-John Bingham, running speaker and writer
Here you will find route descriptions to running routes of all distances and difficulties. Enjoy!
Useful Links
Map of Bologna Bike Trail System (courtesy of Commune di Bologna)
Bologna Area parks
Emiglia-Romana Parks
Route Descriptions
What follows are route
descriptions of route discoveries and recommendations in Bologna along with
ratings on the shoe scale; five shoes indicate a great trail, and one shoe
indicates a less than optimal trail.
Many routes can be combined with others.
I have grouped them into
three main categories: hilly, flat, and parks.
Within those divisions, I have labeled them according to their relative
geographic location to the city center; all routes start from the statue of
Neptune in Piazza Maggiore to give everyone a common reference point.
More information on all
routes with more detailed maps can be found at
correresaisbologna.blogspot.com. This is
just the tip of the iceberg, as I know of others on the city’s east side but
have yet to explore them fully; all should explore these routes (and more), and
then post their findings online for others to see. Adesso corri!
HILLY
South
Monte San Donato - Via
degli Scalini
Distance: 6 to 9 miles
4.5 Shoes
From Piazza Maggiore,
head south on Via Castiglione. Follow it
outside the ring road. Once past
Giardini Margherita, road signs will disappear, and it will be tempting to turn
off. Just keep going straight; do not
turn right up anything steep. About one
half-mile up from the ring road, turn left onto Via degli Scalini. Climb uphill for almost 1.5 miles. It is not easy, but it is beautiful at the
top and as you go up. Eventually, you
will re-intersect with Via di Barbiano where you will veer left and up (not
downhill). Once you make the initial
climb, there are miles of flat, quiet roads with beautiful views on top of the
ridge. Since it is out-and-back, you can
make this run as long as you like.
Alternate Route: Instead of turning left onto Via degli
Scalini at the bottom, keep going straight on Via di Barbiano. It is a gentler but longer climb than
Scalini. When you re-intersect with
Scalini, just keep going on Barbiano atop the flat ridge. In my opinion, the views are better on
Scalini.
Santo Michele in
Bosco/Istituto Rizzoli
Distance: 2.75 miles
5 shoes
Follow Via Massimo D’Azeglio
south of Piazza Maggiore until you cross the ring road at Porta San
Mamolo. Once across the ring road,
follow Via San Mamolo, and then turn left on Via Alessandro Codivlla. Shortly thereafter, turn right into Parco di
Santo Michele in Bosco. Follow the
gravel path to the right, and wind your way up to the hospital where you should
stop for the best view of Bologna and a map that explains the sites. Go down the road away from the direction you
climbed; then make a sharp left, and follow the path slightly below the road
back down to Via San Mamolo to make your way back to Piazza Maggiore.
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=5660812
West
Via di Casaglia
Distance: 6.25 miles
4.5 shoes
From Piazza Maggiore,
head west through Porta Saragozza on Via Saragozza toward Villa Spada. Turn left on Via Casaglia just in front of
Villa Spada, and climb the mountain. The
views are great here too, and the climb is not as arduous as Scalini or San
Luca.
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=5660828
Santuario di San Luca
Distance: 6 miles
4.5 shoes
From Piazza Maggiore,
head west on Via Saragozza as if you were going to Villa Spada. When you get to the pink archway and the sign
for Via di San Luca, turn left uphill. You can climb the next mile in the
porticoes or on the road, but it is a bear of a climb either way. However, the views and the shrine at the top
make it worth it.
FLAT
East
The
2 and 10 Route
Distance:
as much as 12 miles round trip though it can be as much as you want as it is
out-and-back.
4
shoes
From
Piazza Maggiore, head down San Vitale to the ring road. Once there, follow the ring road south; about
half-way between San Vitale and Strada Maggiore, a small road will head outside
the city and have bike lanes on both sides of it. It doesn’t have a name on any map or sign
that I have seen, but it cuts right through the heart of Ospedale Sant’
Orsala. If you follow the bike trail
markings on the ground for the next 5 miles, you will be on the route even
though you change streets and paths frequently; just always follow the bike
trail marks on the ground. It starts on
a quiet, low-traffic set of streets, and you feel like you are in the
suburbs. Eventually (about one mile
outside the city walls), you find yourself on bike paths that connect parks or
run behind apartment buildings.
Occasionally, the route might also fork; don’t worry, they rejoin later. Just follow the bike trail markings on the
ground; if you see a sign, follow the signs for 2 and 10 to Lungo Savenna. At the end of the pavement, you will come to
a wooden pedestrian bridge across the river.
From here, you can run up and down the river (or across the bridge) on
grass or dirt for miles. Warning: The
map tells you where to start and where the river end-point is; the in-between
is not guaranteed to be accurate.
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=5688809
South
Via San Mamolo
Distance: 6 miles
3.5 shoes
Follow the directions to
get to Via San Mamolo in the description for Santo Michele in Bosco, but
instead of going into the park, just stay on Via San Mamolo. You will suffer traffic for another half
mile, but by the time you get to the intersection of San Mamolo and Via di
Roncrio, veer left and follow Roncrio.
By this point, the road will be nearly empty of cars, and you will
follow a gradual incline through a lush, empty valley. About 2.5 miles from the ring road (near the
high voltage power lines), it becomes steep. Should you keep going, the views
are fantastic.
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=5660822
West
Canal Path
Distance: 6 miles
4.5 shoes
This is the golden ticket
to good running in Bologna; this path accesses all the river paths and parks in
Casslecchio di Reno. The bike path
starts at Via Sabottino and the ring road. Follow the bike path marks on the
ground until Via della Crocetta where you should continue on the bike path that
crosses to the other side of Via Sabotino, but do not follow Crocetta;
follow the bike path along Via Valdossola . Eventually, you end up along
the canal out to the river. Once at the river, a big, white suspension
bridge towers over the scenery even though it is not on the map. A water fountain can be found in the plaza
before the bridge.
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=5660849
Twin Bridge Run
Distance: 8 miles
5 shoes
Follow the Canal Path
route instructions. Once at the bridge,
you can either cross the bridge now or later. My route description takes
you across now. Go across the bridge and up to the first intersection;
turn left, then right away veer left again onto Via Tripoli. Go straight
through the roundabout. Less than a mile later, you will see the next big
white suspension bridge: cross it. Once across, turn right on the path
and take it up to the main road; take the paved path next to the road but
separate from it for about a mile (eventually it ends up parallel to but below
the main road and above the canal). It appears to end at one point. However, if you go left down the hill a few
meters, you will see it continues on the other side of the road. This section
leads into the Canal Path, which you can take home.
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=5660849
River Trails
4.5 shoes
If you follow the Canal
Path, Via Chiù or the Via Sabotino Path out to the river, you have access to
almost 15 miles of trails along both sides of the river. However, they are discontinuous, and you will
sometimes need to hop on to a quiet road to join multiple sections
together. In the map provided, I have
only just highlighted the area within which these trails exist, so you can plan
your own exploration. If you want more
details on their connectivity, you can ask me.
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=5660865
Casalecchio di Reno Trail
System
4 shoes
Follow the bike path
along Via Sabotino, but instead of crossing as in the Canal Path route, go
straight; it becomes Viale M. K. Ghandi.
Eventually, you follow the bike lanes to other side of the road, and
when you arrive at the large roundabout, follow the trail to the left down the
hill and under the main highway. (You will see a large park to the left where
you can do loops too, if you wish.) Once
past the highway, you are now in the Casalecchio trail system. You can follow it any direction you wish, as
you can now access several parks where you can do loops. You can also keep following the trail
straight, which will eventually take you to the river trail system; along the
way, you will see a map of the entire system.
Alternate access: Follow the Canal Path, and once you
reach the cemetery, start following the signs for La Certosa. Once in the La Certosa park area, look for the
underpass with the bike trail.
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com?r=5660849
North
Via di Chiù
Distance: 3.5 to 7 miles
1.5 shoes
I feel compelled to list
this route because it is flat and quiet.
However, it is not pretty. From
Piazza Maggiore follow Via San Felice outside the ring road; it changes names to
Via Saffi Aurelio. About a quarter mile
past the ring road, turn right on Via di Chiù.
However, Via di Chiù is not signed from the main road. So, if you miss
it, turn right on the next road (Via Malvasia Innocenzo), and then turn left
onto the road-turned-exclusive-bike-path, labeled as Via di Chiù. The path itself is about a mile of quiet
trail along a canal and next to a wall that separates it from the rail
yard. Once you get to the end, you will
pass over a main road that burrows into a tunnel below you. If you just go straight, which you can do in
any number of ways, you will eventually be on Via di Chiù again. Continue to follow the road past the circles;
it is still quiet and flat here but ugly.
Follow the road around a sharp left and then look for signs for Via
Giorgione; once you’ve done that, you’ll see a big park on the left where you
can do loops from one half-mile to a mile in length. Return the way you came. This is also an alternative access route to
the river trails if you turn right on Via Giorgione/Via Ponte Romano
instead. If you use it to access the
river, I think it is a better option to return another way.
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=5660859
Nature Trail 4A
Distance: 5 to 11 miles
4 shoes
This should be Bologna’s
premier running trail. However, given
how difficult it is to access at the moment, it only receives four shoes. Follow Via delle Lame out, cross, the ring
road, and continue on Via Zanardi until you have passed under the train
tracks. At your first right after the
trains, turn right on Via Carracci.
Three hundred meters later just before the bridge over the canal, turn
left down the stairs to the canal path.
From here, it should be as simple as following the path for four
miles. However, construction at the Industrial
Museum requires a significant detour, for which I can provide more details in
person.
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=5660886
PARKS
South
Giardini Margherita
Distance: 3 to 4 miles
4.5 shoes
Close to school, it has a
few trails. The most notable feature is
that its main loop is almost exactly one mile long if you need to know a
precise pace. Follow the San Mamolo directions for access.
https://maps.google.dk/maps/ms?msid=207755495737197170473.0004c98058ec03a2c1dc2&msa=0&ll=44.487199,11.351924&spn=0.016502,0.038753
Villa Spada
Distance: 4 to 5 miles
3.5 shoes
Far from school, it has a
few trails. It’s fairly hilly, but its
loop is also almost exactly one mile long.
Follow the directions for Via di Casaglia for access.
https://maps.google.dk/maps/ms?msid=207755495737197170473.0004c98053b7763e79d49&msa=0&ll=44.491546,11.320252&spn=0.016501,0.038753
Villa Chiusa
Distance: 7 to 10 miles
5 shoes
Follow the Canal Path. Once you see a parallel path on the other side
of the canal, cross to the other side; this path will take you between
buildings. Eventually, it appears to end
at a small road. However, if you turn
left up the hill, just before the road you can turn right onto the pedestrian
path and follow it for a little over a kilometer (eventually it's below the
road and above the canal) to where the main road turns sharply to the right.
At that point, cross the road and enter the park! I have highlighted one of
the paths on the map that goes all the way down to a bridge across the river,
but there are several paths here that are both hilly and flat. If you want to run far, this is the route for
you.
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=5660856
this is great, thanks!
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