Things to do
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Cathédrale Saint-Pierre d'Annecy
Go in for the organ: Annecy’s cathedral has bare walls, so a mighty nineteenth-century instrument is what holds your eye.
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Château d'Annecy
Château d'Annecy is the best seat in town: from its hill you look down over the old town's rooftops and out across the lake, and its towers hold the town museum.
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Château de Montrottier
Montrottier's rooms hold one collector's cabinet of curiosities, still laid out the way he left it a century ago. Climb the keep afterwards for the view from the top.
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Dents de Lanfon
Above Talloires and Menthon-Saint-Bernard, a limestone cliff about 200 metres high breaks into three jagged points, the central one at 1,828 metres. The traverse of the points is a classic rock climb, for experienced climbers or with a mountain guide. From the lake boats and the eastern shore, its three points are easy to pick out above Talloires.
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Gorges du Fier
Before you give the day to the lake, spend time at the Fier in Lovagny: a plank walkway fixed to the cliff, high above a river running through a canyon that looks like a crack in the rock.
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La Tournette
At 2,350 metres, this is the highest summit around the lake, and its climb is a popular hike despite the difficulty. The route starts in the Montmin valley behind the Col de la Forclaz and makes a long, steep day. Near the top it crosses bare rock, so it suits fit, sure-footed walkers in dry summer weather.
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Lac d'Annecy
Swimming in water so clear you can see the bottom from the surface, with mountains all round, is the reason to come, and a free beach sits a short walk from Annecy's old town.
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Réserve naturelle nationale du Bout du Lac d'Annecy
Two rivers run into Lake Annecy through this wetland at Doussard, and a flat boardwalk takes you through its reedbeds and wet woods to a medieval tower you can climb for the view back up the lake.
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Vieille ville d'Annecy
Until about nine in the morning, you can have Pont Perrière nearly to yourself, facing the old prison on its island in the middle of the Thiou. Around it, arcaded lanes on both banks make up the quarter called the little Venice of the Alps.
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Voie verte du lac d'Annecy
Riding the old railway down the west shore gives you tarmac beside the water with almost no climbing, the lake at your shoulder for most of the way.
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Basilique de la Visitation d'Annecy
Drive or walk up the Crêt du Maure for the terrace: it looks over the whole town and the head of the lake.
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Cascade d'Angon
Near the hamlet of Angon, just south of Talloires, a stream drops about sixty metres down a cliff in the woods. The path there and back takes about two hours, crossing the Pont des Fées and finishing on a ledge along the rock face. It is at its strongest in spring and after heavy rain.
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Château de Châteauvieux
Often called the château de Duingt, this turreted house stands on a rock in the lake, joined to the shore by a causeway, where the water narrows between the large and small lakes. It is private and cannot be visited. Cézanne painted it, and it is best seen from the lake boats or from the cycle path at Duingt.
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Château de Menthon-Saint-Bernard
The same family still owns and lives in the castle; go inside for its furnished rooms, then look back at the turrets from the lake boat on the way home.
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Col de la Forclaz
A road pass at about 1,150 metres above Talloires, and the launch for most tandem paragliding flights over the lake. Flights land on the meadows at Doussard on the southern shore. Even without flying, the terrace beside the launch looks down the length of the lake, and the road up from Talloires is narrow, with hairpins all the way.
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Jardins de l'Europe
Bring a picnic: the old trees beside the lake give deep shade on a hot afternoon.
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Le Semnoz
Go up on a clear morning for Mont Blanc from the summit pastures, before cloud builds in the afternoon.
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Mont Veyrier
Rising straight above the eastern shore to 1,291 metres, this is the closest summit to the town. The usual loop starts at Le Petit Port in Annecy-le-Vieux, runs about eight kilometres and takes three and a half to four hours. The path is steep and rocky near the top, where the view takes in the town, the whole lake and the high Alps behind.
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Palais de l'Isle
Stand on the bridges either side of it before nine in summer, when the canal is still and the lanes around it are empty.
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Plage d'Albigny
A lawn beach on the north-eastern shore in Annecy-le-Vieux, about half an hour's walk from the old town along the lake. The grass runs down to a gravel strip and shallow water, with mountains across the lake. Entry is charged in summer, and on hot weekends it is packed by late morning.
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Plage des Marquisats
Just south of the centre on the western shore, this is the town beach a short walk from the old town, with lawns, showers and toilets. The cycle path starts close by, so a swim fits at either end of a ride. It fills fast on summer afternoons.
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Pont des Amours
Cross it at sunset for the view south down the lake to the mountains, then walk on along the Pâquier.
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Roc de Chère
Take the easy walk of a couple of hours to a quiet bluff straight above the water, well away from the crowds on the beaches below.
