First pick
Cactus Park (parc floral et animalier)
Park or garden
4.4 ha1.5 km of path
20 minto walk all 1.5 km of path
1.5 km southfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: FHd · CC BY-SA 4.039%of the land protected
Outdoors in Bessan · protected areas, woods and footpaths
39% of Bessan’s land is protected for nature
3.4% of Bessan is mapped woodland. 17 km of footpaths cross Bessan (0.6 km per km²). France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
39%
of the commune’s land
Compared town: 0.1%
Woodland
3.4%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
17 km
0.6 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: Cactus Park (parc floral et animalier)
The sea
8.1 km
from the town center to the coast
Throughout this page, the Hérault 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 Bessan?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
Protected countryside39% of the land lies in protected areas.Near the seaThe coast is 8.1 km from the town center.Little mapped woodland3.4% of the land, against 13% for the median compared town.
What sets Bessan apart: its protected countryside, then the sea nearby. It is shorter on woodland.
Against French towns
How Bessan 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 areas39%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
85out of 100
Woodland3.4%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
16out of 100
Footpaths0.6 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
18out 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
Bessan has the 10th fewest footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (5,802 to 5,875 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Grand-Charmont (5.8 km per km²) to Lesparre-Médoc (0.1 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grand-Charmont Doubs | 5.8 | 39% | 0% | 420 km |
| 2 | Buc Yvelines | 5.6 | 45% | 0% | 148 km |
| 3 | Chambourcy Yvelines | 4.7 | 37% | 0% | 133 km |
| 4 | Saint-Arnoult-en-Yvelines Yvelines | 3.7 | 50% | 0.1% | 150 km |
| 5 | Algrange Moselle | 3.6 | 48% | 0% | 302 km |
| 6 | Boé Lot-et-Garonne | 3.2 | 2.6% | 4.3% | 135 km |
| 7 | Oberhausbergen Bas-Rhin | 3.1 | 6.2% | 0% | 446 km |
| 8 | Sillingy Haute-Savoie | 3.1 | 21% | 0% | 267 km |
| 9 | Douvrin Pas-de-Calais | 3.1 | 8.1% | 0% | 67 km |
| 10 | Ludres Meurthe-et-Moselle | 2.9 | 24% | 0% | 369 km |
| 11 | Seloncourt Doubs | 2.8 | 36% | 0% | 412 km |
| 12 | Riantec Morbihan | 2.6 | 27% | 7% | On it |
| 13 | Villabé Essonne | 2.6 | 22% | 0% | 179 km |
| 14 | Annezin Pas-de-Calais | 2.5 | 10% | 0% | 59 km |
| 15 | Garéoult Var | 2.2 | 30% | 51% | 26 km |
| 16 | Ventabren Bouches-du-Rhône | 1.9 | 8% | 45% | 20 km |
| 17 | Dol-de-Bretagne Ille-et-Vilaine | 1.9 | 6.8% | 0% | 6.4 km |
| 18 | Arradon Morbihan | 1.8 | 16% | 100% | On it |
| 19 | Nieul-sur-Mer Charente-Maritime | 1.8 | 0.2% | 4.5% | On it |
| 20 | Bédarieux Hérault | 1.6 | 23% | 100% | 41 km |
| 21 | Port-la-Nouvelle Aude | 1.6 | 5.2% | 82% | On it |
| 22 | La Wantzenau Bas-Rhin | 1.5 | 27% | 41% | 449 km |
| 23 | Cessy Ain | 1.5 | 5.4% | 0.2% | 304 km |
| 24 | Gond-Pontouvre Charente | 1.4 | 15% | 16% | 77 km |
| 25 | Lannemezan Hautes-Pyrénées | 1.2 | 26% | 0% | 160 km |
| 26 | Kembs Haut-Rhin | 1.1 | 50% | 63% | 431 km |
| 27 | Saint-Just-en-Chaussée Oise | 0.8 | 7.8% | 0% | 92 km |
| 28 | Roye Somme | 0.8 | 3.5% | 0% | 96 km |
| 29 | Saint-Martin-lez-Tatinghem Pas-de-Calais | 0.7 | 0.3% | 100% | 27 km |
| 30 | Viry Haute-Savoie | 0.7 | 30% | 0% | 284 km |
| 31 | Saint-Galmier Loire | 0.7 | 13% | 0% | 227 km |
| 32 | Bessan Hérault | 0.6 | 3.4% | 39% | 8.1 km |
| 33 | Mouroux Seine-et-Marne | 0.6 | 21% | 0% | 180 km |
| 34 | Le Poinçonnet Indre | 0.5 | 66% | 0% | 224 km |
| 35 | Briec Finistère | 0.5 | 6.1% | 0% | 14 km |
| 36 | Montmorillon Vienne | 0.4 | 11% | 28% | 152 km |
| 37 | Fismes Marne | 0.4 | 21% | 0% | 174 km |
| 38 | Le Barp Gironde | 0.2 | 67% | 100% | 21 km |
| 39 | Montpon-Ménestérol Dordogne | 0.2 | 37% | 12% | 59 km |
| 40 | Rabastens Tarn | 0.2 | 4.3% | 0.1% | 139 km |
| 41 | Lesparre-Médoc Gironde | 0.1 | 58% | 100% | 11 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 Bessan
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Cactus Park (parc floral et animalier) leads, at 4.4 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
Protected land in and around Bessan
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Natura 2000 site
Est et sud de Béziers
38% of the commune1 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Cours inférieur de l’Hérault
1.3% of the commune1.1 km from the center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area39%
Natura 2000 site39%
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.
39% of Bessan’s land is protected, more than in 85% of compared French towns; the median compared town in Hérault has 12%.
Source: INPN / PatriNat, protected areas July 2026, Natura 2000 December 2024; shares of IGN’s commune boundary.
Footpaths and woods
17 km of footpaths cross Bessan
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
17 km
0.6 km per km²
Hiking routes
0 km
waymarked: 0 km per km²
Woodland
3.4%
about 0.9 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
BessanHérault medianFrance median
Footpaths0.6
Hiking routes0
012 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
BessanHérault medianFrance median
Woodland3.4%
0%50%100%
That is less than in 82% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland less than in 84% 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 Bessan 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 Bessan: April to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Beziers-Vias, 7.2 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) | 9.3 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.7 | 15.4 | 15.1 | 13.9 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 9.0 |
| High (°C) | 12 | 13 | 16 | 19 | 22 | 27 | 30 | 29 | 25 | 21 | 16 | 13 |
| Rain (mm) | 48 | 52 | 41 | 51 | 42 | 26 | 14 | 26 | 62 | 84 | 69 | 41 |
July is the driest month (14 mm) and the warmest (highs of 30 °C). 84 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 22 nights a year. The climate in Bessan →
Gardens
A garden to visit in Bessan
Named gardens in the commune.
Cactus Park (parc floral et animalier)In Bessan
DirectionsSource: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) and Wikidata.
Neighbors
Next to Bessan
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
Saint-ThibéryFlorensacMontblancViasAgdeMarseillanBessan
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) | Coast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bessan | 39% | 3.4% | 0.6 | 8.1 km |
| Saint-Thibéry 3,132 · 3.8 km | 0.2% | 6.2% | 0.8 | 12 km |
| Florensac 5,254 · 4.6 km | 0.8% | 3.6% | 0.6 | 10 km |
| Montblanc 2,932 · 5.8 km | 0.1% | 18% | 1.5 | 12 km |
| Vias 5,952 · 5.9 km | 44% | 5.5% | 1.3 | On it |
| Agde 29,939 · 8.5 km | 22% | 4.4% | 3.2 | On it |
| Marseillan 8,414 · 8.9 km | 52% | 0.9% | 0.7 | 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 Bessan
Is Bessan in a national or regional nature park?
No, but 39% of its land is in a nature reserve or a Natura 2000 site.
Are there good walks in Bessan?
OpenStreetMap maps 17 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 0.6 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²).
How much of Bessan is woodland?
3.4% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Bessan near the sea?
No: the coast is 8.1 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Bessan?
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.