Any runners out there know if it's possible to run the distance around the island St Louis by continuous sidewalk or is it interupted at any point? Are the sidewalks on the island mobbed with people?

Is it safe to run on the island alone in the early a.m.?

Does anyone know the distance?

I scoured www.runtheplanet.com but only found info on Seine runs, and various Paris park runs, but not necesarily Ile St Louis.

Does anyone know of a web based "route measuring tool" that works in europe????

I know it's kind of weird to post on a travel forum, but to me it's like my check list, find apartment, find rental car, find a running route!

Thanks a bunch!

There are two: mappy.com and viamichelin.com.

Go to Google maps and search "Ile St. Louis, Paris." Then click on satellite view and zoom in.

When is your trip? The sidewalks can be very busy in high tourist season. But early a.m. (how early?) would probably be a good time throughout the year.

I'm a runner, and when we were in Paris in 2005, I did run around that area, but my vague recollection is that I only ran up and down the main street on Ile St. Louis as part of a run from our hotel in the 6th Arr. My total distance was not very far, but I viewed it as a "vacation run" - enough to make me feel energized and enjoy the scenary. I ran from our hotel on rue de Buci, over to Notre Dame, and around that area, down to the Deportation memorial, and over the bridge to Ile St. Louis; I also ran from there to the Pont Neuf and back (so I must have run around Ile de la Cite). If you run Ile de la Cite and Ile St. Louis, you could probably get in around 2 miles, depending on how you do it.

I ran probably at 7 or so, and it was me, the garbage trucks and workers, a guy sweeping the square in front of Notre Dame, and some other runners. It was wonderful, magical. Depending on the time of year that you'll be running, I would think you'd be safe running in that area as long as the sun was up (I'm assuming that because you're asking, that you're female, as I am).

And I totally understand about finding running routes; part of planning is finding the most detailed maps I can, to think about running routes. Runtheplanet doesn't work so well for me, usually, because they all seem to involve long distances (I rarely do that on vacation) or taking public transportation to some park (not doing that, either; I don't feel safe running in a park, as a woman, unless I'm already familiar with the area).

Enjoy!

While this article only speaks indirectly to your question, there are several references to Ile St Louis.

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/...1331-0,00.html

There's no reason at all you couldn't
run the circumference of Ile St Louis.

We stayed on the Quai d'Anjou this past summer and I was usually having
a coffee on the balcony overlooking the Seine and Right Bank between 6:30 and 7 each morning. The street was deserted except for the garbagemen about 7.

If you miss the Square Barye at the
downstream end of the island your run will be about 1.34 km (.84 miles) using the sidewalks along the quais.

But I think you can do the run using the lower riverside quais...you'd have these to yourself in the early morning aside from the under bridge
dwellers. Be aware they do spray the
lower quais with water early in the morning so they may be slippery.

Sign up for free at communitywalk.com and you can easily
plan out routes and distances then export the routes to Google Earth.

Rob

Isn't Square Barye the upstream end of the island?

Thank you so much for the info, I should have known that at least one Fodorite would know the exact measurement of the island-LOL! I'm really looking forward to running for fun on this trip, short runs 2-3 miles. Last time we were in Paris I was training for a half marathon and had to run 6-8 miles every morning. I must say though, if you had to drudge through it, running along the Seine in the wee moring hours is magical! It turned out to be one of my favorite vacation memories. Paris is amazing when it's quiet and there's not a soul in sight but other runners. I love not being stared at like an alien like they do in Italy when they see runners!

I use www.runningmap.com Not sure how accurate it is in Europe but it's easy and fun to use. Just type in the city & country.

DancingBearMD...

My bad!

I know that some of the walkway down by the Seine (Left Bank, near NOtre Dame) is flagstones, so I might stroll along there before adding to running route

The closest good place to run would be the Jardin des Plantes.