FAQ

Rare gems! Authentic Parisians who have always lived in Paris. Excellent runners who have participated in most of the Parisian races (and won some of them). They speak French and English of course and can relate their city’s history, urban development and architecture. They are true ambassadors of Paris.

Yes. Anyone who wants to run with Paris Running Tours is welcome! It is not necessary to be a professional runner to run with Paris Running Tours! The guide will adapt to your pace and can stop whenever you wish for a breather.

This hardly ever happens, because there are many breaks and the pace is made to suit the runners (or the slowest runner when there are more than one participants). Some parts of the route may even be done walking. If someone is really tired and wishes to stop, the guide will help him or her to return to the hotel or residence, whether by metro or another means of transport.

Yes, we propose different distance for the tours. We indicate respectively >2 hours, >3 hours and >4 hours.

The distance is guaranteed in every case (we prepare the route with the chosen distance). With stops, the tours last approximately the indicated duration (~2 hours or more, ~3 hours or more, or ~4 hours or more), though they sometimes go over the indicated duration, depending on your speed.

If the indicated duration is exceeded, there will be no additional charge.

If you need to stick to the proposed duration because of another appointment or activity immediately after the tour, we will of course ensure you are back in time. Let us know before the tour in the field “Any other comments” in the BOOKING form.

If you wish to run different distances or for a different duration to those proposed for three types of tours, we invite you to make a reservation using the mode: “According to your wishes” in the page BOOK NOW.

Even if our tours are done running, we propose to stop to take photos or to appreciate the places that deserve more explanations, for example, the Concorde Square or the Pantheon (even if the guide gives a “running-commentary” on Paris).

If someone wishes to run without stopping, to carry out a training plan for example, we can arrange to not stop for breaks (but still take photos during the tour!).

The tour is done respecting safety and traffic lights.

Rain is not necessarily a drawback for visiting Paris, as long as it is light rain. If it is raining too heavily, we will propose another date. If you cannot make it on that date, you will be refunded.

There is no age limit for the tours. Nevertheless, if a minor (under 18) wishes to run alone with the Paris Running Tours, he/she must be brought by an adult to the departure. In the same way, the guide will bring the young runner back to an adult.

Our guides are all French and, even if they have a charming Parisian accent, they do speak English perfectly.

The tours are therefore conducted either in French or in English according to your needs. We also have a guide who also speaks Italian or Hebrew.

The tours proposed by Paris Running Tours are 100% private (except for exceptional operations). Before the tour, the guide takes the time to prepare a tour which is specially designed for you, which starts and finishes at your place of residence, which goes past the places you want to see and which is adapted to the pace of the tour. Once you have arrived, the guide will have all the maps and documents to complete the information given orally and which will be given to you at the end of the tour. And last but not least, the guide is a Paris aficionado, he knows all its secrets and all the hidden nooks and crannies and will take pleasure in revealing them to you the whole way along the tour. You will go home with unforgettable memories, your head full of knowledge, some unique documents and photos!

Why don’t you take a glance at our Instagram and Facebook pages, our blog to get a better idea? Look also at the TripAdvisor excellent reviews.

Paris Running Tours was officially set up in 2008 (company name registration: 14/02/2008) by Francis Gérard (thanks to him). The activity only really started officially in 2010 with the birth of the Paris Running Tours site (see also the blog on which the first articles appear in May 2010). Paris Running Tours was bought in 2014 by Jean-Charles Sarfati who has been the main guide since 2010.

There are no rules: book as soon as you can, Paris Running Tours will check the availability of the guides and contact you immediately after to tell you if the tour is possible at the desired date and time. Some periods are more popular (weekends, holidays, summer) but we generally find a solution to suit your request. If you wish to run tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, we will do our best to meet your requirements.

They like their city more than everything, they like to run and as aficionados, they will do everything they can to make you enjoy the visit and appreciate Paris. They all have another professional activity and are guides at Paris Running Tours for pleasure.

Other tour companies do running tours in Paris. What makes Paris Running Tours so unique?
Paris Running Tours customize the tour for you.

• You choose the date that suits you: guides are available all week, all year and they get back to you very quickly. It is preferable to reserve your tour in advance but, if we are free, you can request a tour from one day to the next.
• You choose the time that suits you: we are available all day. We recommend running in the morning and from a certain time because of the opening times of certain parks and passages but we can run earlier or later (specify in the comment box when you book),
• We come to pick you up at your residence (except for thematic tours), we create your route: we make a unique route from your residence going past the most interesting places on the way,
• We print maps for you: your route is prepared for you, printed and locates you in Paris, the guide will carry them during the tour and will give them to you at the end of the route,
• We complete the maps with historical representations of Paris to help you to understand the history of the city.
• You have an entirely dedicated guide: he ensures your security the whole way along the route, adapts to your requests and gives you precise answers to your questions about Paris,
• The tour follows your pace: the guide will run at your pace and ensure your comfort during the tour (it is not a group tour where the runner must follow the guide or adapt to the group’s pace),
• We take care of your photos: the guide has a camera with him to take photos wherever you wish (of Paris, with or without you, running, etc.) and as many as you want.
• We send the photos and other information about the tour on the same day: the guide will send your photos (using DropBox or another Internet means), your GPS track, links related to the places that you visited or to illustrate the questions you asked on tour,
• You can even have a summary of your tour: it could, if you wish, be featured in an article in the Paris Running Tours blog which would give you a great souvenir of your tour and that you could share with your loved ones.

In Paris, we give precedence to quality rather than quantity to establish a unique relation with you.  “Low-cost” is rarely synonymic of quality.
Most of the other companies propose group tours or “standardized”, pre-established circuits whereas Paris Running Tours offers you a circuit which is specially designed for you according to your place of residence and your choices and can also show you less well-known but just as interesting places.

Paris Running Tours is a totally independent company. Contrary to other companies, it is neither a franchise, nor an AirBnB membership to, nor an entity of a Tour operator. We are pure “craftsmen”.

With Paris Running Tours, you can be sure to have authentic Parisian guides who have lived in Paris for years (more than 50 years for some of them!). Paris flows in their blood because they were born and raised there and studied and run there! They have witnessed the evolution of art and architecture in Paris, for example the construction of the Louvre pyramid in the 1980s, the birth of the Orsay museum and the famous “Buren Columns” in 1986, the birth of the Quai Branly museum in 2006 or the wrapping of the Pont Neuf bridge in 1985 by the artist Cristo…

See our Instagram and Facebook pages, our blog to get a better idea? Look also at the TripAdvisor excellent reviews.

Our visitors often tell us that running with Paris Running Tours was the highlight of their stay in Paris!

When running, you have the advantages of a walking tour, all places may be accessed, but in addition, you cover a distance which enables you to see and appreciate the different aspects of the city, to make connections between different places, to take note of priorities for your visit and places to return to.

Indeed, Paris is a city with more than 2000 years history and by covering the distance of a Running Tour circuit, you will be able to understand:

• How Paris has grown,
• What Paris was like during different periods of its history,
• How Paris tried to rise out of the urban jungle of the Middle Ages,
• How Paris radically changed in the mid-19 th century,
• How Paris took advantage of its eight universal exhibitions and what is left standing,
• How Paris was marked by its different Kings and how to recognize the buildings that they left us,
• How Paris has always looked for harmony,
• How Paris was overthrown by the French Revolution (which started in 1789),
• How other « revolutions » have also changed Paris …
• In a nutshell, how history has affected Paris and then discover all the places where the historic events took place (do you want to know where Joan of Arc was wounded when trying to regain Paris from the English? Discover the place where King Henry IV was assassinated? Where the Royal Family was imprisoned during the Revolution? Where Queen Marie-Antoinette spent her last moments in a prison cell?)

The guide is happy to speak to you about all this during our Paris Running Tours.

He will give you advice and tips to make your stay in Paris as enjoyable as possible.

Discover the list of our main partners: here, among which you will find other Running Tours.