First pick
Bois de la Tourtillère
Wood or forest · 240 m outside the commune
9.9 ha
1.5 km southfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Jean-Pierre Bazard Jpbazard · CC BY-SA 3.07.3%of the land protected
Outdoors in Saint-Xandre · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Almost every home in Saint-Xandre is within 800 m of a park or wood
1.2% of Saint-Xandre is mapped woodland. 11 km of footpaths cross Saint-Xandre (0.9 km per km²). Protected areas cover 7.3% of Saint-Xandre’s land. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
7.3%
of the commune’s land
Compared town: 0.1%
Woodland
1.2%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
11 km
0.9 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
2
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: Bois de la Tourtillère
The sea
5.2 km
from the town center to the coast
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.
What kind of place
What kind of outdoors place is Saint-Xandre?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
Near the seaThe coast is 5.2 km from the town center.Little mapped woodland1.2% of the land, against 13% for the median compared town.
What sets Saint-Xandre apart: the sea nearby. It is shorter on woodland.
Against French towns
How Saint-Xandre 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 areas7.3%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
68out of 100
Woodland1.2%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
7out of 100
Footpaths0.9 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
27out 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
Saint-Xandre has the 11th fewest footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (5,641 to 5,716 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Montbonnot-Saint-Martin (4.6 km per km²) to Missillac (0 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Montbonnot-Saint-Martin Isère | 4.6 | 9.5% | 0% | 205 km |
| 2 | Carry-le-Rouet Bouches-du-Rhône | 4.3 | 19% | 59% | On it |
| 3 | Cancale Ille-et-Vilaine | 3.8 | 10% | 22% | On it |
| 4 | Mourenx Pyrénées-Atlantiques | 3.6 | 20% | 9.2% | 73 km |
| 5 | L'Isle-d'Espagnac Charente | 3.4 | 13% | 0% | 78 km |
| 6 | Revin Ardennes | 3.3 | 88% | 100% | 188 km |
| 7 | Santes Nord | 3 | 11% | 0% | 62 km |
| 8 | Lèves Eure-et-Loir | 2.7 | 24% | 0% | 135 km |
| 9 | Saint-Georges-d'Orques Hérault | 2.7 | 0.3% | 0% | 14 km |
| 10 | Longueau Somme | 2.6 | 0.4% | 4% | 60 km |
| 11 | Épernon Eure-et-Loir | 2.4 | 16% | 0% | 133 km |
| 12 | Saleilles Pyrénées-Orientales | 2.3 | 1.4% | 0% | 7.1 km |
| 13 | Parmain Val-d'Oise | 2.1 | 45% | 100% | 120 km |
| 14 | La Roquette-sur-Siagne Alpes-Maritimes | 2.1 | 22% | 0% | 4.6 km |
| 15 | Dainville Pas-de-Calais | 2 | 4.1% | 0% | 75 km |
| 16 | Rocbaron Var | 1.8 | 53% | 0% | 24 km |
| 17 | Altkirch Haut-Rhin | 1.6 | 23% | 0% | 427 km |
| 18 | Saint-Privat-des-Vieux Gard | 1.4 | 24% | 0% | 65 km |
| 19 | Caumont-sur-Durance Vaucluse | 1.4 | 16% | 18% | 50 km |
| 20 | Montrond-les-Bains Loire | 1.2 | 3.1% | 17% | 231 km |
| 21 | Mondelange Moselle | 1.2 | 2% | 0% | 316 km |
| 22 | Lannilis Finistère | 1.2 | 5.5% | 14% | On it |
| 23 | Marcheprime Gironde | 1.2 | 83% | 100% | 14 km |
| 24 | Marolles-en-Hurepoix Essonne | 1.2 | 14% | 0% | 172 km |
| 25 | Pouzauges Vendée | 1.1 | 8.4% | 0% | 57 km |
| 26 | Saint-Michel-Chef-Chef Loire-Atlantique | 1.1 | 5.6% | 0.1% | On it |
| 27 | Cugand-la-Bernardière Vendée | 1 | 7.5% | 0% | 55 km |
| 28 | Sausheim Haut-Rhin | 1 | 30% | 25% | 445 km |
| 29 | Montval-sur-Loir Sarthe | 1 | 5.9% | 0% | 168 km |
| 30 | Sigean Aude | 0.9 | 6.3% | 98% | 7.1 km |
| 31 | Saint-Xandre Charente-Maritime | 0.9 | 1.2% | 7.3% | 5.2 km |
| 32 | Aimargues Gard | 0.7 | 1.6% | 19% | 17 km |
| 33 | La Crèche Deux-Sèvres | 0.6 | 3.7% | 0% | 63 km |
| 34 | Gan Pyrénées-Atlantiques | 0.5 | 38% | 4.7% | 97 km |
| 35 | Tournus Saône-et-Loire | 0.4 | 9.6% | 6.5% | 340 km |
| 36 | Bédarrides Vaucluse | 0.3 | 5.1% | 6.2% | 65 km |
| 37 | Valdahon Doubs | 0.3 | 28% | 0% | 385 km |
| 38 | Rives-du-Loir-en-Anjou Maine-et-Loire | 0.3 | 17% | 26% | 131 km |
| 39 | Valdallière Calvados | 0.2 | 2% | 12% | 52 km |
| 40 | Saint-Martin-la-Pallu Vienne | 0.2 | 8.6% | 11% | 117 km |
| 41 | Missillac Loire-Atlantique | 0 | 19% | 100% | 16 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 Saint-Xandre
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Bois de la Tourtillère leads, at 9.9 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
7.3% of Saint-Xandre lies in protected areas
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Regional nature park
Marais Poitevin Regional Nature Park
2.1 km from the town center
Natura 2000 site
Marais poitevin
7.3% of the commune2.7 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Marais Poitevin
7.3% of the commune2.7 km from the center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area7.3%
Regional nature park0.1%
Natura 2000 site7.3%
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.
7.3% of Saint-Xandre’s land is protected, more than in 68% of compared French towns; the median compared town in Charente-Maritime has 12%. A regional nature park is a charter between communes to look after a landscape: farming, building and hunting go on inside it.
Source: INPN / PatriNat, protected areas July 2026, Natura 2000 December 2024; shares of IGN’s commune boundary.
Footpaths and woods
11 km of footpaths cross Saint-Xandre
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
11 km
0.9 km per km²
Hiking routes
0 km
waymarked: 0 km per km²
Woodland
1.2%
about 0.2 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
Saint-XandreCharente-Maritime medianFrance median
Footpaths0.9
Hiking routes0
01.53 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
Saint-XandreCharente-Maritime medianFrance median
Woodland1.2%
0%50%100%
That is less than in 73% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland less than in 93% of compared French towns. Hiking routes often follow paths and lanes already counted, so the two lengths overlap: don’t add them. 98% of Saint-Xandre’s 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 Saint-Xandre: April to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at La Rochelle-Ile de Re, 7.7 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) | 9.0 | 10.3 | 11.8 | 13.5 | 15.0 | 15.8 | 15.4 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.4 | 8.6 |
| High (°C) | 10 | 11 | 14 | 16 | 20 | 23 | 25 | 25 | 23 | 18 | 13 | 10 |
| Rain (mm) | 76 | 56 | 57 | 61 | 51 | 39 | 40 | 46 | 60 | 84 | 95 | 90 |
June is the driest month (39 mm) and August the warmest (highs of 25 °C). 95 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 19 nights a year. The climate in Saint-Xandre →
Neighbors
Next to Saint-Xandre
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
PuilboreauDompierre-sur-MerMarsillyLagordPérignyNieul-sur-MerSaint-Xandre
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) | Coast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Xandre | 7.3% | 1.2% | 0.9 | 5.2 km |
| Puilboreau 6,765 · 2.7 km | 0% | 1.5% | 3.5 | 3.8 km |
| Dompierre-sur-Mer 6,315 · 3.4 km | 0% | 6.2% | 2.8 | 7 km |
| Marsilly 3,176 · 3.9 km | 0.3% | 0.3% | 1.2 | On it |
| Lagord 7,802 · 4.9 km | 0% | 3% | 4.3 | 2.8 km |
| Périgny 8,877 · 5.2 km | 0% | 3.4% | 4.1 | 4.1 km |
| Nieul-sur-Mer 5,811 · 5.3 km | 4.5% | 0.2% | 1.8 | On it |
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 Saint-Xandre
Is Saint-Xandre in a national or regional nature park?
No, but 7.3% of its land is in a nature reserve or a Natura 2000 site.
Are there good walks in Saint-Xandre?
OpenStreetMap maps 11 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 0.9 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²).
How much of Saint-Xandre is woodland?
1.2% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Saint-Xandre near the sea?
No: the coast is 5.2 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Saint-Xandre?
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.