How to find running routes in a new city
Travelling and want to run without getting lost? The trick is a loop that starts and ends at your hotel, of a distance you're comfortable with — so you always know you can get back.
Start from your hotel, not your GPS
In an unfamiliar place your phone's location is fine, but it's often easier to search your hotel or a nearby landmark in LoopMaker and set that as the start. Because the route is a loop, it brings you right back to where you began.
Pick a sensible distance and direction
- Distance: choose something you know you can finish jet-lagged — you can always generate a longer one tomorrow.
- Direction: steer the loop toward a river, park or waterfront (often the nicest and safest running) by picking that compass direction, or use Any to explore.
- Surface: Roads only keeps you on lit, paved streets and sidewalks — usually what you want in a strange city, especially early or late.
Safety: a loop means you're never far from your start, and following a pre-planned line on your watch keeps you from taking a wrong turn into somewhere you didn't intend.
Take it offline
Mobile data abroad can be patchy or expensive. Generate the loop while you have Wi-Fi, then export the GPX and load it onto your watch so you can follow the route offline — see Garmin or Strava. Save a couple of routes before you travel and you're set for the trip.