wellness
Runners Discover Kyiv's Best Routes Through Island Trails and National Park
Kyiv's best running loops the car-free trails of Trukhaniv Island in the Dnipro, follows the river embankment past the city centre, and reaches the forest-steppe of Holosiivskyi National Park, a rare national park inside a capital.
How we reported this
Kyiv's running geography is defined by the Dnipro River and an unusual amount of green space, including a national park within the city limits. Here are the best running routes in Kyiv for 2026.
Trukhaniv Island
Trukhaniv Island offers a roughly 5 kilometre paved-and-wooded loop, extendable to about 12 kilometres from Yevropeiska Square, on a flat island in the Dnipro reached on foot via the Park Pedestrian Bridge from the city centre. It mixes largely car-free paved path, forest trails and a river beach, and is the most popular running spot in Kyiv thanks to being traffic-free yet minutes from Poshtova Square.
The Dnipro Right-Bank Embankment
The right-bank embankment offers a roughly 5 kilometre one-way path from the Pedestrian Bridge south to Navodnytskyi Park and the Paton Bridge, or about 2.8 kilometres to the Metro Bridge as a shorter turnaround, paved, flat and with continuous river views.
Holosiivskyi National Nature Park
About 12 kilometres south of the centre, Holosiivskyi National Nature Park is a rare national park inside a capital city, a forest-steppe landscape with numerous ponds. A roughly 10 kilometre loop runs from the Expo Center to the Observatory and north to the ponds, with a signposted 2.7 kilometre eco-trail, on mixed paved and dirt surface, gently hilly.
Mariinskyi Park and the Left-Bank Lakes
Mariinskyi Park, near the government quarter, offers central, flat, largely paved loops past the park fountain and the Lovers' Bridge. On the left bank, the Rusanivska Embankment combined with the roughly 2 kilometre Telbin Lake circuit makes an attractive 10 kilometre near-all-paths waterside run.
Running the Kyiv City Marathon Route
The Kyiv City Marathon returns in 2026, with the mass 42.195 kilometre and 21.1 kilometre races scheduled for 11 October and the 5 and 10 kilometre events on 10 October, organised by Run Ukraine.
Practical Guide to Running in Kyiv
Trukhaniv Island and the Dnipro embankment are the most reliable, traffic-free choices for a flat run; Holosiivskyi National Park is the pick for anyone wanting genuine forest terrain.