Photo: Marmontel · CC BY 2.0

18%woodland

Outdoors in Bergues · protected areas, woods and footpaths

Bergues has more footpaths per km² than 9 in 10 French towns

Footpaths add up to 16 km across Bergues (12 km per km²). Bergues has 3 km of waymarked hiking routes. No protected area reaches Bergues; the nearest, Dunes de la plaine maritime flamande (Natura 2000), is 9.3 km from the town center. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.

18%woodland 16km of footpaths 8.9 kmto the coast

Protected areas

of the commune’s land

Nearest: Dunes de la plaine maritime flamande, 9.3 km

Woodland

18%

of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap

Compared town: 13%

Footpaths

16 km

12 km per km²

Compared town: 1.7 km per km²

Hiking routes

3.4 km

waymarked, GR and others

Compared town: 0.3 km per km²

Parks & woods

named, in or within 400 m of the commune

First: Bois des Forts

The sea

8.9 km

from the town center to the coast

Throughout this page, the Nord 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 Bergues?

Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.

A place of footpaths12 km per km² of mapped footpath, against 1.7 km per km² for the median compared town.Near the seaThe coast is 8.9 km from the town center.Protected land nearbyDunes de la plaine maritime flamande (Natura 2000) is 9.3 km from the town center.

What sets Bergues apart: its footpaths, then the sea nearby.

Against French towns

How Bergues 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

Woodland18%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap

59out of 100

Footpaths12 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune

100out of 100

Hiking routes2.6 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune

98out of 100

Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.

Towns its size

Bergues has the most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size

The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (3,508 to 3,543 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.

Bergues 12

Dun-sur-Auron

06.513 km per km²

From Bergues (12 km per km²) to Dun-sur-Auron (0.1 km per km²).

Every town in the comparison

	Town	Paths (km/km²)	Woodland	Protected	Coast
1	Bergues Nord	12	18%	0%	8.9 km
2	Deauville Calvados	5.5	1.1%	0%	On it
3	Danjoutin Territoire de Belfort	3.3	33%	0%	429 km
4	Quissac Gard	2.8	46%	0%	39 km
5	Mérignies Nord	2.6	7.7%	0%	76 km
6	Bellignat Ain	2.5	65%	0%	311 km
7	Hérimoncourt Doubs	2.5	57%	0%	409 km
8	Amélie-les-Bains-Palalda Pyrénées-Orientales	2.4	82%	1.8%	32 km
9	La Forêt-Fouesnant Finistère	2.3	7.6%	0%	On it
10	La Bernerie-en-Retz Loire-Atlantique	2.1	2.2%	0.8%	On it
11	Rubelles Seine-et-Marne	2	19%	0%	190 km
12	Crémieu Isère	1.9	36%	24%	254 km
13	Montalieu-Vercieu Isère	1.9	25%	4.2%	266 km
14	Portiragnes Hérault	1.9	5%	80%	On it
15	Sorède Pyrénées-Orientales	1.6	68%	43%	7.9 km
16	Lécousse Ille-et-Vilaine	1.5	1.4%	0%	31 km
17	Fargues-Saint-Hilaire Gironde	1.4	23%	1.7%	24 km
18	Cerny Essonne	1.2	41%	100%	179 km
19	Saint-Didier-en-Velay Haute-Loire	1.1	35%	0%	194 km
20	Pleumeleuc Ille-et-Vilaine	0.9	1.9%	0%	35 km
21	Vertaizon Puy-de-Dôme	0.9	9%	2.1%	253 km
22	Béligneux Ain	0.9	14%	6.3%	268 km
23	Marssac-sur-Tarn Tarn	0.8	4.6%	0%	124 km
24	Carcès Var	0.7	51%	25%	39 km
25	Rieumes Haute-Garonne	0.7	22%	0%	164 km
26	Vrigne aux Bois Ardennes	0.7	60%	46%	215 km
27	Varangéville Meurthe-et-Moselle	0.7	12%	0%	377 km
28	Saint-Soupplets Seine-et-Marne	0.7	9.4%	0%	151 km
29	Le Breuil Saône-et-Loire	0.6	17%	0%	362 km
30	Savigneux Loire	0.6	3%	66%	228 km
31	Bellac Haute-Vienne	0.6	20%	0.4%	158 km
32	Saint-Maur Indre	0.5	33%	2.1%	220 km
33	Gallardon Eure-et-Loir	0.5	8.3%	0%	140 km
34	Capestang Hérault	0.5	0.9%	18%	20 km
35	Montmirail Marne	0.4	27%	0%	198 km
36	Gramat Lot	0.4	39%	100%	185 km
37	Espira-de-l'Agly Pyrénées-Orientales	0.4	11%	3.9%	17 km
38	Sallertaine Vendée	0.2	3.4%	44%	13 km
39	Isigny-sur-Mer Calvados	0.2	1.4%	75%	5 km
40	Weyersheim Bas-Rhin	0.2	14%	0%	444 km
41	Dun-sur-Auron Cher	0.1	5.4%	17%	291 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 Bergues

Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Bois des Forts leads, at 111 ha. Directions go to a point inside.

First pick

Bois des Forts

Wood or forest · 330 m outside the commune

111 ha11.4 km of path

2 h 30 minto walk all 11.4 km of path

2.7 km north-westfrom the center

Allée de la PépinièrePiste des ComptoisAllée des Mésanges+5 paths

Directionsto a point inside

Jardins du Groenberg

Park or garden

3.3 ha1.1 km of path

15 minto walk all 1.1 km of path

Centralin the middle of Bergues

Directionsto a point inside

Parc des Pommiers

Park or garden · 340 m outside the commune

3.3 ha0.8 km of path

10 minto walk all 0.8 km of path

1.1 km north-eastfrom the center

Directionsto a point inside

Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.

Protected areas

Dunes de la plaine maritime flamande is the nearest protected area, 9.3 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

Dunes de la plaine maritime flamande

9.3 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 Bergues

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

16 km

12 km per km²

Hiking routes

3.4 km

waymarked: 2.6 km per km²

Woodland

18%

about 0.2 km² of mapped woods

Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap

BerguesNord medianFrance median

Footpaths12

Hiking routes2.6

0714 km per km²

Share of the land · mapped woods and forest

BerguesNord medianFrance median

Woodland18%

0%50%100%

That is more than in 99% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 59% 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 Bergues is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.

2 named hiking routes within 2 km

GR (long-distance)

E29.3 km

GR 1209.3 km

2 GR routes pass within 2 km of Bergues: E2 and GR 120.

When to get out

The best walking months in Bergues: May to September

Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Dunkerque, 12 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)	8.4	9.9	11.7	13.8	15.5	16.5	16.1	14.5	12.5	10.6	8.8	7.9
High (°C)	8	8	10	13	16	19	21	22	19	16	11	8
Rain (mm)	54	45	42	37	46	55	59	64	65	73	80	73

April is the driest month (37 mm) and August the warmest (highs of 22 °C). 80 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 17 nights a year. The climate in Bergues →

Neighbors

Next to Bergues

The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.

HoymilleTéteghem-Coudekerque-VillageCappelle-la-GrandeCoudekerque-BrancheDunkerqueLeffrinckouckeBergues

Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+

Town	Protected	Woodland	Paths (km/km²)	Coast
Bergues	0%	18%	12	8.9 km
Hoymille 3,259 · 1.1 km	0%	1.1%	1.6	9 km
Téteghem-Coudekerque-Village 8,247 · 5.6 km	0%	9.1%	2.8	4.1 km
Cappelle-la-Grande 7,839 · 5.7 km	0%	0.2%	2	4.6 km
Coudekerque-Branche 20,787 · 6.7 km	0%	14%	5.1	2.2 km
Dunkerque 86,263 · 8.6 km	1.5%	1.8%	4.8	On it
Leffrinckoucke 4,078 · 9.1 km	25%	0.6%	3.4	On it

Leffrinckoucke has 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 Bergues

Is Bergues in a national or regional nature park?

No. The nearest protected area is Dunes de la plaine maritime flamande, 9.3 km from the town center.

Are there good walks in Bergues?

OpenStreetMap maps 16 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 12 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 3 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.

How much of Bergues is woodland?

18% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.

Is Bergues near the sea?

No: the coast is 8.9 km from the town center, as the crow flies.

When is the best time for walking in Bergues?

May 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.