First pick
Parc des Cendrières
Park or garden
2.3 ha0.9 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.9 km of path
Centralin the middle of Limours
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Rémih · CC BY-SA 4.022%woodland
Outdoors in Limours · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Almost every home in Limours is within 800 m of a park or wood
Waymarked hiking routes add up to 15 km in Limours. 44 km of footpaths cross Limours (3.1 km per km²). Mapped woodland covers 22% of Limours. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
0.1%
of the commune’s land
Nearest: Haute Vallée de Chevreuse Regional Nature Park, 1.1 km
Woodland
22%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
44 km
3.1 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
15 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Parks & woods
4
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: Parc des Cendrières
Throughout this page, the Essonne 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 Limours?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
On waymarked routes15 km of GR and other hiking routes cross the commune.A place of footpaths3.1 km per km² of mapped footpath, against 1.7 km per km² for the median compared town.Protected land nearbyHaute Vallée de Chevreuse Regional Nature Park is 1.1 km from the town center.
What sets Limours apart: its hiking routes, then its footpaths.
Against French towns
How Limours 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 areas0.1%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
51out of 100
Woodland22%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
65out of 100
Footpaths3.1 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
76out of 100
Hiking routes1 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
84out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Limours has the 9th most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (6,471 to 6,563 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From La Montagne (5.6 km per km²) to Le Mené (0.2 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | La Montagne Loire-Atlantique | 5.6 | 18% | 9.4% | 28 km |
| 2 | Champigneulles Meurthe-et-Moselle | 4.7 | 77% | 0% | 361 km |
| 3 | La Mulatière Rhône | 4 | 9.1% | 0% | 248 km |
| 4 | Vezin-le-Coquet Ille-et-Vilaine | 3.9 | 3.6% | 0% | 45 km |
| 5 | Marange-Silvange Moselle | 3.4 | 52% | 0% | 317 km |
| 6 | Saint-Priest-en-Jarez Loire | 3.3 | 0.6% | 0% | 214 km |
| 7 | Longpont-sur-Orge Essonne | 3.2 | 15% | 0% | 166 km |
| 8 | Villers-Saint-Paul Oise | 3.2 | 16% | 0% | 115 km |
| 9 | Limours Essonne | 3.1 | 22% | 0.1% | 153 km |
| 10 | Saint-Alban Haute-Garonne | 3.1 | 0% | 0% | 152 km |
| 11 | Cormontreuil Marne | 2.9 | 6.1% | 1.5% | 202 km |
| 12 | L'Arbresle Rhône | 2.7 | 4.5% | 0% | 256 km |
| 13 | Calvisson Gard | 2.7 | 27% | 0% | 27 km |
| 14 | Ondres Landes | 2.5 | 59% | 5.2% | On it |
| 15 | La Bouilladisse Bouches-du-Rhône | 2.4 | 40% | 0% | 21 km |
| 16 | Marignier Haute-Savoie | 2.3 | 56% | 3.3% | 268 km |
| 17 | Changé Mayenne | 2.3 | 2.7% | 0% | 73 km |
| 18 | Neuves-Maisons Meurthe-et-Moselle | 2.2 | 5.8% | 0% | 365 km |
| 19 | Eaunes Haute-Garonne | 1.9 | 15% | 0% | 146 km |
| 20 | Gouesnou Finistère | 1.7 | 7.4% | 0% | 6.2 km |
| 21 | Grézieu-la-Varenne Rhône | 1.7 | 9.3% | 0% | 248 km |
| 22 | Ploudalmézeau Finistère | 1.7 | 3.4% | 4.3% | On it |
| 23 | Bon-Encontre Lot-et-Garonne | 1.6 | 8.4% | 0% | 134 km |
| 24 | Le Perray-en-Yvelines Yvelines | 1.6 | 33% | 100% | 137 km |
| 25 | Saint-Pathus Seine-et-Marne | 1.4 | 1.7% | 0% | 147 km |
| 26 | Saint-Jean-Bonnefonds Loire | 1.4 | 12% | 0% | 212 km |
| 27 | Champagne-sur-Seine Seine-et-Marne | 1.1 | 66% | 0% | 210 km |
| 28 | Rives Isère | 1.1 | 13% | 0% | 217 km |
| 29 | Eu Seine-Maritime | 1 | 24% | 0.6% | 3.3 km |
| 30 | La Chevrolière Loire-Atlantique | 0.7 | 16% | 11% | 29 km |
| 31 | Ambert Puy-de-Dôme | 0.7 | 44% | 100% | 223 km |
| 32 | Brioude Haute-Loire | 0.7 | 7.1% | 1.6% | 200 km |
| 33 | Chatuzange-le-Goubet Drôme | 0.6 | 11% | 0% | 175 km |
| 34 | Arès Gironde | 0.6 | 87% | 1.3% | On it |
| 35 | Gueugnon Saône-et-Loire | 0.5 | 17% | 0% | 338 km |
| 36 | Sainte-Rose Réunion | 0.5 | 48% | 100% | On it |
| 37 | Estaires Nord | 0.4 | 0.7% | 0% | 50 km |
| 38 | Condom Gers | 0.4 | 11% | 0% | 136 km |
| 39 | Sainte-Livrade-sur-Lot Lot-et-Garonne | 0.3 | 2.4% | 0.2% | 115 km |
| 40 | Lezoux Puy-de-Dôme | 0.2 | 19% | 5.3% | 258 km |
| 41 | Le Mené Côtes-d'Armor | 0.2 | 12% | 0% | 25 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 Limours
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Parc des Cendrières leads, at 2.3 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Square Jean-Moulin
Park or garden
0.6 ha0.4 km of path
Centralin the middle of Limours
Directionsto a point inside
Arboretum Jean Guittet zones B, C et D
Park or garden
1.2 ha
Centralin the middle of Limours
Directionsto a point inside
Arboretum Jean Guittet zone E et F
Park or garden
0.7 ha
Centralin the middle of Limours
Directionsto a point inside
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
Haute Vallée de Chevreuse Regional Nature Park is the nearest protected area, 1.1 km away
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Regional nature park
Haute Vallée de Chevreuse Regional Nature Park
1.1 km from the town center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area0.1%
Regional nature park0.1%
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.
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
44 km of footpaths and 15 km of hiking routes cross Limours
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
44 km
3.1 km per km²
Hiking routes
15 km
waymarked: 1 km per km²
Woodland
22%
about 3.1 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
LimoursEssonne medianFrance median
Footpaths3.1
Hiking routes1
02.55 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
LimoursEssonne medianFrance median
Woodland22%
0%50%100%
That is more than in 76% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 65% 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 Limours is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.
4 named hiking routes within 2 km
GR (long-distance)Other named walk
GR655 OT11 km
GR 11D11 km
Grand Tour de Paris, Franchard - Villiers-Saint-Frédéric12 km
Réserve naturelle et Cité Féodale1.3 km
2 GR routes pass within 2 km of Limours: GR655 OT and GR 11D.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Limours: April and June to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Gometz-Le-Chat., 5.7 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) | 8.7 | 10.1 | 11.7 | 13.6 | 15.2 | 16.1 | 15.7 | 14.3 | 12.5 | 10.7 | 9.1 | 8.3 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 19 | 23 | 25 | 25 | 21 | 16 | 10 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 60 | 54 | 54 | 52 | 73 | 61 | 61 | 60 | 53 | 65 | 67 | 77 |
April is the driest month (52 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 25 °C). 77 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 46 nights a year. The climate in Limours →
Neighbors
Next to Limours
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
Forges-les-BainsBriis-sous-ForgesGometz-le-ChâtelGif-sur-YvetteSaint-Rémy-lès-ChevreuseChevreuseLimours
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Limours | 0.1% | 22% | 3.1 |
| Forges-les-Bains 4,241 · 1.9 km | 100% | 36% | 1.6 |
| Briis-sous-Forges 3,342 · 4.3 km | 0.1% | 22% | 3.5 |
| Gometz-le-Châtel 2,630 · 6.4 km | 0.2% | 24% | 2.5 |
| Gif-sur-Yvette 22,544 · 6.6 km | 60% | 28% | 7.8 |
| Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse 7,747 · 7.2 km | 100% | 48% | 4.2 |
| Chevreuse 5,502 · 7.5 km | 100% | 50% | 2.9 |
Forges-les-Bains, Gif-sur-Yvette and Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse have at least twice as much protected land. Forges-les-Bains, Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse and Chevreuse 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 Limours
Is Limours in a national or regional nature park?
No. The nearest protected area is Haute Vallée de Chevreuse Regional Nature Park, 1.1 km from the town center.
Are there good walks in Limours?
OpenStreetMap maps 44 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 3.1 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 15 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Limours is woodland?
22% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Limours near the sea?
No: the coast is 153 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Limours?
April and June 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.