First pick
Forêt de Touffou
Wood or forest
228 ha22 km of path
4 h 55 minto walk all 22 km of path
4.7 km southfrom the center
Rue de la Barilotière
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Koreller · CC BY-SA 4.019%woodland
Outdoors in Vertou · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Almost every home in Vertou is within 800 m of a park or wood
120 km of footpaths cross Vertou (3.1 km per km²). No protected area reaches Vertou; the nearest, Estuaire de la Loire (Natura 2000), is 2.7 km from the town center. Waymarked hiking routes add up to 23 km in Vertou. 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: Estuaire de la Loire, 2.7 km
Woodland
19%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
120 km
3.1 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
23 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Parks & woods
8
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: Forêt de Touffou
The sea
41 km
from the town center to the coast
Throughout this page, the Loire-Atlantique 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 Vertou?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
A place of footpaths3.1 km per km² of mapped footpath, against 1.7 km per km² for the median compared town.Protected land nearbyEstuaire de la Loire (Natura 2000) is 2.7 km from the town center.
What sets Vertou apart: its footpaths, then protected land close by.
Against French towns
How Vertou 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
49out of 100
Woodland19%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
62out of 100
Footpaths3.1 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
76out of 100
Hiking routes0.6 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
67out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Vertou has the 16th fewest footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (25,115 to 27,406 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Paris 4e (12.9 km per km²) to Sainte-Suzanne (0.4 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paris 4e Paris | 12.9 | 0% | 0% | 150 km |
| 2 | Les Ulis Essonne | 10.9 | 13% | 0.2% | 156 km |
| 3 | Villeneuve-la-Garenne Hauts-de-Seine | 9.8 | 4.2% | 0% | 141 km |
| 4 | Vichy Allier | 8.8 | 1.3% | 12% | 290 km |
| 5 | Grigny Essonne | 8.7 | 7.2% | 0% | 170 km |
| 6 | Élancourt Yvelines | 8.2 | 26% | 3.5% | 138 km |
| 7 | Cormeilles-en-Parisis Val-d'Oise | 7.2 | 14% | 0% | 133 km |
| 8 | Gradignan Gironde | 6.8 | 17% | 0% | 26 km |
| 9 | Sannois Val-d'Oise | 6 | 17% | 0% | 135 km |
| 10 | Armentières Nord | 5.9 | 3.8% | 0% | 50 km |
| 11 | Cenon Gironde | 5.4 | 8.9% | 0% | 18 km |
| 12 | Brunoy Essonne | 5.2 | 18% | 0% | 170 km |
| 13 | Eaubonne Val-d'Oise | 5 | 1.9% | 0% | 134 km |
| 14 | Alençon Orne | 4.8 | 2.3% | 5.5% | 97 km |
| 15 | Limeil-Brévannes Val-de-Marne | 4.8 | 29% | 0% | 165 km |
| 16 | Lambersart Nord | 4.7 | 3.4% | 0% | 59 km |
| 17 | Lormont Gironde | 4.7 | 12% | 7.4% | 16 km |
| 18 | Castelnau-le-Lez Hérault | 4.6 | 4.5% | 1.2% | 11 km |
| 19 | Miramas Bouches-du-Rhône | 4 | 9.2% | 5.7% | 18 km |
| 20 | Béthune Pas-de-Calais | 4 | 4% | 0% | 60 km |
| 21 | Hénin-Beaumont Pas-de-Calais | 3.8 | 5.6% | 0% | 80 km |
| 22 | La Garde Var | 3.8 | 7.6% | 25% | On it |
| 23 | Biarritz Pyrénées-Atlantiques | 3.5 | 11% | 3.5% | On it |
| 24 | Le Grand-Quevilly Seine-Maritime | 3.4 | 4.9% | 0.1% | 50 km |
| 25 | Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône Val-d'Oise | 3.2 | 7.4% | 0% | 123 km |
| 26 | Vertou Loire-Atlantique | 3.1 | 19% | 0% | 41 km |
| 27 | Sens Yonne | 3.1 | 4.6% | 0% | 249 km |
| 28 | Brétigny-sur-Orge Essonne | 3 | 9.5% | 0% | 169 km |
| 29 | Aurillac Cantal | 2.7 | 2.9% | 0.2% | 195 km |
| 30 | Vernon Eure | 2.5 | 56% | 3.5% | 90 km |
| 31 | Lunel Hérault | 2.2 | 0.4% | 0.6% | 14 km |
| 32 | Villeparisis Seine-et-Marne | 1.9 | 13% | 0% | 153 km |
| 33 | Saintes Charente-Maritime | 1.9 | 12% | 9.3% | 26 km |
| 34 | Les Pavillons-sous-Bois Seine-Saint-Denis | 1.9 | 0% | 0% | 151 km |
| 35 | Saumur Maine-et-Loire | 1.5 | 15% | 100% | 133 km |
| 36 | Muret Haute-Garonne | 1.5 | 10% | 3.2% | 150 km |
| 37 | Cavaillon Vaucluse | 1.1 | 3.2% | 100% | 45 km |
| 38 | Étampes Essonne | 1 | 12% | 0% | 172 km |
| 39 | Bergerac Dordogne | 1 | 14% | 1.9% | 86 km |
| 40 | Sèvremoine Maine-et-Loire | 0.6 | 5.3% | 0% | 70 km |
| 41 | Sainte-Suzanne Réunion | 0.4 | 31% | 49% | On it |
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 Vertou
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Forêt de Touffou leads, at 228 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Bois des Gripots
Wood or forest · 10 m outside the commune
33 ha4 km of path
55 minto walk all 4 km of path
2.3 km northfrom the center
Chemin de l'Ouche des Landes
Directionsto a point inside
Base de loisir du Loiry
Park or garden
12 ha2.4 km of path
30 minto walk all 2.4 km of path
0.8 km southfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Parc de la Sèvre
Park or garden
2.6 ha1.2 km of path
15 minto walk all 1.2 km of path
Centralin the middle of Vertou
Parc de la Sèvre
Directionsto a point inside
Bois des Poyaux
Wood or forest · 180 m outside the commune
9.4 ha0.4 km of path
3.6 km westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Parc de la cale de Beautour
Park or garden
1.3 ha
2.6 km north-westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Square du Vieux Parc de Sèvre
Park or garden · 70 m outside the commune
1 ha
3.3 km north-westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Espace Vert de la Picherie
Park or garden
0.6 ha0.2 km of path
1.5 km westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
Estuaire de la Loire is the nearest protected area, 2.7 km away
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Natura 2000 site
Estuaire de la Loire
2.7 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
120 km of footpaths and 23 km of hiking routes cross Vertou
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
120 km
3.1 km per km²
Hiking routes
23 km
waymarked: 0.6 km per km²
Woodland
19%
about 7.4 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
VertouLoire-Atlantique medianFrance median
Footpaths3.1
Hiking routes0.6
024 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
VertouLoire-Atlantique medianFrance median
Woodland19%
0%50%100%
That is more than in 76% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more 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 Vertou is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.
4 named hiking routes within 2 km
Other named walk
Boucle du Vignoble24 km
Pays Nantais17 km
Entre Sèvre et Côteaux9.2 km
Le Bois Joly4.2 km
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Vertou: April to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Haie-Fouassiere, 7.3 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) | 8.9 | 10.2 | 11.8 | 13.5 | 15.1 | 15.9 | 15.5 | 14.2 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.3 | 8.5 |
| High (°C) | 9 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 21 | 24 | 26 | 26 | 23 | 18 | 13 | 10 |
| Rain (mm) | 97 | 72 | 62 | 63 | 59 | 48 | 45 | 50 | 68 | 91 | 98 | 107 |
July is the driest month (45 mm) and August the warmest (highs of 26 °C). 107 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 35 nights a year. The climate in Vertou →
Neighbors
Next to Vertou
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
Saint-Sébastien-sur-LoireLes SorinièresBasse-GoulaineHaute-GoulaineRezéLa Haie-FouassièreVertou
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) | Coast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vertou | 0% | 19% | 3.1 | 41 km |
| Saint-Sébastien-sur-Loire 28,596 · 3.8 km | 23% | 9.9% | 4.5 | 41 km |
| Les Sorinières 9,275 · 4 km | 0% | 9.8% | 2 | 37 km |
| Basse-Goulaine 9,679 · 4.2 km | 14% | 14% | 2.5 | 44 km |
| Haute-Goulaine 6,095 · 5.2 km | 31% | 12% | 1.6 | 46 km |
| Rezé 43,556 · 5.4 km | 3.6% | 7% | 6.6 | 37 km |
| La Haie-Fouassière 4,775 · 6.3 km | 0% | 12% | 1.7 | 47 km |
Saint-Sébastien-sur-Loire, Basse-Goulaine and Haute-Goulaine have at least twice as much protected land.
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 Vertou
Is Vertou in a national or regional nature park?
No. The nearest protected area is Estuaire de la Loire, 2.7 km from the town center.
Are there good walks in Vertou?
OpenStreetMap maps 120 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); 23 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Vertou is woodland?
19% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Vertou near the sea?
No: the coast is 41 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Vertou?
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.