In April 2026 I celebrated my 38th birthday and 4th cancerversary (4 years since cancer diagnosis – currently in full remission) by running 10km a day in 5 cities in 5 days. Seville – Palma – Barcelona – Venice- Rome.
The goal was simple. Wake up in a different city each day and run 10km with a different backdrop each day. For 5 consecutive days. The planning was meticulous and by some miracle (and an unusual level of faith in RyanAir) I pulled it off.
This post is half journal about my experience and half travel planning guide for anyone who wants to take on something similar.
If this is your first time on my website, please know this is not the usual thing you see around here. I do write about outdoor adventures and I do write travel guides about Spain, Italy and Portugal but this fast-paced style is not the norm for me. I prefer slow travel and taking time to get to know places. I’m an independent travel planner so I travel most months but more likely than not you’ll find me road tripping around a town or region, not flying from city to city every day.
This trip was the exception and links with my 24 hours in… series. The series is not about encouraging you to visit places in only 24 hours, but rather showing you how to do it if that’s the only time you have.
You can see my usual travels through my Travel Guide Collection but if you want to see how this particular run-travel challenge worked out stick around.
Planning a trip to Spain? You’re in the right place! Welcome to Travel Planning and Itinerary design by Candy. Hola! I’m an independent travel advisor living in Portugal (since 2016). I help people plan their dream trip to Portugal, Spain and Italy. You’re currently reading a post from my collection of travel guides. I also offer personal travel consultation and a bespoke itinerary service.
Run Travel – Why ?
Firstly, let me say this – I don’t actually recommend doing this if you actually want to experience the cities you are visiting because 24 hours or less in each place makes that impossible. This was a very personal challenge, specifically for my cancerversary which is why it’s a bit chaotic.
As someone who visits Italy and Spain very regularly I found there was no pressure to do anything other than run in each place because I already know these places through travel.
For me the experience was waking up in a different city to run with a different backdrop each day. My only goal was to complete a 10km run each day. Everything else was a bonus. The running was a key element of the trip for me, but of course you could do this without running every day if you wanted.
I hope this acts as a source of inspiration for a different type of travel and experience for those who like to think (or run) outside the box.
My original goal for this celebratory challenge was running 50km in one go from my home (Cascais) to the Vasco da Gama bridge in Lisbon. 6 weeks before the goal date I ran 43km in Porto as a tester. The run went well and I felt on top of the world at the end, but the recovery was hard and long. I am currently training for a full Ironman and I knew I couldn’t risk injury so I decided to put my body first and change the format of the challenge.
The new challenge? Running 50 km over 5 days (10k every day for 5 days) but instead of doing it in the same place every day, I would do it in a different city, blending my love of travel and running.10km a day is not much of a physical challenge for the level of fitness I currently have, but doing it across 5 different cities added a new dimension to the challenge that quenched my thirst for some sort of adventure.
Once I got the idea in my head I couldn’t shake it so I started scouring SkyScanner. I became so invested in the plan that I couldn’t put my laptop down for two days, until I had figured out a route. In the space of 48 hours I’d created the route, booked the flights and convinced friends to join me for the first and last day. (Shout out to my YES friends).
“Rules” for the challenge
When I first started creating a route, I tried simply picking the cheapest flight each day and I got really far with this idea. You would be amazed at just how little you can spend and how far you can go. The beginning stages of route planning were very fun and had me stopping over in some obscure places.
Eventually I had to rein it back because some airports were too far from the city to make it work logistically and economically, others were so random there wasn’t really much there. Could I run 10k? Sure , but I wanted to be running in locations where there was actually interesting stuff to see and some of these places didn’t tick that box. So I wound it back again and started making some rules which involved airports close to city centres (30-45mins) with frequent and cheap airport transport.
Which Cities made the cut but I easily could have added?
With this in place, the route started to take shape. I started to notice flight patterns and also noted my excitement or disappointment when adding destinations to the flight plan.
I soon realised that Venice was somewhere I was bending over backwards to fit into the itinerary, so it became a non-negotiable; as did Palma. I wanted to start in Seville as the flight time was really good from Lisbon and some friends agreed to join me for my birthday which was the first day of the trip.
After this I was able to come up with my route.
SEVILLE – PALMA – BARCELONA – VENICE – ROME
I made sure I had a full 24 hours in all of the cities, with the exception of BCN which was a shorter layover (I already visit BCN multiple times a year so I didn’t feel like I was missing out). This decision meant I could spend longer in Venice (which I hadn’t visited for 20 years). I ended the 5 days in Rome because I couldn’t think of a more iconic European run for my last 10km than passing the Colosseum. It was also the best place to meet a friend from Spain who came to celebrate with me after.
Cities that didn’t make the cut
- Palermo & Catania. Sicily is my favourite place on the planet but I already had a trip planned to the region a month later.
- Cagliari & Alghero (Sardinia) I couldn’t quite get my head around flying to the huge island of Sardinia for only 24 hours.
- Valletta (Malta) This one almost made the cut but the flights were getting in so late it was going to mess up transport to the city.
- Valencia. This is the one I’m upset about. I couldn’t make it to work. The flight times wouldn’t work with some of the non-negotiables I had. I’ll be back.
- Madrid. Very close to adding this and it was doable, but I chose BCN instead. I know BCN better and it made the short day of my trip much smoother.
- Bologna. Another close one but I decided my first time visiting Bologna deserves more time. Bologna I’m coming back for you in the winter!
How much did the trip cost?
One of the stipulations of this trip was it needed to be budget-friendly because it was happening during a period of 2 months with a lot of travel and races already in my calendar. The main enabler of this run-travel adventure was the price of the flights. Which were shockingly cheap. All flights including Lisbon return flights (and one night bus) came to a total of €130. Insane.
The average flight cost was €20. Seville – Palma was the cheapest at €12. The most “expensive” was BCN – Venice at €26. The overnight bus from Venice to Rome (6 hours) was €9.
I stayed in budget accommodation everywhere except Rome where I booked a 4 star to celebrate my actual cancerversary date. Accommodation (capsule/hostel style) was between €27 and €44 a night, not including Rome which was 130 for a 4 star double hotel room. It was possible to do it cheaper in some places and plenty of room to bougie it up if you wanted. If you have the budget, then real hotels would make the experience much more relaxing.
Planning a 5 day, 5 cities trip
The level of planning that went into this was intense. When you don’t have much time on the ground, every detail needs to be planned in advance. Scrambling for airport buses after landing is not ideal when you have such limited time. I’m in my element planning itineraries but even for me this was a lot of fine, boring details to sort through to make sure it was going to work smoothly, even with my prior knowledge of the places I was visiting.
After this level of research, you can now consider me a flight connection guru. I know all the airport transport options, time and costs of all major cities in Spain and Italy. This one single trip levelled up my transport knowledge massively.
Why do I consider myself a travel planning expert? Exactly because of this. I live the work I sell. At any given point I have 3-4 trips in planning for myself alongside my client itineraries and trip plans.
Work with me to plan your trip
Booking Flights for 24 hour City Trip
Use Skyscanner to search for flights. It’s the best tool on the internet.
- Choose your dates (if you are able to be flexible, select your departure month instead).
- Choose your From city
- Set‘ To’ to ‘Everywhere’ and tick the ‘direct flights’ box
- The next page will bring up a page of different cities your departure city flies and from lowest cost
- Open the cities you’re interested in, on new pages and compare times and prices
- Once the first stage is sorted do exactly the same for the next stage
Planning a 24 hour itinerary for each city
For this 5 day trip I wrote an individual itinerary plan for every city like I do for my itinerary clients, but with only 24 hours, how much of it I could achieve was limited. I took away the pressure of having to do too much and made the main goal of each city the 10km run, knowing that this run would also get me around the city and show me the sites on the move. Anything extra that I saw or did was a bonus.
I already knew Seville and Barcelona really well because I visit every year which made those days much more relaxing. Before this trip, I last visited Venice when I was 18 and this was the place I was most anxious to make the most of the short time I had. Palma was also new to me (even though I have traveled in Mallorca) but the city is more manageable to visit in a shorter time frame. Rome, being at the end and also not my first time to visit, was more of a place to relax. I spent the day after my last run cafe hopping with my friend in the Trastevere neighbourhood knowing full well I’ll visit Rome multiple times in my life.
I spent an obscene amount of time researching every city so that I had multiple options to tap into on arrival without having to think or search too much in that moment (which I usually enjoy). Off the back of that research and my own trip I wrote a series of 24 hour travel guides which, thanks to the nature of the detail orientated research, turned into some of the most comprehensive guides I have written. You can read them below.
24 HOURS IN SEVILLE coming soon . . .
24 HOURS IN PALMA coming soon . . .
24 HOURS IN BARCELONA coming soon . . .
24 HOURS IN VENICE coming soon . . .
24 HOURS IN ROME coming soon . . .
How did it go?
The trip was a success. I managed to make it to every city. I had a few short delays but nothing crazy. The trip obviously felt rushed and it was tiring which I expected but it was also so much fun. I found that the adrenaline of always being on the move kept my spirits high and I saw more than I expected in the time that I had. And yes, I completed all the 10km runs. In Barcelona I ended up running an extra 4km so that I didn’t miss my flight to Venice.
The point of this trip was 5 cities in 5 days but if you have the luxury of time then spending at least 48 hours in each city would be a much richer (but still rushed) experience.
Seville : Best experiences
- Arriving at Plaza de Espana 4km into our run to see the square in the most beautiful light
- Tortilla con Solomillo al whisky sauce at Casa Eme (an absolute gem of a find)
- Vermouth and tapas with a twilight view of Setas
Palma : Best experiences
- Running along the ocean path to Playa des Penyó
- Sea swim in crystal clear sea
- Long sunny lunch on the patio at Cafè Es Pes de sa Palla
Barcelona: Best experiences
- Sagrada Familiar WITHOUT scaffolding!
- Running along the pier under the bluest sky, surrounded by that unbeatable BCN vibe
- Post run dip at the beach
Venice : Best experiences
- Running into Venice along the Mestre bridge
- Ice cold spritz perched on a stone wall next to the canal
- Jumping on a random boat at Dorsoduro to see sunset from the water
Rome : Best experiences
- Running to a new country (The Vatican) and beating the crowds
- Running past the Colosseum and not worrying about queuing to go in because the only plan for the rest of the day was to sip spritz in Trastevere
- Afternoon drinks in Trastevere. Trapizzino was the perfect hangout spot
- Mouthwatering dinner and expertly selected wine at Vanda
There you have it – my 5 cities, 5 day trip with 50km of running thrown in. I honestly loved it. It exceeded my expectations and despite being very tired I would happily go back and do it again. I’m already plotting the next run travel adventure. Where next?
Planning a trip to Portugal, Spain or Italy but don’t know where to begin? I’m your gal!