First pick
Bois de la Roche
Wood or forest
162 ha12.5 km of path
2 h 45 minto walk all 12.5 km of path
2.8 km northfrom the center
Chemin du Ménada
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Cobber17 · CC BY-SA 3.012%of the land protected
Outdoors in Royan · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Royan is on the coast
Footpaths add up to 54 km across Royan (2.8 km per km²). 8.7% of Royan is mapped woodland. Royan has 3 km of waymarked hiking routes. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
12%
of the commune’s land
Compared town: 0.1%
Woodland
8.7%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
54 km
2.8 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
3.5 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Parks & woods
8
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: Bois de la Roche
The sea
On it
the commune touches the coast, 1 km from its center
Throughout this page, the Charente-Maritime 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 Royan 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 areas12%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
74out of 100
Woodland8.7%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
36out of 100
Footpaths2.8 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
71out of 100
Hiking routes0.2 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
36out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Royan has the 20th fewest footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (18,619 to 20,244 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Meylan (9.2 km per km²) to Mauges-sur-Loire (0.5 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Meylan Isère | 9.2 | 18% | 12% | 205 km |
| 2 | Villefontaine Isère | 9.1 | 21% | 1.7% | 241 km |
| 3 | Gentilly Val-de-Marne | 8 | 1.8% | 0% | 153 km |
| 4 | Le Mée-sur-Seine Seine-et-Marne | 7.9 | 34% | 0% | 190 km |
| 5 | Mont-Saint-Aignan Seine-Maritime | 7.3 | 12% | 0% | 50 km |
| 6 | Juvisy-sur-Orge Essonne | 6.4 | 1.3% | 0% | 166 km |
| 7 | Moulins Allier | 6.1 | 3.3% | 11% | 338 km |
| 8 | Chevilly-Larue Val-de-Marne | 5.8 | 3.8% | 0% | 158 km |
| 9 | Chennevières-sur-Marne Val-de-Marne | 5.4 | 6.2% | 0% | 163 km |
| 10 | Paris 2e Paris | 4.6 | 0% | 0% | 148 km |
| 11 | Faches-Thumesnil Nord | 4.4 | 0.2% | 0% | 66 km |
| 12 | Albertville Savoie | 4.1 | 47% | 0% | 228 km |
| 13 | Mougins Alpes-Maritimes | 4 | 28% | 0% | 5.1 km |
| 14 | Cesson-Sévigné Ille-et-Vilaine | 3.9 | 5.2% | 0% | 50 km |
| 15 | Bruz Ille-et-Vilaine | 3.8 | 14% | 0% | 55 km |
| 16 | Bruges Gironde | 3.7 | 9.3% | 23% | 14 km |
| 17 | Ronchin Nord | 3.7 | 1.8% | 0% | 66 km |
| 18 | Cournon-d'Auvergne Puy-de-Dôme | 3.3 | 6.6% | 6.3% | 251 km |
| 19 | Ploemeur Morbihan | 3.3 | 15% | 4.9% | On it |
| 20 | Saint-Dié-des-Vosges Vosges | 3.2 | 58% | 1.9% | 436 km |
| 21 | Saint-Lô Manche | 2.9 | 5% | 0% | 26 km |
| 22 | Royan Charente-Maritime | 2.8 | 8.7% | 12% | On it |
| 23 | Grande-Synthe Nord | 2.8 | 5.3% | 7.4% | On it |
| 24 | Louviers Eure | 2.8 | 55% | 0.1% | 64 km |
| 25 | Sarreguemines Moselle | 2.6 | 32% | 0.9% | 374 km |
| 26 | Lisieux Calvados | 2.4 | 1.9% | 0% | 26 km |
| 27 | La Crau Var | 2.3 | 23% | 1.8% | 6.1 km |
| 28 | Saint-Fons Rhône | 2.3 | 4.1% | 0% | 246 km |
| 29 | Vence Alpes-Maritimes | 2.2 | 28% | 64% | 8.3 km |
| 30 | Vitré Ille-et-Vilaine | 2.2 | 4.2% | 0% | 58 km |
| 31 | Cahors Lot | 1.9 | 42% | 0% | 172 km |
| 32 | Bourg-lès-Valence Drôme | 1.8 | 1.8% | 0% | 166 km |
| 33 | Sorgues Vaucluse | 1.7 | 9.7% | 22% | 62 km |
| 34 | Pertuis Vaucluse | 1.5 | 18% | 100% | 40 km |
| 35 | Brie-Comte-Robert Seine-et-Marne | 1.3 | 4.7% | 0% | 176 km |
| 36 | Riom Puy-de-Dôme | 1.1 | 2.4% | 1.3% | 269 km |
| 37 | Sélestat Bas-Rhin | 1 | 40% | 56% | 462 km |
| 38 | Pornic Loire-Atlantique | 1 | 4.4% | 0% | On it |
| 39 | L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue Vaucluse | 0.8 | 4.8% | 7.3% | 54 km |
| 40 | Bressuire Deux-Sèvres | 0.6 | 2.4% | 0% | 77 km |
| 41 | Mauges-sur-Loire Maine-et-Loire | 0.5 | 4.7% | 11% | 88 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 Royan
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Bois de la Roche leads, at 162 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Parc d'Enlias
Park or garden · 300 m outside the commune
3.8 ha1 km of path
15 minto walk all 1 km of path
3.3 km south-eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Le Parc
Wood or forest
3 ha0.8 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.8 km of path
2.3 km south-eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Square John Kennedy
Park or garden
1 ha0.5 km of path
5 minto walk all 0.5 km of path
1.2 km southfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Le Bois des Coteaux
Wood or forest · 30 m outside the commune
4.6 ha
3.2 km south-eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Jardin Guillaume Gillet
Park or garden
0.7 ha0.3 km of path
0.9 km south-westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
12% of Royan lies in protected areas
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Natura 2000 site
Estuaire de la Gironde : marais de la rive nord
12% of the commune0.9 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Marais et falaises des côteaux de Gironde
12% of the commune0.9 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Estuaire de la Gironde
1.3 km from the town center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area12%
Natura 2000 site12%
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.
12% of Royan’s land is protected, more than in 74% of compared French towns; the median compared town in Charente-Maritime has 12%.
Source: INPN / PatriNat, protected areas July 2026, Natura 2000 December 2024; shares of IGN’s commune boundary.
Footpaths and woods
54 km of footpaths cross Royan
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
54 km
2.8 km per km²
Hiking routes
3.5 km
waymarked: 0.2 km per km²
Woodland
8.7%
about 1.7 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
RoyanCharente-Maritime medianFrance median
Footpaths2.8
Hiking routes0.2
024 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
RoyanCharente-Maritime medianFrance median
Woodland8.7%
0%50%100%
That is more than in 71% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland less than in 64% of compared French towns. Hiking routes often follow paths and lanes already counted, so the two lengths overlap: don’t add them. Every home in Royan is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Royan: April to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Royan-Medis, 4.1 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) | 9.1 | 10.3 | 11.8 | 13.5 | 14.9 | 15.7 | 15.4 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.4 | 8.7 |
| High (°C) | 10 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 20 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 23 | 19 | 14 | 10 |
| Rain (mm) | 87 | 60 | 60 | 69 | 63 | 54 | 43 | 50 | 71 | 89 | 107 | 103 |
July is the driest month (43 mm) and August the warmest (highs of 26 °C). 107 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 24 nights a year. The climate in Royan →
Gardens
A garden to visit in Royan
Named gardens in the commune.
Planet ExoticaIn Royan
DirectionsSource: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) and Wikidata.
Neighbors
Next to Royan
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
Vaux-sur-MerSaint-Georges-de-DidonneSaint-Sulpice-de-RoyanSaint-Palais-sur-MerMédisBreuilletRoyan
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) | Coast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royan | 12% | 8.7% | 2.8 | On it |
| Vaux-sur-Mer 4,013 · 2.8 km | 0.2% | 10% | 5.3 | On it |
| Saint-Georges-de-Didonne 5,092 · 4 km | 37% | 19% | 2.3 | On it |
| Saint-Sulpice-de-Royan 3,446 · 4.4 km | 16% | 16% | 1.6 | On it |
| Saint-Palais-sur-Mer 3,840 · 4.7 km | 55% | 58% | 5.1 | On it |
| Médis 3,157 · 5.2 km | 0.6% | 9.4% | 0.2 | 5.1 km |
| Breuillet 3,058 · 7.2 km | 13% | 20% | 0.7 | On it |
Saint-Georges-de-Didonne and Saint-Palais-sur-Mer have at least twice as much protected land. Saint-Palais-sur-Mer and Breuillet 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 Royan
Is Royan in a national or regional nature park?
No, but 12% of its land is in a nature reserve or a Natura 2000 site.
Are there good walks in Royan?
OpenStreetMap maps 54 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 2.8 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 3 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Royan is woodland?
8.7% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Royan near the sea?
Yes: the commune touches the coast, 1 km from its center.
When is the best time for walking in Royan?
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 8, 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.