Photo: Xfigpower · CC BY-SA 3.0Benet lies inside Marais Poitevin Regional Nature Park
Protected areas cover 100% of Benet’s land. 9 km of footpaths cross Benet (0.2 km per km²). 0.7% of Benet is mapped woodland. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Throughout this page, the Vendée median and the France median are the median of compared communes (those with an overall grade), each figure its own median.
What kind of outdoors place is Benet?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
What sets Benet apart: the regional nature park around it. It is shorter on footpaths.
How Benet 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.
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Benet has the fewest footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (4,055 to 4,119 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Longeville-lès-Metz (7.3 km per km²) to Benet (0.2 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Longeville-lès-Metz Moselle | 7.3 | 9.3% | 0% | 327 km |
| 2 | Le Croisic Loire-Atlantique | 6.7 | 3.3% | 3.3% | On it |
| 3 | Seignosse Landes | 4.4 | 70% | 9.7% | On it |
| 4 | Le Revest-les-Eaux Var | 4 | 27% | 28% | 5.3 km |
| 5 | Bouxières-aux-Dames Meurthe-et-Moselle | 3.5 | 30% | 0% | 359 km |
| 6 | Leffrinckoucke Nord | 3.4 | 0.6% | 25% | On it |
| 7 | Saint-Georges-d'Oléron Charente-Maritime | 3.4 | 25% | 40% | On it |
| 8 | Juziers Yvelines | 2.6 | 38% | 66% | 117 km |
| 9 | Neufchâtel-Hardelot Pas-de-Calais | 2.5 | 27% | 100% | On it |
| 10 | Aramon Gard | 2.4 | 2.4% | 15% | 51 km |
| 11 | Saint-Cézaire-sur-Siagne Alpes-Maritimes | 2.2 | 70% | 100% | 18 km |
| 12 | Verson Calvados | 2 | 0.7% | 0% | 19 km |
| 13 | Monéteau Yonne | 1.9 | 37% | 0% | 293 km |
| 14 | Bouchain Nord | 1.8 | 18% | 0% | 105 km |
| 15 | Abscon Nord | 1.6 | 6.4% | 0% | 100 km |
| 16 | Issou Yvelines | 1.6 | 21% | 0% | 116 km |
| 17 | Saint-Rémy-sur-Avre Eure-et-Loir | 1.6 | 26% | 0.8% | 99 km |
| 18 | Baccarat Meurthe-et-Moselle | 1.6 | 39% | 17% | 412 km |
| 19 | Staffelfelden Haut-Rhin | 1.5 | 34% | 0% | 449 km |
| 20 | Loctudy Finistère | 1.4 | 1.4% | 0.3% | On it |
| 21 | Val d'Oingt Rhône | 1.3 | 20% | 0% | 266 km |
| 22 | Avermes Allier | 1.2 | 4.2% | 13% | 338 km |
| 23 | Survilliers Val-d'Oise | 1.1 | 23% | 71% | 135 km |
| 24 | Chaingy Loiret | 1 | 21% | 2.3% | 202 km |
| 25 | Pleslin-Trigavou Côtes-d'Armor | 0.9 | 15% | 100% | 5.1 km |
| 26 | Domfront en Poiraie Orne | 0.9 | 13% | 100% | 52 km |
| 27 | Caissargues Gard | 0.9 | 10% | 1.7% | 34 km |
| 28 | Val-Couesnon Ille-et-Vilaine | 0.7 | 7.2% | 1.5% | 19 km |
| 29 | Plélan-le-Grand Ille-et-Vilaine | 0.7 | 12% | 0.2% | 55 km |
| 30 | Saint-Lubin-des-Joncherets Eure-et-Loir | 0.7 | 19% | 0% | 97 km |
| 31 | Chevry-Cossigny Seine-et-Marne | 0.6 | 32% | 0% | 175 km |
| 32 | Eauze Gers | 0.6 | 24% | 9.8% | 117 km |
| 33 | Pusignan Rhône | 0.6 | 2.9% | 0% | 256 km |
| 34 | Allassac Corrèze | 0.4 | 21% | 2.2% | 164 km |
| 35 | Cuxac-d'Aude Aude | 0.4 | 4.6% | 14% | 17 km |
| 36 | Les Mées Alpes-de-Haute-Provence | 0.4 | 49% | 17% | 91 km |
| 37 | Trouy Cher | 0.4 | 2.7% | 0.1% | 280 km |
| 38 | Campbon Loire-Atlantique | 0.4 | 6.8% | 1.6% | 21 km |
| 39 | Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine Indre-et-Loire | 0.3 | 9.9% | 0% | 161 km |
| 40 | Saint-Joachim Loire-Atlantique | 0.2 | 0.1% | 100% | 8.8 km |
| 41 | Benet Vendée | 0.2 | 0.7% | 100% | 41 km |
Parks, woods, footpaths & countryside
Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is the commune’s boundary.
7 in 10 residents of Benet 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).
Residents within 800 m of green space · share of residents
About 1,400 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 land in and around Benet
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Marais Poitevin Regional Nature Park
Plaine de Niort Nord-Ouest
Marais poitevin
Marais Poitevin
Marais Poitevin
Share of the commune’s land
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.
100% of Benet’s land is protected, more than in 99% of compared French towns; the median compared town in Vendée has 0%. A regional nature park is a charter between communes to look after a landscape: farming, building and hunting go on inside it.
Source: INPN / PatriNat, protected areas July 2026, Natura 2000 December 2024; shares of IGN’s commune boundary.
9 km of footpaths and 6 km of hiking routes cross Benet
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.
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
That is less than in 97% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland less 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.
A named hiking route within 2 km
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
The best walking months in Benet: April to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Niort, 17 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) | 9.0 | 10.3 | 11.8 | 13.5 | 15.0 | 15.8 | 15.4 | 14.2 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.3 | 8.6 |
| High (°C) | 9 | 10 | 14 | 17 | 20 | 24 | 26 | 26 | 23 | 18 | 13 | 10 |
| Rain (mm) | 82 | 64 | 63 | 67 | 67 | 59 | 52 | 53 | 62 | 88 | 92 | 97 |
July is the driest month (52 mm) and August the warmest (highs of 26 °C). 97 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 35 nights a year. The climate in Benet →
Next to Benet
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
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 Benet
Is Benet in a national or regional nature park?
Yes: Benet lies in Marais Poitevin Regional Nature Park (100% of the commune).
Are there good walks in Benet?
OpenStreetMap maps 9 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 0.2 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 6 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Benet is woodland?
0.7% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Benet 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 Benet?
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.