ve lived, I always tried to seek out apartments or houses that were near trails or paths. Denver’s Cherry Creek, Ann Arbor’s Huron River, and Cleveland’s green spaces on the east side were all significant attractions for me because I knew that I’d use them multiple times per week.

It’s really sad to visit a city and not have an enjoyable path to run or ride a bike for a few miles without dodging traffic or being forced to stop frequently. My visit to Rome was pleasant, and I saw a lot of amazing things, but my visit wasn’t enhanced by any of my running experiences. Many other cities that I’ve visited have left additional positive impressions because they embrace runners, walkers, and bike commuters or casual cyclists by providing enjoyable places for these activities.

I’ve worked from many other European cities where my experience as a runner was better. London, Bordeaux, Bruges, and Warsaw all come to mind. Running in those cities was sightseeing. I look forward to the day where I can go retrace my footsteps from runs that I did years ago in those cities. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to say the same for Rome. Rome will be a city that I go to for R&R, and I won’t be taking up room in my baggage with running shoes.