Overview
Set where the Thiou river leaves Lake Annecy, the town grew around a canal-laced old quarter of arcades, flower-hung bridges and a castle on the hill. The lake, fed by mountain streams and famously clean, is ringed by peaks and lined with lakeside paths and beaches. Cool and green in summer and close to the ski resorts in winter, Annecy is a base for the water and the mountains as much as for its pretty streets.
Highlights
The old town winds along the canals to the Palais de l’Isle, the little island prison that is the town’s emblem, below the Château d’Annecy. The lakefront gardens and the Pont des Amours open onto the water, where boats, swimming and a cycle path around the shore fill the summer. The mountains behind offer paragliding, hiking and, in winter, the nearby Alpine ski slopes.