Will you visit Athens for your vacations, are you a keen jogger and you want to keep up with your running routine? Well, there is a solution. In Athens, you can find many places for jogging, and some of them will offer you a wonderful setting. Parks and areas near the sea are waiting to be explored. But what you have to keep in mind, is that you should run early in the morning because especially summer is hot in Athens. Furthermore, you should avoid running on the street because the Greek drivers are not so careful as they should be, and the sidewalks are not wide. If you don’t like weaving in and out of people, avoid footpaths with high pedestrian traffic, such as Ermou shopping Street.
If you stay near Syntagma or Plaka, the safest place to jog is inside the National Garden, which is a lovely and big park with great pathways and shady respites from the sun. In this area, it is also located the pedestrian Street Dionisiou Aeropagitou with an interesting jogging route around the Acropolis Hill that ends to Monastiraki. If you don’t mind running on rugged terrain, you can try the hills of Pnyx and Filopappos.
If you are staying near the area of Pagkrati, Kallimarmaro is definitely worth a visit. The route above Panathenaic Stadium is one of the best- kept secrets of Athens running. The classic marble landmark is a stop on many tourist visits, but only a few people know that a path runs along the top of the stadium and that there is also a park on the neighbouring hill with an incredible view of Athens.
Outside the centre of Athens, a great place is Mountain Imittos that you can access from Kaisariani or Agia Paraskevi. You will have a stunning view of the entire city, its suburbs and the Port of Piraeus. In the northern suburbs, you can also find the Alsos Syngrou, which is a wooded park with many trails to get lost in among the trees.
For those staying in the southern suburbs, it is great to run by the sea along the Athens Riviera from Voula towards Kavouri all along up to the Vouliagmeni Peninsula. The sidewalk there is wide enough, and you can feel the aura of the sea while jogging.