The traditional tour of a city in the company of a historian is old hat now. The newest trend is a running tour accompanied by a jogging guide. The concept was created in Rome in 2005 and is now popular in several European and US cities, having come to France for the first time in September 2008. It was introduced by journalist Camille Peyrache, who established her company Jogg’in City in Lyon.

We use four coach-guides who collect the clients from their hotel, if it’s a city centre one, or give them a rendez-vous point if they are staying outside the city. Each tour lasts about an hour and is done at a running pace, with the guide giving various anecdotes along the route, explains Camille Peyrache.

There are three itineraries. The first one follows a 5.8 km route on the Presqu’île and through Vieux Lyon. The second, over 5.2 km, takes the runners to La Croix-Rousse from the Place des Terreaux via Cour des Voraces, Place Colbert, Place Bellevue, down the long Grand-Côte steps, past the Amphithéâtre des Trois Gaules, Place Sathonay and ending at Saint-Nizier. Last, but not least, the third route is over 6 km and takes in the Cité internationale and the Parc de la Tête d’Or.

Our service is on demand, seven days of the week and between the hours of 6.30 am and 9 pm, clarifies Camille Peyrache. Our clientèle is mostly made up of businessmen who are here for an event or on business. They’re usually foreign, mostly American, Swiss and German. We’re planning to set up identical operations in Paris, Strasbourg, Cannes, Nice, Marseille and Annecy, although the problem overall is to find enough guides who are interested in the concept and who want to join our network .

As far as Lyon is concerned, the founder of Jogg’in City is already thinking of setting up new itineraries of about one hour each and has also just introduced a touring rally concept called footing gourmand (or gourmet jog ) which will be tailor-made for seminars or team building events. It involves a touring jog of about one and a half to two hours long with a guide, interspersed by various tastings of organic products from stalls set up along the route, with the aim of exploring Lyon and its gastronomic heritage. The package is priced at 30 € per participant.

Individual circuits of an hour’s jog work out at 25 € per person for a group of four people and 60 € for a single jogger. Every Saturday at 10 am, Jogg’in Lyon organises a Jogging Tour, which visits the city in groups of three to four people, costing 8 € if pre-booked or 12 € on the morning.