First pick
Bois du Veillon
Wood or forest · 170 m outside the commune
68 ha5.9 km of path
1 h 20 minto walk all 5.9 km of path
5.9 km westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: mwanasimba from La Réunion · CC BY-SA 2.043%of the land protected
Outdoors in Jard-sur-Mer · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Jard-sur-Mer is on the coast
Protected areas cover 43% of Jard-sur-Mer’s land. Jard-sur-Mer has 12 km of waymarked hiking routes. Mapped woodland covers 21% of Jard-sur-Mer. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
43%
of the commune’s land
Compared town: 0.1%
Woodland
21%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
35 km
2.1 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
12 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Green space nearby
93%
of residents within 800 m of a park or wood
Compared town: 100%
The sea
On it
the commune touches the coast, 1.1 km from its center
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 place
What kind of outdoors place is Jard-sur-Mer?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
On the coastThe commune touches the sea; the coast is 1.1 km from its center.Protected countryside43% of the land lies in protected areas.
What sets Jard-sur-Mer apart: the sea, then its protected countryside.
Against French towns
How Jard-sur-Mer 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 areas43%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
85out of 100
Woodland21%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
65out of 100
Footpaths2.1 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
60out of 100
Hiking routes0.7 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
72out of 100
Green space nearby93%Share of residents within 800 m of a mapped park or wood
11out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Jard-sur-Mer has the 8th most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (3,210 to 3,261 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Saint-Quay-Portrieux (4.1 km per km²) to Albias (0 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saint-Quay-Portrieux Côtes-d'Armor | 4.1 | 0% | 0% | On it |
| 2 | L'Île-Rousse Haute-Corse | 3.6 | 0% | 0% | On it |
| 3 | Volx Alpes-de-Haute-Provence | 3.1 | 37% | 100% | 71 km |
| 4 | Les Noës-près-Troyes Aube | 3.1 | 0% | 0% | 270 km |
| 5 | Lespinasse Haute-Garonne | 2.8 | 1.6% | 0% | 156 km |
| 6 | Ville-di-Pietrabugno Haute-Corse | 2.7 | 25% | 0% | On it |
| 7 | Bousse Moselle | 2.6 | 33% | 0% | 316 km |
| 8 | Jard-sur-Mer Vendée | 2.1 | 21% | 43% | On it |
| 9 | Ormoy Essonne | 2 | 25% | 0% | 180 km |
| 10 | Magland Haute-Savoie | 1.9 | 44% | 19% | 257 km |
| 11 | Fretin Nord | 1.8 | 3.1% | 0% | 72 km |
| 12 | Montagny Rhône | 1.7 | 25% | 0% | 235 km |
| 13 | Bréviandes Aube | 1.4 | 26% | 0% | 277 km |
| 14 | Rochecorbon Indre-et-Loire | 1.3 | 21% | 7.3% | 190 km |
| 15 | Saint-Geniès-de-Malgoirès Gard | 1.3 | 32% | 0% | 44 km |
| 16 | Saint-Parres-aux-Tertres Aube | 1.2 | 8.7% | 0.6% | 274 km |
| 17 | Veynes Hautes-Alpes | 1.1 | 51% | 63% | 137 km |
| 18 | Romilly-sur-Andelle Eure | 1.1 | 39% | 5.8% | 66 km |
| 19 | Magnac-sur-Touvre Charente | 1 | 22% | 3.1% | 82 km |
| 20 | Haveluy Nord | 0.8 | 4.2% | 99% | 101 km |
| 21 | Boves Somme | 0.8 | 24% | 8.8% | 63 km |
| 22 | Offranville Seine-Maritime | 0.8 | 4.5% | 0% | 5.3 km |
| 23 | Moussy-le-Neuf Seine-et-Marne | 0.8 | 26% | 0.2% | 141 km |
| 24 | Frévent Pas-de-Calais | 0.7 | 13% | 0% | 44 km |
| 25 | Anould Vosges | 0.6 | 49% | 0.1% | 443 km |
| 26 | Flixecourt Somme | 0.6 | 26% | 0% | 34 km |
| 27 | Bram Aude | 0.6 | 3.5% | 0% | 81 km |
| 28 | Lansargues Hérault | 0.5 | 0.6% | 27% | 10 km |
| 29 | Carentoir Morbihan | 0.5 | 20% | 0% | 40 km |
| 30 | Bavay Nord | 0.4 | 4% | 100% | 121 km |
| 31 | La Tour-du-Crieu Ariège | 0.4 | 0% | 0% | 114 km |
| 32 | Montendre Charente-Maritime | 0.4 | 17% | 15% | 23 km |
| 33 | Azay-sur-Cher Indre-et-Loire | 0.3 | 15% | 0% | 189 km |
| 34 | Brou Eure-et-Loir | 0.3 | 2.2% | 0% | 149 km |
| 35 | Vonnas Ain | 0.3 | 9.9% | 0% | 304 km |
| 36 | Aix-Villemaur-Pâlis Aube | 0.3 | 26% | 0.9% | 263 km |
| 37 | Illiers-Combray Eure-et-Loir | 0.3 | 8.1% | 0% | 142 km |
| 38 | Picauville Manche | 0.2 | 2.9% | 100% | 15 km |
| 39 | Verneuil-l'Étang Seine-et-Marne | 0.2 | 9.8% | 0% | 189 km |
| 40 | Argentonnay Deux-Sèvres | 0.1 | 5.2% | 4.8% | 91 km |
| 41 | Albias Tarn-et-Garonne | 0 | 4.8% | 1.4% | 173 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 Jard-sur-Mer
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Bois du Veillon leads, at 68 ha. Directions go to 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 Jard-sur-Mer 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).
93% within 800 m6.5% further
Residents within 800 m of green space · share of residents
Jard-sur-MerVendée medianFrance median
Within 800 m93%
0%50%100%
About 200 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
43% of Jard-sur-Mer lies in protected areas
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Natura 2000 site
Marais de Talmont et zones littorales entre les Sables-d’Olonne et Jard-sur-Mer
43% of the commune0.9 km from the center
Natura 2000 site
Pertuis charentais - Rochebonne
1.1 km from the town center
Natura 2000 site
Pertuis Charentais
1.1 km from the town center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area43%
Natura 2000 site43%
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.
43% of Jard-sur-Mer’s land is protected, more than in 85% of compared French towns; the median compared town in Vendée has 0%.
Source: INPN / PatriNat, protected areas July 2026, Natura 2000 December 2024; shares of IGN’s commune boundary.
Footpaths and woods
35 km of footpaths and 12 km of hiking routes cross Jard-sur-Mer
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
35 km
2.1 km per km²
Hiking routes
12 km
waymarked: 0.7 km per km²
Woodland
21%
about 3.5 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
Jard-sur-MerVendée medianFrance median
Footpaths2.1
Hiking routes0.7
01.53 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
Jard-sur-MerVendée medianFrance median
Woodland21%
0%50%100%
That is more than in 60% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 65% 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
Other named walk
Circuit de la Pointe du Payré3 km
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Jard-sur-Mer: April to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Angles, 14 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 | 15.5 | 14.2 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.3 | 8.6 |
| High (°C) | 10 | 11 | 15 | 17 | 21 | 25 | 27 | 27 | 24 | 19 | 14 | 11 |
| Rain (mm) | 90 | 71 | 63 | 63 | 53 | 44 | 47 | 49 | 68 | 102 | 113 | 108 |
June is the driest month (44 mm) and August the warmest (highs of 27 °C). 113 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 33 nights a year. The climate in Jard-sur-Mer →
Neighbors
Next to Jard-sur-Mer
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by the share of their land in protected areas.
Talmont-Saint-HilaireLongeville-sur-MerLa Tranche-sur-MerAnglesSainte-FoyLes Sables-d'OlonneJard-sur-Mer
Under 1%1–10 %10–25 %25–50 %50 %+
| Town | Protected | Woodland | Paths (km/km²) | Coast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jard-sur-Mer | 43% | 21% | 2.1 | On it |
| Talmont-Saint-Hilaire 8,492 · 6.4 km | 8.5% | 6.9% | 0.6 | On it |
| Longeville-sur-Mer 2,625 · 7.5 km | 100% | 18% | 1.3 | On it |
| La Tranche-sur-Mer 3,136 · 13 km | 100% | 18% | 2.8 | On it |
| Angles 3,115 · 14 km | 100% | 0.3% | 0.2 | 6.7 km |
| Sainte-Foy 2,717 · 15 km | 0.8% | 6.9% | 0.6 | 8.6 km |
| Les Sables-d'Olonne 49,603 · 17 km | 26% | 16% | 2.8 | On it |
Longeville-sur-Mer, La Tranche-sur-Mer and Angles 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 Jard-sur-Mer
Is Jard-sur-Mer in a national or regional nature park?
No, but 43% of its land is in a nature reserve or a Natura 2000 site.
Are there good walks in Jard-sur-Mer?
OpenStreetMap maps 35 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 2.1 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 12 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Jard-sur-Mer is woodland?
21% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Jard-sur-Mer near the sea?
Yes: the commune touches the coast, 1.1 km from its center.
When is the best time for walking in Jard-sur-Mer?
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.