Where to run?

Not much help, but my husband has run while on vacation in Italy, he just left the hotel early morning and went out for 5 or so miles. While in Italy I've seen others running...even in tourist areas. Monterosso isn't that good for running, as it's mostly steps and trail (if the trail is open) Orvieto is on top of a hill, but he could run the streets and around the walls. Sorrento is also a bit hilly, but there is a main street that should be good for a run. I'm sure he can get in a run no matter where he is....I'd just be careful in Rome, and go as early morning as possible to avoid traffic. And since he's unfamiliar with the area, I'd hope he'd have the hotel name/address and maybe a cell phone with him should he run too far and get confused in the maize of streets. I wouldn't call any of the towns in Italy as runner friendly, there aren't marked paths in most places and most of the towns you are visiting are hilltop towns, so unless he runs down the main road to the valley below (usually busy and narrow) he'll have to get creative with his route.

In Orvieto he can run the trails that run along the outside of the walls of the city. In Rome he can go to the Villa Borghese, it's not far from Piazza Repubblica. I don't know where he'd run in Monterosso as it's a small town and the streets are small and usually crowded - he'd have to get up early. I'm of no help for Montalcino or Sorrento, but have him check sites like mapmyrun.com, http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/list/Run/Italy/Sorrento

In Rome, unless you want to run in the streets, the easiest way is to take the metro from Piazza Repubblica to Piazza del Popolo (linea toward Battistini) and run at Villa Borghese. In the other towns I don't know. I would ask the locals, I'm sure there are joggers in town that can point you to a path.

In Rome, he'll be able to get more distance in by running at Villa Borghese. We stay near Piazza Navona, so I run primarily along the river, which has the advantage of preventing me from getting lost. I've run aruond Castel Sant'Angelo, and up to St. Peter's and back - quick a wonderful location. I've also run from Piazza Navona to Piazza del Popolo, also scenic. If you run early enough (before 7 or so), there's not much traffic and I could run in many of the side streets; along the Arno, of course, there's more traffic. It would be a little ways from where you're staying, but I've always thought it would be fun to run around the Circus Maximum, though it's not actually that scenic. In Monterosso, the road is level for a ways along the water; he might have to run it a bunch of times, but at least he'd get his run in, and it would be gorgeous. We haven't stayed overnight in Montalcino, so I haven't run there. But in similar small towns, I make sure I have the most detailed map possible, and just pick a road and head out of town. He might have to step into the weeds when cars or trucks drive by, but in the morning, there shouldn't be a huge amount of traffic. I ran once on a lovely fall morning out of San Gimignano, and the only traffic was me and trucks full of grapes passing by. Roads with shoulders pretty much don't exist.

Thanks. Great suggestions.

If he is like most runners, he is used to getting up and out on the road. Any of these places would be great in the early morningquiet, little traffic, and he will be running through some of the most beautiful villages and cities in the world. He should just run and see where his feet take him. I'm willing to bet he has some of the most memorable runs of his lifeand some good training to boot!

I spent a week in Rome last year with family from Miami, the 18-year-old runs
cross-country and needed 8-15 miles a day (or no pasta). He ran every bridge and riverfront in Rome, the streets around the Vatican Museums and St. Peter's, through Villa Borghese park, along the Via dei Fori Imperiali, and there's a section of the walls around the perimeter of the city near San Giovanni in Laterano. No shortage of great run possibilities. Any of the cities you mention that has a park will have runners.