First pick
Parc Saint-Crépin
Park or garden
14 ha0.8 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.8 km of path
1.5 km northfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Cuville Fernand · CC07.5%woodland
Outdoors in Soissons · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Almost every home in Soissons is within 800 m of a park or wood
Footpaths add up to 34 km across Soissons (2.7 km per km²). No protected area reaches Soissons; the nearest, Massif forestier de Retz (Natura 2000), is 15 km from the town center. Mapped woodland covers 7.5% of Soissons. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
0%
of the commune’s land
Nearest: Massif forestier de Retz, 15 km
Woodland
7.5%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
34 km
2.7 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
0 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Parks & woods
5
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: Parc Saint-Crépin
Throughout this page, the Aisne median and the France median are the median of compared communes (those with an overall grade), each figure its own median.
Against French towns
How Soissons compares with French towns
Each figure against the 3,798 compared French towns (communes with an overall grade): the marked bar is the town’s, the line the median. Described, not graded.
Protected areas0%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
22out of 100
Woodland7.5%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
32out of 100
Footpaths2.7 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
69out of 100
Hiking routes0 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
12out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Soissons has the 9th fewest footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (26,658 to 29,518 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Paris 4e (12.9 km per km²) to Bergerac (1 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paris 4e Paris | 12.9 | 0% | 0% | 150 km |
| 2 | Lyon 1er Rhône | 11.3 | 1.1% | 0% | 253 km |
| 3 | Taverny Val-d'Oise | 10.5 | 33% | 0.4% | 129 km |
| 4 | Champs-sur-Marne Seine-et-Marne | 9.6 | 36% | 0.1% | 160 km |
| 5 | Grigny Essonne | 8.7 | 7.2% | 0% | 170 km |
| 6 | Le Plessis-Robinson Hauts-de-Seine | 8.6 | 13% | 0% | 153 km |
| 7 | Clichy-sous-Bois Seine-Saint-Denis | 7.6 | 29% | 22% | 153 km |
| 8 | Vanves Hauts-de-Seine | 7.3 | 3.4% | 0% | 150 km |
| 9 | Cormeilles-en-Parisis Val-d'Oise | 7.2 | 14% | 0% | 133 km |
| 10 | Ermont Val-d'Oise | 6.9 | 0% | 0% | 133 km |
| 11 | Gradignan Gironde | 6.8 | 17% | 0% | 26 km |
| 12 | Yerres Essonne | 6.6 | 36% | 0% | 169 km |
| 13 | Sannois Val-d'Oise | 6 | 17% | 0% | 135 km |
| 14 | Bussy-Saint-Georges Seine-et-Marne | 5.9 | 31% | 2.3% | 167 km |
| 15 | Charenton-le-Pont Val-de-Marne | 5.9 | 0.7% | 0% | 155 km |
| 16 | Armentières Nord | 5.9 | 3.8% | 0% | 50 km |
| 17 | Sucy-en-Brie Val-de-Marne | 5.7 | 31% | 0% | 165 km |
| 18 | Blagnac Haute-Garonne | 5.6 | 5.4% | 7.5% | 152 km |
| 19 | Cenon Gironde | 5.4 | 8.9% | 0% | 18 km |
| 20 | Limeil-Brévannes Val-de-Marne | 4.8 | 29% | 0% | 165 km |
| 21 | Lambersart Nord | 4.7 | 3.4% | 0% | 59 km |
| 22 | Bois-Colombes Hauts-de-Seine | 4.6 | 0% | 0% | 141 km |
| 23 | Saint-Sébastien-sur-Loire Loire-Atlantique | 4.5 | 9.9% | 23% | 41 km |
| 24 | Orvault Loire-Atlantique | 3.9 | 17% | 0% | 37 km |
| 25 | Sotteville-lès-Rouen Seine-Maritime | 3.9 | 1.4% | 0% | 53 km |
| 26 | Illkirch-Graffenstaden Bas-Rhin | 3.9 | 30% | 26% | 454 km |
| 27 | Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray Seine-Maritime | 3.4 | 28% | 0.3% | 53 km |
| 28 | Dieppe Seine-Maritime | 3.3 | 2.9% | 2.7% | On it |
| 29 | Périgueux Dordogne | 3.1 | 10% | 0% | 105 km |
| 30 | Sens Yonne | 3.1 | 4.6% | 0% | 249 km |
| 31 | Brétigny-sur-Orge Essonne | 3 | 9.5% | 0% | 169 km |
| 32 | Montfermeil Seine-Saint-Denis | 2.9 | 8.2% | 5.5% | 155 km |
| 33 | Soissons Aisne | 2.7 | 7.5% | 0% | 148 km |
| 34 | Rambouillet Yvelines | 2.6 | 48% | 74% | 139 km |
| 35 | Maubeuge Nord | 2.6 | 2.2% | 0.1% | 129 km |
| 36 | Gonesse Val-d'Oise | 2.1 | 4% | 0% | 141 km |
| 37 | Villeparisis Seine-et-Marne | 1.9 | 13% | 0% | 153 km |
| 38 | Vallauris Alpes-Maritimes | 1.5 | 16% | 0% | On it |
| 39 | La Teste-de-Buch Gironde | 1.1 | 56% | 46% | On it |
| 40 | Étampes Essonne | 1 | 12% | 0% | 172 km |
| 41 | Bergerac Dordogne | 1 | 14% | 1.9% | 86 km |
The map
Parks, woods, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park or wood. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is the commune’s boundary.
Green: parks, gardens and woods mapped on OpenStreetMap, named or not.© OpenStreetMap contributors · INPN / PatriNat · IGN
Places to walk
Parks and woods to walk in, in and around Soissons
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Parc Saint-Crépin leads, at 14 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Parc de l'arbre à l'oiseau
Park or garden
8.5 ha1 km of path
15 minto walk all 1 km of path
1.7 km north-eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Parc de la République
Park or garden
2 ha0.9 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.9 km of path
0.8 km south-eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Jardins de l'Hôtel de Ville
Park or garden
0.5 ha0.5 km of path
5 minto walk all 0.5 km of path
0.7 km north-eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Square Saint-Pierre
Park or garden
0.4 ha0.2 km of path
Centralin the middle of Soissons
Directionsto a point inside
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
Massif forestier de Retz is the nearest protected area, 15 km away
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Natura 2000 site
Massif forestier de Retz
15 km from the town center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area0%
Designations overlap (a regional park can hold a Natura 2000 site), so the rows don’t add up; the first counts each piece of land once.
Source: INPN / PatriNat, protected areas July 2026, Natura 2000 December 2024; shares of IGN’s commune boundary.
Footpaths and woods
34 km of footpaths cross Soissons
Paths, bridleways, steps and tracks open on foot, and waymarked hiking routes, mapped on OpenStreetMap inside the commune; woods are mapped forest and woodland, private woods included.
Footpaths
34 km
2.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
0 km
waymarked: 0 km per km²
Woodland
7.5%
about 0.9 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
SoissonsAisne medianFrance median
Footpaths2.7
Hiking routes0
024 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
SoissonsAisne medianFrance median
Woodland7.5%
0%50%100%
That is more than in 69% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland less than in 68% of compared French towns. Hiking routes often follow paths and lanes already counted, so the two lengths overlap: don’t add them. 99% of Soissons’ residents live within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, close to the typical town.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Soissons: April to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Braine, 15 km away, and the daylight at the town’s latitude. Outlined months have long days, highs of 15 to 30 °C and little rain for the place.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 8.6 | 10.1 | 11.7 | 13.7 | 15.3 | 16.2 | 15.9 | 14.4 | 12.5 | 10.7 | 9.0 | 8.2 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 20 | 23 | 25 | 25 | 21 | 16 | 10 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 59 | 47 | 49 | 43 | 60 | 56 | 61 | 61 | 46 | 56 | 54 | 72 |
April is the driest month (43 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 25 °C). 72 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 53 nights a year. The climate in Soissons →
Neighbors
Next to Soissons
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
BelleuVilleneuve-Saint-GermainCrouyVillers-CotterêtsFère-en-TardenoisFismesSoissons
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soissons | 0% | 7.5% | 2.7 |
| Belleu 3,659 · 2 km | 0% | 17% | 0.9 |
| Villeneuve-Saint-Germain 2,616 · 2.2 km | 0% | 11% | 0.8 |
| Crouy 3,049 · 3.4 km | 0% | 23% | 0.3 |
| Villers-Cotterêts 10,489 · 22 km | 0% | 73% | 1.8 |
| Fère-en-Tardenois 2,836 · 24 km | 0% | 40% | 0.7 |
| Fismes 5,850 · 27 km | 0% | 21% | 0.4 |
Crouy, Villers-Cotterêts and Fère-en-Tardenois are more wooded.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Protected areas. National-park cores, national parks’ outer areas, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites, from INPN. A national park’s core is strictly protected; its outer area and a regional park are charters between communes, not bans. Designations overlap, so the total counts each piece of land once.
- Woodland. Forest and woods as OpenStreetMap maps them, private woods included: woods nobody has mapped are missing, and a mapped wood isn’t necessarily open to walkers.
- Footpaths and hiking routes. Footpaths, bridleways, steps and tracks open on foot, then waymarked hiking routes (GR and others) measured apart. A route often follows a path or lane already counted: the two overlap. Paths nobody has mapped are missing.
- Green space nearby. The share of residents (INSEE’s 200 m grid) within 800 m, as the crow flies, of a mapped park, garden or wood edge. It measures nearness, not a way in. Guadeloupe and French Guiana have no grid: their pages say whether the town center is within 800 m.
- The coast. The straight-line distance from the town center to OpenStreetMap’s coastline, which follows the tide line into estuaries. A commune is on the coast when the coastline crosses its boundary.
- No grade yet. U.S. and UK towns have an Outdoors Grade; French towns don’t yet. Each figure is set beside the median of compared communes (those with an overall grade) in the département and in France, each figure its own median.
Questions about the outdoors in Soissons
Is Soissons in a national or regional nature park?
No. The nearest protected area is Massif forestier de Retz, 15 km from the town center.
Are there good walks in Soissons?
OpenStreetMap maps 34 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 2.7 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²).
How much of Soissons is woodland?
7.5% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Soissons near the sea?
No: the coast is 148 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Soissons?
April to September: long days, mild highs and little rain, from Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at the nearest suitable station.
Why is there no Outdoors Grade for French towns?
TownRatings grades the outdoors in the U.S. and the UK; the French figures are new and not graded yet. This page sets each one beside the median compared French town instead.
Sources: INPN / PatriNat (protected areas 2026, Natura 2000 2024) · © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL (paths, hiking routes, woods, coast, gardens) · INSEE, Filosofi 2021 200 m grid (residents) · IGN Admin Express (boundaries) · Météo-France normals 1991–2020 · Medians and percentiles: TownRatings, over compared French towns, updated November 4, 2026. Under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab).
Contains public sector information under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab): INSEE, DGFiP, the Interior Ministry’s statistics service (SSMSI), the Ministry of Education (DEPP), the Health Ministry’s statistics service (DREES) and the Housing Ministry (Carte des loyers). Commune boundaries: IGN Admin Express.