First pick
Parc Ausone
Park or garden
13 ha2.3 km of path
30 minto walk all 2.3 km of path
Centralin the middle of Bruges
Allée Cavalière - Parc Ausone
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Sylvain Machefert · CC BY-SA 4.023%of the land protected
Outdoors in Bruges · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Bruges has more footpaths per km² than 8 in 10 French towns
53 km of footpaths cross Bruges (3.7 km per km²). Protected areas cover 23% of Bruges’ land. Mapped woodland covers 9.3% of Bruges. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
23%
of the commune’s land
Compared town: 0.1%
Woodland
9.3%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
53 km
3.7 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
7.3 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Parks & woods
14
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: Parc Ausone
The sea
14 km
from the town center to the coast
Throughout this page, the Gironde 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 Bruges?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
A place of footpaths3.7 km per km² of mapped footpath, against 1.7 km per km² for the median compared town.A nature reserveMarais de Bruges nature reserve covers 19% of the commune.
What sets Bruges apart: its footpaths, then its nature reserve.
Against French towns
How Bruges 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 areas23%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
80out of 100
Woodland9.3%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
38out of 100
Footpaths3.7 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
82out of 100
Hiking routes0.5 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
63out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Bruges has the 18th most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (19,425 to 20,690 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Villefontaine (9.1 km per km²) to Bressuire (0.6 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Villefontaine Isère | 9.1 | 21% | 1.7% | 241 km |
| 2 | Chaville Hauts-de-Seine | 8.3 | 46% | 0% | 148 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 | La Celle-Saint-Cloud Yvelines | 6.6 | 29% | 0% | 142 km |
| 7 | Maurepas Yvelines | 5.8 | 29% | 0.1% | 137 km |
| 8 | Chevilly-Larue Val-de-Marne | 5.8 | 3.8% | 0% | 158 km |
| 9 | Fougères Ille-et-Vilaine | 4.8 | 1.8% | 0% | 33 km |
| 10 | Paris 2e Paris | 4.6 | 0% | 0% | 148 km |
| 11 | Joinville-le-Pont Val-de-Marne | 4.4 | 1.7% | 0% | 158 km |
| 12 | Chilly-Mazarin Essonne | 4.2 | 2.8% | 0% | 163 km |
| 13 | Albertville Savoie | 4.1 | 47% | 0% | 228 km |
| 14 | Bouguenais Loire-Atlantique | 4 | 18% | 8.4% | 33 km |
| 15 | Mougins Alpes-Maritimes | 4 | 28% | 0% | 5.1 km |
| 16 | La Chapelle-sur-Erdre Loire-Atlantique | 3.8 | 20% | 1.9% | 43 km |
| 17 | Bruz Ille-et-Vilaine | 3.8 | 14% | 0% | 55 km |
| 18 | Bruges Gironde | 3.7 | 9.3% | 23% | 14 km |
| 19 | Ronchin Nord | 3.7 | 1.8% | 0% | 66 km |
| 20 | Forbach Moselle | 3.5 | 32% | 0% | 359 km |
| 21 | Croix Nord | 3.4 | 4.6% | 0% | 61 km |
| 22 | Cournon-d'Auvergne Puy-de-Dôme | 3.3 | 6.6% | 6.3% | 251 km |
| 23 | Denain Nord | 3.2 | 5.9% | 0.1% | 103 km |
| 24 | Cugnaux Haute-Garonne | 3.1 | 6.8% | 0% | 151 km |
| 25 | Le Creusot Saône-et-Loire | 3 | 23% | 0% | 361 km |
| 26 | Saint-Lô Manche | 2.9 | 5% | 0% | 26 km |
| 27 | Royan Charente-Maritime | 2.8 | 8.7% | 12% | On it |
| 28 | Grande-Synthe Nord | 2.8 | 5.3% | 7.4% | On it |
| 29 | Sarreguemines Moselle | 2.6 | 32% | 0.9% | 374 km |
| 30 | Beaune Côte-d'Or | 2.6 | 16% | 25% | 389 km |
| 31 | Lisieux Calvados | 2.4 | 1.9% | 0% | 26 km |
| 32 | Lannion Côtes-d'Armor | 2.3 | 15% | 5.9% | On it |
| 33 | La Crau Var | 2.3 | 23% | 1.8% | 6.1 km |
| 34 | Vence Alpes-Maritimes | 2.2 | 28% | 64% | 8.3 km |
| 35 | Cahors Lot | 1.9 | 42% | 0% | 172 km |
| 36 | Bourg-lès-Valence Drôme | 1.8 | 1.8% | 0% | 166 km |
| 37 | Pertuis Vaucluse | 1.5 | 18% | 100% | 40 km |
| 38 | Sélestat Bas-Rhin | 1 | 40% | 56% | 462 km |
| 39 | Mitry-Mory Seine-et-Marne | 1 | 4.8% | 0% | 151 km |
| 40 | L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue Vaucluse | 0.8 | 4.8% | 7.3% | 54 km |
| 41 | Bressuire Deux-Sèvres | 0.6 | 2.4% | 0% | 77 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 Bruges
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Parc Ausone leads, at 13 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Le Bois du Bouscat
Park or garden · 100 m outside the commune
5.3 ha1.6 km of path
20 minto walk all 1.6 km of path
1.7 km south-westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Parc Denis et Eugène Bülher
Park or garden · 180 m outside the commune
4 ha1.9 km of path
25 minto walk all 1.9 km of path
2.4 km eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Parc du Vigean
Park or garden · 170 m outside the commune
3.5 ha1.4 km of path
20 minto walk all 1.4 km of path
2.5 km westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Parc Treulon
Park or garden
3.5 ha1 km of path
15 minto walk all 1 km of path
1.3 km westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Ligne Verte Le Bouscat - Bruges - Secteur 2
Park or garden
1.4 ha0.7 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.7 km of path
1.6 km south-eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Ligne Verte Le Bouscat - Bruges - Secteur 5
Park or garden
1.9 ha0.4 km of path
0.8 km southfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Domaine Municipal du Grand Darnal
Park or garden
2.5 ha
0.7 km northfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
All 14 named parks, gardens and woods
Parc AusonePark or garden · 13 ha · 2.3 km of path
DirectionsLe Bois du BouscatPark or garden · 5.3 ha · 1.6 km of path · just outside
DirectionsParc Denis et Eugène BülherPark or garden · 4 ha · 1.9 km of path · just outside
DirectionsParc du VigeanPark or garden · 3.5 ha · 1.4 km of path · just outside
DirectionsParc TreulonPark or garden · 3.5 ha · 1 km of path
DirectionsLigne Verte Le Bouscat - Bruges - Secteur 2Park or garden · 1.4 ha · 0.7 km of path
DirectionsLigne Verte Le Bouscat - Bruges - Secteur 5Park or garden · 1.9 ha · 0.4 km of path
DirectionsDomaine Municipal du Grand DarnalPark or garden · 2.5 ha
DirectionsLigne Verte Le Bouscat - Bruges - Secteur 4Park or garden · 1.3 ha · 0.4 km of path
DirectionsLigne Verte Le Bouscat - Bruges - Secteur 3Park or garden · 0.9 ha · 0.4 km of path
DirectionsLigne Verte Le Bouscat - Bruges - Secteur 6Park or garden · 1.5 ha
DirectionsLigne Verte Le Bouscat - Bruges - Secteur 1Park or garden · 0.7 ha · 0.3 km of path · just outside
DirectionsJardin du clown ChocolatPark or garden · 0.7 ha · 0.2 km of path · just outside
DirectionsJardin d'ArnstadtPark or garden · 0.6 ha · just outside
DirectionsSource: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
23% of Bruges lies in protected areas
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Nature reserve
Marais de Bruges nature reserve
19% of the commune1.7 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Marais de Bruges
18% of the commune1.7 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Marais de Bruges, Blanquefort et Parampuyre
18% of the commune1.8 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Réseau hydrographique des Jalles de Saint-Médard et d’Eysines
4% of the commune2.1 km from the center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area23%
Nature reserve19%
Natura 2000 site23%
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.
23% of Bruges’ land is protected, more than in 80% of compared French towns; the median compared town in Gironde has 7.7%.
Source: INPN / PatriNat, protected areas July 2026, Natura 2000 December 2024; shares of IGN’s commune boundary.
Footpaths and woods
Footpaths and woods in Bruges
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
53 km
3.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
7.3 km
waymarked: 0.5 km per km²
Woodland
9.3%
about 1.3 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
BrugesGironde medianFrance median
Footpaths3.7
Hiking routes0.5
02.55 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
BrugesGironde medianFrance median
Woodland9.3%
0%50%100%
That is more than in 82% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland less than in 62% 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 Bruges is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.
2 named hiking routes within 2 km
Other named walk
Via Sancti Martini - Camino de Zaragoza / Chemin de Saragosse12 km
Étape 6 • Chemin d'Amadour11 km
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Bruges: April to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Talence, 7.8 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 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.8 | 15.6 | 15.3 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.8 |
| High (°C) | 11 | 13 | 16 | 19 | 22 | 26 | 28 | 28 | 25 | 20 | 14 | 11 |
| Rain (mm) | 87 | 67 | 62 | 74 | 68 | 68 | 46 | 53 | 72 | 74 | 109 | 105 |
July is the driest month (46 mm) and August the warmest (highs of 28 °C). 109 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 26 nights a year. The climate in Bruges →
Neighbors
Next to Bruges
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
Le BouscatEysinesBordeauxBlanquefortMérignacLe HaillanBruges
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) | Coast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bruges | 23% | 9.3% | 3.7 | 14 km |
| Le Bouscat 25,081 · 1.6 km | 0% | 1.4% | 3 | 16 km |
| Eysines 24,825 · 3.4 km | 3.1% | 7.6% | 3.9 | 15 km |
| Bordeaux 267,991 · 4.1 km | 10% | 1.2% | 4.9 | 18 km |
| Blanquefort 17,215 · 5 km | 7.6% | 15% | 1.7 | 11 km |
| Mérignac 78,090 · 6 km | 0% | 15% | 3.1 | 20 km |
| Le Haillan 11,392 · 6 km | 3.4% | 18% | 3.2 | 16 km |
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 Bruges
Is Bruges in a national or regional nature park?
No, but 23% of its land is in a nature reserve or a Natura 2000 site.
Are there good walks in Bruges?
OpenStreetMap maps 53 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 3.7 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 7 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Bruges is woodland?
9.3% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Bruges near the sea?
No: the coast is 14 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Bruges?
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 9, 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.