Runs worth travelling for—7 scenic routes to try

This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK).

Running is one of the purest ways to connect with a place. No tickets, no timetables — just the route and the rhythm of your stride, the destination unfolding step by step. Across Europe, runners are discovering that the most scenic trails — cliff-hugging footpaths, Alpine ridgelines and riverside embankments — are as suited to trainers as they are to hiking boots. Some are forgiving circuits for beginners, others thigh-burning ascents for seasoned athletes, but all offer that unbeatable feeling of footsteps meeting foreign ground. From Berlin’s leafy Tiergarten to Madeira’s Atlantic shores, here are seven routes worth travelling — and sweating — for.

1. Vereda do Larano (Porto da Cruz to Machico) — Madeira, Portugal

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