This Unique Travel Trend Offers A Fun And Healthy Way To Experience Any Destination

There's a new travel trend picking up speed, one that creates a connection with the pulse of your destination and your own heartbeat. It doesn't matter if it's the cobblestones of a Tuscan piazza under your feet, or the cool mist of a Pacific Northwest forest, a running vacation is a fun, incredibly healthy, and uniquely immersive way to experience the world.

The Travel Trend Report published by hospitality group Accor identifies athletic adventures as one of the main travel trends for 2025, noting a 50 percent increase in "workout holidays" compared to the previous year. The report cites as the main reasons driving the increased interest in this type of travel: the growing appeal to travel for fitness to global sporting events, personal health goals, and scenic races that offer the chance to combine athletic challenges with cultural exploration and unique destinations.

A running vacation isn't really about besting your personal record or upscaling your training; it's about using running as your primary mode of discovery, allowing you to cover more ground than a walker while remaining infinitely more connected to your environment than if you were using transportation. Running can transform your journey from a potential caloric bomb into a healthy escape. Any form of exercise or workout while traveling helps to combat jet lag and improves your energy and mood. Gone are the days when running on vacation meant a lonely hour on a treadmill in a tired hotel gym. These days a "runcation" has come of age, becoming a growing travel niche that combines a passion for athletics with a thirst for culture and new landscapes.

There are as many options for running on vacation as there are runners, from the dedicated marathon addict to the casual trail enthusiast. Depending on the time available and target destination, you can choose a guided vacation, join a group, or DIY a solo itinerary. Running vacations can range from embracing the great outdoors to a fully urban experience. For iconic destinations when traveling for a specific sports event, the World Marathon Majors in London, Tokyo, Boston, Berlin, Chicago, and New York are the only six in the world to carry the "major" title, as designated by the International Olympic Committee, out of more than 800 marathons organized every year.

As a gateway option for marathon newbies, Runner's World recommended several half-marathons (a distance of 13.1 miles), because they offer a race that isn't too difficult, but you still have a support system and great scenery. Among the many events listed are Detroit in fall, Houston in winter, New York City in spring, and Madison, Wisconsin in summer. Oh, and when you're ready to dust off your tiara, you can run the Disney Princess Half-Marathon across Magic Kingdom and Epcot in Orlando.

If running in just one country isn't enough, the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) traces 100 miles through Italy, France and Switzerland. Doug Mayer, author of "The Race That Changed Running: The Inside Story of the UTMB", founded Chamonix-based adventure travel company Run the Alps after years of adventures in the Alps and Andes led him to start helping organize trips for others. Mayer wrote on his website, "It's hard to write about the Alps without sounding like a string of guidebook clichés. The thing is ... it's all true. Trail running in the Alps is hard to beat."

Runners recommend choosing a vacation that's right for your running ability and habits. You don't want to undersell yourself and miss out on an exciting challenge, but don't want to overstretch either, and be miserable or risk injury. Outdoor adventure writer Jennifer Malloy learned this the hard way, as she wrote in an article for Outside, "If this is your first running vacation, your first time running trails, or your first time running for multiple days in a row, take that into account when booking a tour or mapping out a self-supported adventure. Despite being an experienced trail runner, I overestimated my limits on Switzerland's Walker's Haute Route, attempting it in four days instead of the five I actually needed. By day three, exhaustion forced me to skip a scenic section and rely on the gondola, bus, and train to reach my bed."

While the focus of these journeys is, of course, athletic pursuits, these trips are also opportunities to meet like-minded travelers who already have much in common just by the fact they signed up for a running adventure. Redditor kellyaolson covered around 40 miles on a three-day Rogue River Trail hike in Oregon. She said that "The river guides carried our belongings in the raft, prepared all our meals, and we stayed in lodges along the river. It wasn't glamorous, but it was unique and a ton of fun. The other runs were fantastic. We all traded stories of travel and racing."

Incidentally, author Mayer met his better half during the Tor des Géants, a 186-mile endurance trail race in Italy's unique outdoor playground of Val d'Aosta. Not that you would plan a running vacation as a matchmaking goal — but sometimes the trail leads to more than the finish line.