First pick
Parc du Château d'Orbigny
Park or garden · 0 m outside the commune
28 ha4.9 km of path
1 h 5 minto walk all 4.9 km of path
2.6 km westfrom the center
Promenade SublimeTour du Guilleron
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: photography taken by Christophe.Finot · CC BY-SA 3.0100%of the land protected
Outdoors in Avallon · protected areas, woods and footpaths
Avallon lies inside Morvan Regional Nature Park
100% of Avallon’s land lies in protected areas. 45% of Avallon is mapped woodland. Avallon has 14 km of waymarked hiking routes. France has no Outdoors Grade yet: these are the figures, each beside the compared towns’ median.
Protected areas
100%
of the commune’s land
Compared town: 0.1%
Woodland
45%
of the land, mapped on OpenStreetMap
Compared town: 13%
Footpaths
52 km
1.9 km per km²
Compared town: 1.7 km per km²
Hiking routes
14 km
waymarked, GR and others
Compared town: 0.3 km per km²
Parks & woods
3
named, in or within 400 m of the commune
First: Parc du Château d'Orbigny
Throughout this page, the Yonne 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 Avallon?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and less good.
Inside Morvan Regional Nature Park100% of the commune is in the regional nature park.A wooded commune45% mapped woodland, more than in 89% of compared French towns, against 13% for the median compared town.
What sets Avallon apart: the regional nature park around it, then its woods.
Against French towns
How Avallon 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 areas100%Share of the land in a national park, regional nature park, nature reserve or Natura 2000 site
93out of 100
Woodland45%Share of the land mapped as forest or woods on OpenStreetMap
89out of 100
Footpaths1.9 km per km²Km of mapped footpath and track open on foot, per km² of the commune
56out of 100
Hiking routes0.5 km per km²Km of waymarked hiking routes (GR and others), per km² of the commune
62out of 100
Percentiles among compared French towns; ties count half.
Towns its size
Avallon has the 18th most footpaths per km² of 41 towns its size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population (6,236 to 6,374 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Ambilly (6.6 km per km²) to Fleurance (0.4 km per km²).
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | Coast | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ambilly Haute-Savoie | 6.6 | 1.9% | 0% | 287 km |
| 2 | Nandy Seine-et-Marne | 5.7 | 64% | 0% | 183 km |
| 3 | Le Mesnil-le-Roi Yvelines | 3.9 | 13% | 0% | 133 km |
| 4 | Wimereux Pas-de-Calais | 3.9 | 3.6% | 100% | On it |
| 5 | Jassans-Riottier Ain | 3.9 | 9.6% | 0% | 274 km |
| 6 | Châtel-Guyon Puy-de-Dôme | 3.5 | 41% | 100% | 273 km |
| 7 | Champagne-au-Mont-d'Or Rhône | 3.3 | 15% | 0% | 255 km |
| 8 | Dompierre-sur-Mer Charente-Maritime | 2.8 | 6.2% | 0% | 7 km |
| 9 | Pont-de-Chéruy Isère | 2.8 | 12% | 0% | 257 km |
| 10 | Thyez Haute-Savoie | 2.7 | 29% | 2.7% | 267 km |
| 11 | Lallaing Nord | 2.7 | 16% | 98% | 89 km |
| 12 | Saint-Pryvé-Saint-Mesmin Loiret | 2.7 | 7% | 20% | 206 km |
| 13 | Louvroil Nord | 2.7 | 5.6% | 0% | 131 km |
| 14 | Cuges-les-Pins Bouches-du-Rhône | 2.6 | 37% | 100% | 10 km |
| 15 | Saint-Cyr-au-Mont-d'Or Rhône | 2.4 | 21% | 0% | 257 km |
| 16 | Solliès-Toucas Var | 2.4 | 61% | 56% | 11 km |
| 17 | Homécourt Meurthe-et-Moselle | 2.3 | 28% | 0% | 311 km |
| 18 | Avallon Yonne | 1.9 | 45% | 100% | 340 km |
| 19 | Pluneret Morbihan | 1.8 | 19% | 100% | On it |
| 20 | Plescop Morbihan | 1.8 | 6.3% | 100% | 4.6 km |
| 21 | Bonchamp-lès-Laval Mayenne | 1.7 | 1.2% | 0% | 79 km |
| 22 | Châtenoy-le-Royal Saône-et-Loire | 1.5 | 16% | 0% | 364 km |
| 23 | Vaugneray Rhône | 1.5 | 31% | 0% | 246 km |
| 24 | Givet Ardennes | 1.5 | 23% | 100% | 179 km |
| 25 | Milhaud Gard | 1.4 | 30% | 8% | 31 km |
| 26 | Mornant Rhône | 1.3 | 6.3% | 0% | 233 km |
| 27 | Arpajon-sur-Cère Cantal | 1.2 | 24% | 0.2% | 192 km |
| 28 | Vouneuil-sous-Biard Vienne | 1.2 | 28% | 0% | 112 km |
| 29 | Migné-Auxances Vienne | 1.1 | 7.4% | 16% | 116 km |
| 30 | Esvres Indre-et-Loire | 1 | 31% | 0% | 183 km |
| 31 | Mazan Vaucluse | 1 | 13% | 100% | 70 km |
| 32 | Bellevigny Vendée | 0.9 | 7.1% | 0% | 38 km |
| 33 | Baud Morbihan | 0.8 | 37% | 0% | 17 km |
| 34 | Noyal-sur-Vilaine Ille-et-Vilaine | 0.8 | 6.9% | 0% | 55 km |
| 35 | Mer Loir-et-Cher | 0.8 | 8.5% | 22% | 211 km |
| 36 | Saint-Martin-de-Seignanx Landes | 0.7 | 51% | 33% | 9.2 km |
| 37 | Bons-en-Chablais Haute-Savoie | 0.7 | 38% | 5.3% | 290 km |
| 38 | Izon Gironde | 0.6 | 5.7% | 49% | 21 km |
| 39 | Villemur-sur-Tarn Haute-Garonne | 0.5 | 12% | 1.2% | 156 km |
| 40 | Belin-Béliet Gironde | 0.4 | 86% | 100% | 26 km |
| 41 | Fleurance Gers | 0.4 | 10% | 0% | 161 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 Avallon
Named parks, gardens and woods in the commune or within 400 m, the biggest and best-pathed first: Parc du Château d'Orbigny leads, at 28 ha. Directions go to a point inside.
Le Clos Boisé
Wood or forest · 80 m outside the commune
5.9 ha1.5 km of path
20 minto walk all 1.5 km of path
2.6 km westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Aire de détente des Isles Labaume
Park or garden
2.1 ha0.6 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.6 km of path
2.1 km westfrom the center
Directionsto a point inside
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): named parks, gardens and woods; sizes are the whole site.
Protected areas
Protected land in and around Avallon
The protected areas reaching the commune, and the nearest: national parks, regional nature parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 sites.
Regional nature park
Morvan Regional Nature Park
100% of the commune
Natura 2000 site
Milieux humides, forêts, pelouses et habitats à Chauves-souris du Morvan
29% of the commune0 km from the center
Share of the commune’s land
Any protected area100%
Regional nature park100%
Natura 2000 site29%
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 Avallon’s land is protected, more than in 93% of compared French towns; the median compared town in Yonne 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.
Footpaths and woods
52 km of footpaths and 14 km of hiking routes cross Avallon
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
52 km
1.9 km per km²
Hiking routes
14 km
waymarked: 0.5 km per km²
Woodland
45%
about 12 km² of mapped woods
Km per km² of the commune · mapped on OpenStreetMap
AvallonYonne medianFrance median
Footpaths1.9
Hiking routes0.5
01.53 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
AvallonYonne medianFrance median
Woodland45%
0%50%100%
That is more than in 56% of compared French towns for footpaths per km², and for woodland more than in 89% 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 Avallon is within 800 m of a mapped park or wood, as in most French towns.
2 named hiking routes within 2 km
Other named walk
Guillon - Vézelay14 km
Parcours fléché du Parc d'Orbigny2.3 km
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), extracts of October 25, 2026 (Geofabrik).
When to get out
The best walking months in Avallon: April to September
Météo-France’s 1991–2020 normals at Merry-Sur-Yonne, 25 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) | 8.8 | 10.2 | 11.8 | 13.6 | 15.1 | 15.9 | 15.6 | 14.2 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.2 | 8.5 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 20 | 24 | 26 | 26 | 22 | 16 | 11 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 63 | 56 | 55 | 65 | 72 | 64 | 60 | 57 | 58 | 78 | 75 | 76 |
March is the driest month (55 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 26 °C). 78 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 58 nights a year. The climate in Avallon →
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 Avallon
Is Avallon in a national or regional nature park?
Yes: Avallon lies in Morvan Regional Nature Park (100% of the commune).
Are there good walks in Avallon?
OpenStreetMap maps 52 km of footpaths and tracks open on foot in the commune, 1.9 km per km² (the median compared town: 1.7 km per km²); 14 km of waymarked hiking routes cross it.
How much of Avallon is woodland?
45% of the commune is mapped woodland, private woods included; the median compared French town has 13%.
Is Avallon near the sea?
No: the coast is 340 km from the town center, as the crow flies.
When is the best time for walking in Avallon?
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.