First pick
esterel academie 2023
Park or garden
13 ha
2.5 km north-eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Rüdiger Stehn from Kiel, Deutschland · CC BY-SA 2.061%of the land protected
Outdoors in Saint-Raphaël · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Saint-Raphaël is on the coast
Protected areas cover 61% of Saint-Raphaël’s land. 60% of Saint-Raphaël is mapped woodland. 344 km of footpaths cross Saint-Raphaël (3.8 km per km²). France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
61%
of the commune’s land
Compared town: 0.1%
Woodland
60%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
344 km
3.8 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
72 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Green space nearby
91%
of residents within 800 m of a park or wood
Compared town: 100%
The sea
On it
the commune touches the coast, 2 km from its center
Throughout this page, the Var 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 Saint-Raphaël?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
On the coastThe commune touches the sea; the coast is 2 km from its center.A wooded commune60% mapped woodland, more than in 95% of compared French towns, against 13% for the median compared town.Protected countryside61% of the land lies in protected areas.A place of footpaths3.8 km per km² of mapped footpath, against 1.7 km per km² for the median compared town.
What sets Saint-Raphaël apart: the sea, then its woods.
Against French towns
How Saint-Raphaël 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 areas61%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
88out of 100
Woodland60%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
95out of 100
Footpaths3.8 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
83out of 100
Hiking routes0.8 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
76out of 100
Green space nearby91%Share of residents within 800 m of a mapped park or wood
8out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Saint-Raphaël has the 18th fewest footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (35,173 to 39,207 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Saint-Martin-d'Hères (10.1 km per km²) to Saint-Benoît (0.4 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saint-Martin-d'Hères Isère | 10.1 | 14% | 0% | 203 km |
| 2 | Échirolles Isère | 9.9 | 11% | 0% | 200 km |
| 3 | Annemasse Haute-Savoie | 8.3 | 2.4% | 0% | 286 km |
| 4 | Châtenay-Malabry Hauts-de-Seine | 8.2 | 30% | 0% | 155 km |
| 5 | Franconville Val-d'Oise | 8.2 | 27% | 0% | 132 km |
| 6 | Marseille 1er Bouches-du-Rhône | 7.5 | 0.1% | 0% | On it |
| 7 | Paris 8e Paris | 6.9 | 0% | 0% | 146 km |
| 8 | Marseille 6e Bouches-du-Rhône | 6.8 | 1.2% | 0% | 1 km |
| 9 | Villeneuve-Saint-Georges Val-de-Marne | 6.6 | 4.3% | 0% | 164 km |
| 10 | Romainville Seine-Saint-Denis | 6 | 11% | 0% | 151 km |
| 11 | Palaiseau Essonne | 5.9 | 18% | 0% | 158 km |
| 12 | Creil Oise | 5.8 | 25% | 41% | 117 km |
| 13 | Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois Essonne | 5.6 | 9.5% | 0% | 169 km |
| 14 | Chartres Eure-et-Loir | 5.5 | 2.4% | 0% | 138 km |
| 15 | Marseille 7e Bouches-du-Rhône | 5.4 | 0.7% | 33% | On it |
| 16 | Vitrolles Bouches-du-Rhône | 4.9 | 8.9% | 33% | 9.7 km |
| 17 | Athis-Mons Essonne | 4.6 | 4% | 0% | 165 km |
| 18 | Meyzieu Rhône | 4.2 | 13% | 26% | 256 km |
| 19 | Oullins-Pierre-Bénite Rhône | 4.2 | 2.3% | 0% | 246 km |
| 20 | Mâcon Saône-et-Loire | 4.2 | 17% | 0% | 311 km |
| 21 | Châtillon Hauts-de-Seine | 4.2 | 0.2% | 0% | 152 km |
| 22 | Pontault-Combault Seine-et-Marne | 4.1 | 27% | 0% | 166 km |
| 23 | Six-Fours-les-Plages Var | 3.9 | 34% | 21% | On it |
| 24 | Saint-Raphaël Var | 3.8 | 60% | 61% | On it |
| 25 | Thonon-les-Bains Haute-Savoie | 3.8 | 17% | 8.5% | 299 km |
| 26 | Roanne Loire | 3.7 | 2.7% | 15% | 275 km |
| 27 | Le Perreux-sur-Marne Val-de-Marne | 3.4 | 1.2% | 0% | 157 km |
| 28 | Savigny-sur-Orge Essonne | 3.4 | 2.2% | 0% | 166 km |
| 29 | La Ciotat Bouches-du-Rhône | 3.4 | 20% | 27% | On it |
| 30 | Conflans-Sainte-Honorine Yvelines | 3.2 | 3.8% | 0% | 126 km |
| 31 | Tremblay-en-France Seine-Saint-Denis | 3 | 3.9% | 0% | 151 km |
| 32 | Joué-lès-Tours Indre-et-Loire | 2.5 | 15% | 0% | 179 km |
| 33 | Bezons Val-d'Oise | 2.4 | 1.9% | 0% | 137 km |
| 34 | Saint-Chamond Loire | 2.1 | 26% | 33% | 215 km |
| 35 | Villefranche-sur-Saône Rhône | 1.9 | 0.7% | 0% | 274 km |
| 36 | La Possession Réunion | 1.6 | 67% | 88% | On it |
| 37 | Haguenau Bas-Rhin | 1 | 81% | 76% | 436 km |
| 38 | Saint-Leu Réunion | 0.9 | 23% | 17% | On it |
| 39 | Sainte-Marie Réunion | 0.7 | 50% | 60% | On it |
| 40 | Saint-Joseph Réunion | 0.6 | 50% | 85% | On it |
| 41 | Saint-Benoît Réunion | 0.4 | 59% | 78% | 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 Saint-Raphaël
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: esterel academie 2023 leads, at 13 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Jardin Bonaparte
Park or garden
1.3 ha1.1 km of path
15 minto walk all 1.1 km of path
2.3 km south-westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Jardin Pierre Fernez
Park or garden
0.6 ha0.5 km of path
1.6 km north-westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Jardin public de l'Oratoire
Park or garden
0.4 ha0.1 km of path
6.4 km eastfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Close to home
9 in 10 residents of Saint-Raphaël live within 800 m of a park or wood
Each square is 1 resident in 100: in green, those within 800 m, as the crow flies, of a mapped park, garden or woodland edge (INSEE’s 200 m population grid against OpenStreetMap).
91% within 800 m8.9% further
Residents within 800 m of green space · share of residents
Saint-RaphaëlVar medianFrance median
Within 800 m91%
0%50%100%
About 3,000 residents live further away. The distance is a straight line to the edge of a mapped park or wood, not a walk to a gate, and a wood can be private.
Protected areas
61% of Saint-Raphaël 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
Perthus nature reserve
2.2% of the commune6.7 km from the center
Nature reserve
Mal-Infernet nature reserve
1.9% of the commune7.6 km from the center
Nature reserve
Suvières nature reserve
1.4% of the commune9.5 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Esterel
61% of the commune2.5 km from the center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area61%
Nature reserve5.5%
Natura 2000 site61%
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.
61% of Saint-Raphaël’s land is protected, more than in 88% of compared French towns; the median compared town in Var has 19%.
Source: INPN / PatriNat, protected areas July 2026, Natura 2000 December 2024; shares of IGN’s commune boundary.
Footpaths and woods
344 km of footpaths and 72 km of hiking routes cross Saint-Raphaël
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
344 km
3.8 km per km²
Hiking routes
72 km
waymarked: 0.8 km per km²
Woodland
60%
about 54.4 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
Saint-RaphaëlVar medianFrance median
Footpaths3.8
Hiking routes0.8
02.55 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
Saint-RaphaëlVar medianFrance median
Woodland60%
0%50%100%
That is more than in 83% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 95% of compared French towns. Hiking routes often follow paths and lanes already counted, so the two lengths overlap: don’t add them.
17 named hiking routes within 2 km
GR (long-distance)Other named walk
GR 4914 km
Via Aurélia, Col Notre-Dame - Le Muy23 km
Le sentier du Littoral – Saint-Raphaël11 km
Le Cap Roux (jaune)11 km
Gratadis (jaune)8.9 km
La Louve (jaune)8.8 km
Le Malpey (jaune)8.2 km
La Louve (bleu)7.3 km
Le Trayas (jaune)7 km
Le Cap Roux (bleu)6.3 km
Via Aurelia, Théoule - Col Notre-Dame5.4 km
Gratadis (bleu)5.3 km
+5 more
GR 49 passes within 2 km of Saint-Raphaël.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Saint-Raphaël: May to August
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Frejus, 4.3 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) | 9.3 | 10.4 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.7 | 15.4 | 15.1 | 14.0 | 12.4 | 10.9 | 9.6 | 9.0 |
| High (°C) | 13 | 14 | 16 | 19 | 22 | 26 | 29 | 29 | 26 | 22 | 17 | 14 |
| Rain (mm) | 70 | 52 | 50 | 70 | 44 | 32 | 16 | 27 | 81 | 116 | 133 | 97 |
July is the driest month (16 mm) and August the warmest (highs of 29 °C). 133 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 12 nights a year. The climate in Saint-Raphaël →
Neighbors
Next to Saint-Raphaël
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
FréjusPuget-sur-ArgensRoquebrune-sur-ArgensLes Adrets-de-l'EstérelBagnols-en-ForêtMandelieu-la-NapouleSaint-Raphaël
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) | Coast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Raphaël | 61% | 60% | 3.8 | On it |
| Fréjus 59,719 · 3.7 km | 33% | 48% | 3.1 | On it |
| Puget-sur-Argens 8,602 · 9.1 km | 54% | 9.8% | 1.9 | 6.5 km |
| Roquebrune-sur-Argens 15,442 · 11 km | 25% | 40% | 2.4 | On it |
| Les Adrets-de-l'Estérel 2,775 · 11 km | 0% | 80% | 1.6 | 9.2 km |
| Bagnols-en-Forêt 3,194 · 14 km | 36% | 67% | 2.5 | 14 km |
| Mandelieu-la-Napoule 21,640 · 17 km | 0.1% | 48% | 2.9 | 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 Saint-Raphaël
Is Saint-Raphaël in a national or regional nature park?
No, but 61% of its land is in a nature reserve or a Natura 2000 site.
Are there good walks in Saint-Raphaël?
OpenStreetMap maps 344 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 3.8 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 72 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Saint-Raphaël is woodland?
60% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Saint-Raphaël near the sea?
Yes: the commune touches the coast, 2 km from its center.
When is the best time for walking in Saint-Raphaël?
May to August: 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.