First pick
Parc de la Greffière
Park or garden · 10 m outside the commune
6.8 ha1.3 km of path
15 minto walk all 1.3 km of path
2.8 km southfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Poudou99 · CC BY 3.04.4%woodland
Outdoors in Viry-Châtillon · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Viry-Châtillon has more footpaths per km² than 9 in 10 French towns
Footpaths add up to 33 km across Viry-Châtillon (5.4 km per km²). 4.4% of Viry-Châtillon is mapped woodland. No protected area reaches Viry-Châtillon; the nearest, Sites Géologiques du Département de l’Essonne nature reserve, is 9.2 km from the town center. 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: Sites Géologiques du Département de l’Essonne nature reserve, 9.2 km
Woodland
4.4%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
33 km
5.4 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
1.9 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Parks & woods
11
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: Parc de la Greffière
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 Viry-Châtillon?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
A place of footpaths5.4 km per km² of mapped footpath, against 1.7 km per km² for the median compared town.Protected land nearbySites Géologiques du Département de l’Essonne nature reserve is 9.2 km from the town center.
What sets Viry-Châtillon apart: its footpaths, then protected land close by.
Against French towns
How Viry-Châtillon 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
Woodland4.4%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
20out of 100
Footpaths5.4 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
92out of 100
Hiking routes0.3 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
47out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Viry-Châtillon has the 17th most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (29,489 to 32,179 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Cachan (11.5 km per km²) to Carpentras (1.1 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cachan Val-de-Marne | 11.5 | 1.2% | 0% | 155 km |
| 2 | Guyancourt Yvelines | 8.9 | 22% | 0% | 145 km |
| 3 | Lyon 2e Rhône | 8.3 | 0% | 0% | 251 km |
| 4 | Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy Meurthe-et-Moselle | 8.1 | 18% | 0% | 367 km |
| 5 | Saint-Cloud Hauts-de-Seine | 7.8 | 27% | 0% | 145 km |
| 6 | Tournefeuille Haute-Garonne | 7.5 | 9.4% | 0% | 153 km |
| 7 | L'Haÿ-les-Roses Val-de-Marne | 7.5 | 4% | 0% | 156 km |
| 8 | Villiers-le-Bel Val-d'Oise | 7 | 5.1% | 0% | 138 km |
| 9 | Ermont Val-d'Oise | 6.9 | 0% | 0% | 133 km |
| 10 | Savigny-le-Temple Seine-et-Marne | 6.5 | 15% | 0% | 183 km |
| 11 | Paris 3e Paris | 6.4 | 0.1% | 0% | 149 km |
| 12 | Le Chesnay-Rocquencourt Yvelines | 6.3 | 21% | 0% | 144 km |
| 13 | Pontoise Val-d'Oise | 6.2 | 11% | 0.5% | 121 km |
| 14 | Fresnes Val-de-Marne | 5.7 | 3.6% | 0% | 158 km |
| 15 | Malakoff Hauts-de-Seine | 5.6 | 0% | 0% | 151 km |
| 16 | Plaisir Yvelines | 5.5 | 26% | 0% | 135 km |
| 17 | Viry-Châtillon Essonne | 5.4 | 4.4% | 0% | 168 km |
| 18 | Bègles Gironde | 5.3 | 5.5% | 8.9% | 23 km |
| 19 | Liévin Pas-de-Calais | 4.7 | 5.2% | 0% | 74 km |
| 20 | Draveil Essonne | 4.6 | 47% | 0% | 168 km |
| 21 | Ris-Orangis Essonne | 4.6 | 7.7% | 0% | 171 km |
| 22 | Chatou Yvelines | 4.5 | 0.3% | 0% | 138 km |
| 23 | Vigneux-sur-Seine Essonne | 4.3 | 21% | 0% | 167 km |
| 24 | Décines-Charpieu Rhône | 4.2 | 6.3% | 8.4% | 255 km |
| 25 | Rillieux-la-Pape Rhône | 3.5 | 16% | 6.1% | 259 km |
| 26 | Menton Alpes-Maritimes | 3.5 | 32% | 20% | On it |
| 27 | Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray Seine-Maritime | 3.4 | 28% | 0.3% | 53 km |
| 28 | Agde Hérault | 3.2 | 4.4% | 22% | On it |
| 29 | Cambrai Nord | 2.8 | 4.5% | 0% | 111 km |
| 30 | Herblay-sur-Seine Val-d'Oise | 2.7 | 10% | 0% | 128 km |
| 31 | Dreux Eure-et-Loir | 2.7 | 24% | 2.4% | 107 km |
| 32 | Bourgoin-Jallieu Isère | 2.7 | 13% | 0% | 240 km |
| 33 | Vienne Isère | 2.6 | 30% | 0.1% | 227 km |
| 34 | La Garenne-Colombes Hauts-de-Seine | 2.2 | 0% | 0% | 141 km |
| 35 | Saint-Laurent-du-Var Alpes-Maritimes | 2.2 | 6.3% | 8.8% | On it |
| 36 | Mont-de-Marsan Landes | 2.1 | 33% | 4.9% | 70 km |
| 37 | Goussainville Val-d'Oise | 1.7 | 2.8% | 0% | 139 km |
| 38 | Châtellerault Vienne | 1.6 | 4.3% | 0% | 140 km |
| 39 | Orange Vaucluse | 1.5 | 8% | 2.3% | 76 km |
| 40 | Villemomble Seine-Saint-Denis | 1.4 | 0.7% | 0% | 154 km |
| 41 | Carpentras Vaucluse | 1.1 | 6% | 64% | 69 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 Viry-Châtillon
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Parc de la Greffière leads, at 6.8 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Parc de la Mairie
Park or garden · 390 m outside the commune
3.4 ha0.8 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.8 km of path
2.3 km northfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Parc du pré aux bœufs
Park or garden
3.7 ha0.5 km of path
5 minto walk all 0.5 km of path
1.6 km northfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Parc André Leblanc
Park or garden
1.8 ha1.2 km of path
15 minto walk all 1.2 km of path
Centralin the middle of Viry-Châtillon
Théâtre de Verdure
Directionsto a point inside
Parc du PiedeFer
Park or garden
1.4 ha0.9 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.9 km of path
Centralin the middle of Viry-Châtillon
Directionsto a point inside
Parc
Park or garden · 50 m outside the commune
1.9 ha0.2 km of path
1.2 km westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Parc Argeliès
Park or garden · 320 m outside the commune
0.6 ha0.2 km of path
2.1 km north-eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Jardin de la biodiversité
Park or garden
0.5 ha0.2 km of path
Centralin the middle of Viry-Châtillon
Directionsto a point inside
All 11 named parks, gardens and woods
Parc de la GreffièrePark or garden · 6.8 ha · 1.3 km of path · just outside
DirectionsParc de la MairiePark or garden · 3.4 ha · 0.8 km of path · just outside
DirectionsParc du pré aux bœufsPark or garden · 3.7 ha · 0.5 km of path
DirectionsParc André LeblancPark or garden · 1.8 ha · 1.2 km of path
DirectionsParc du PiedeFerPark or garden · 1.4 ha · 0.9 km of path
DirectionsParcPark or garden · 1.9 ha · 0.2 km of path · just outside
DirectionsParc ArgelièsPark or garden · 0.6 ha · 0.2 km of path · just outside
DirectionsJardin de la biodiversitéPark or garden · 0.5 ha · 0.2 km of path
DirectionsLe parc de SeinePark or garden · 0.3 ha · 0.3 km of path · just outside
DirectionsSquare Ibrahim DiarraPark or garden · 0.2 ha · 0.2 km of path
DirectionsPlace du 11 NovembrePark or garden · 0.3 ha · just outside
DirectionsSource: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
Sites Géologiques du Département de l’Essonne nature reserve is the nearest protected area, 9.2 km away
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Nature reserve
Sites Géologiques du Département de l’Essonne nature reserve
9.2 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
Footpaths and woods in Viry-Châtillon
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
33 km
5.4 km per km²
Hiking routes
1.9 km
waymarked: 0.3 km per km²
Woodland
4.4%
about 0.3 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
Viry-ChâtillonEssonne medianFrance median
Footpaths5.4
Hiking routes0.3
03.57 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
Viry-ChâtillonEssonne medianFrance median
Woodland4.4%
0%50%100%
That is more than in 92% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland less than in 80% 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 Viry-Châtillon 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
GR 27.6 km
Du Val d'Yerres à l'Étampois13 km
Promenade de l'Orge11 km
De la Bièvre à l'Orge2.5 km
GR 2 passes within 2 km of Viry-Châtillon.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Viry-Châtillon: April to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Orly, 5.6 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 | 15.8 | 14.3 | 12.5 | 10.7 | 9.1 | 8.3 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 9 | 13 | 16 | 20 | 23 | 26 | 26 | 22 | 16 | 11 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 47 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 63 | 56 | 53 | 58 | 47 | 53 | 53 | 60 |
February is the driest month (43 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 26 °C). 63 mm of rain falls in May, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 36 nights a year. The climate in Viry-Châtillon →
Neighbors
Next to Viry-Châtillon
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
Morsang-sur-OrgeSavigny-sur-OrgeGrignyJuvisy-sur-OrgeVillemoisson-sur-OrgeDraveilViry-Châtillon
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Viry-Châtillon | 0% | 4.4% | 5.4 |
| Morsang-sur-Orge 21,667 · 2 km | 0% | 3.4% | 3.8 |
| Savigny-sur-Orge 37,601 · 2.1 km | 0% | 2.2% | 3.4 |
| Grigny 26,842 · 2.1 km | 0% | 7.2% | 8.7 |
| Juvisy-sur-Orge 19,292 · 2.2 km | 0% | 1.3% | 6.4 |
| Villemoisson-sur-Orge 7,332 · 3.1 km | 0% | 13% | 4.3 |
| Draveil 30,098 · 3.3 km | 0% | 47% | 4.6 |
Draveil is 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 Viry-Châtillon
Is Viry-Châtillon in a national or regional nature park?
No. The nearest protected area is Sites Géologiques du Département de l’Essonne nature reserve, 9.2 km from the town center.
Are there good walks in Viry-Châtillon?
OpenStreetMap maps 33 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 5.4 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 2 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Viry-Châtillon is woodland?
4.4% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Viry-Châtillon near the sea?
No: the coast is 168 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Viry-Châtillon?
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.