Where to Run in Milan: The Best Routes for Every Level
A guide to the best places to run in Milan: parks, the Navigli canals and urban routes suited to beginner and experienced runners.
Written by the editorial team at Velunite
Milan isn't the first city that comes to mind when you think of running, but between its parks, canals and bike-pedestrian paths it offers more options than it might seem to anyone who only experiences it from the subway. Here's where to go depending on what you're after: quiet, scenery, or just a loop near home.
Parco Sempione: the classic for a break from the city
With its paths around the Sforzesco Castle and the Arena Civica, Parco Sempione is one of the most popular meeting points for Milan's runners. The perimeter loop is roughly 2.5 km, easy to repeat several times to build interval sessions or long runs, and it's well lit, so it's also usable in the evening.
Naviglio Grande and Naviglio Pavese
Running along the Navigli canals, especially in the stretch heading south away from the busiest central area, gives you a flat, scenic route, ideal for racking up kilometers without constant traffic lights. Just be careful on weekends, when pedestrian traffic in the stretches closer to the center picks up a lot.
Parco Lambro and Idroscalo: for runners who need distance
Anyone training for a long race who needs routes without too many interruptions can look at Parco Lambro, to the north-east of the city, or head out to the Idroscalo, where the loop around the basin is over 6 km, letting you build mileage without circling too many times.
City Life and Boscoincitta: the less crowded options
If you want to avoid the crowds of the more central parks, Boscoincitta, to the west of the city, offers unpaved trails in an almost rural setting, also useful for training stability on terrain less regular than asphalt.
A few practical tips
In a city like Milan, the biggest variable is pedestrian and bike traffic: during rush hour it's better to prefer parks over the canals, while early morning or late evening almost all routes become manageable. Always carry water if you're training for more than 40-50 minutes, especially on routes further from the center where drinking fountains are less frequent.