Lake Annecy Guide

We first discovered a love for holidaying by a lake a few years back with lake Garda in northern Italy. But Annecy in France has always been on my list after hearing how stunning it was. Last summer we made it happen as part of our French road trip and we were blown away by it. It was stunning, we couldn’t get over how alpine it was too, adding an extra element with the mountains surrounding it for dream views but also epic easy day trips. It has a cycle track going the whole way around which we made good use of {the traffic gets bad and it’s expensive to park for most of the beaches or hard to find a space!} plus, I don’t think we’ve ever cycled anywhere more scenic.

Lake Annecy is one of those rare destinations that genuinely works for all ages. It has that dramatic alpine scenery you dream about, but it’s also incredibly easy with children. The lake itself is calm and famously clean, with plenty of supervised beaches and grassy areas for picnics. Everything feels safe, manageable, and close together — which makes a huge difference when you’re travelling as a family.

One of the best things about Annecy is how active it allows you to be without feeling pressured. You can spend the morning cycling by the lake, stop for ice cream in the Old Town, and still be back for an afternoon swim. It’s outdoorsy, but not exhausting. Scenic, but not remote. Here’s a guide if you’re looking to visit:

STAY //

- we stayed at this amazing campsite, Camping Europa, in Lake Annecy,

- I could not get over the beautiful alpine views from this campsite, from the pitches, the walk to the showers and the pools. It was surrounded by stunning natural beauty looking across to the mountains.

- If you don’t camp with a tent/van then there are lots of cabins on the site to rent.

- The pool areas were really fun and felt like a mini waterpark with the slides, kids splash areas and maze of rivers and mini waterfalls to swim through. There wasn’t much of a pool for kids to practice swimming in though. There’s an adults only pool which felt so calm compared to the kids waterpark.

- Whilst it wasn’t directly on the lake, it was an easy 10 minute walk just across the road although not to the best swim spots - you’ll want to cycle to get to those. And you have a gate directly onto the cycle path which is the best way to get around. It’s about a 35 min cycle on e bikes to Annecy town itself. But lots of lake beaches are closer with an easy walk or cycle.

- Things to note there: men need tight swimming trunks, not shorts, for this pool. And whilst the showers were pretty good, the toilets were fine but could have definitely been better.

- The kids pools were often busy after 2ish, especially the sun loungers. But heaven to cool off in and the kids had so much fun here every evening after days by the lake.

- They have a small shop for bread/pastries on site but I’d say it’s worth going next door off site to the proper boulangerie. There’s a bar & restaurant with nice seating at the campsite.

- There’s an app with all of the activities on, we didn’t end up using the kids club, going to the mini disco or sports court but nice to have the option.

- Book early!! The campsites get really booked up in August for Annecy and most require a week’s minimum stay.

The Lake //

- Lake Annecy has several well-maintained beaches that are perfect with kids. Many have shallow entry points, lifeguards in summer, playgrounds, and grassy areas for shade. The water is surprisingly refreshing in summer, but clear enough that you can always see little feet paddling safely beneath the surface.

Some of the most family-friendly include:

- Plage d’Albigny (Annecy town) – Easy to access and close to facilities, this was our favourite spot by far.

- Talliores has a beautiful setting with a relaxed village feel,

- Plage d’Angon has a little stream to play in by the beach on the east and a lovely grassy area with some trees to sit by the lake, there was a nice cafe right on the water here too.

- Plage de Doussard is at the bottom and a gorgeous spot perfect for paddle boarding and with a pier to jump off,

- Plage Municipal in Sevrier on the west has a mini park, great swimming areas, a restaurant. We went paddle boarding here.

- St Jorioz is a paid sandy beach great for kids with a playground & platforms to jump off for older teens

- Annecy town

Annecy’s Old Town (Vieille Ville) is as charming as it looks in photos — pastel buildings, canals, little bridges, and flower-lined streets. It felt like a mini Paris in a way but with the most charming streets, amazing shops {we hit up Hema & Sostrene Grene along with some French independents}, the best ice cream - Visit Le glacier des alpes or Terre Adelice or Par Fairm bio. We visited a couple of times and loved it. It’s compact and walkable but does get crowded in the middle of the day so go early. I wished we’d had a chance to go in an evening too as I feel like it would really come alive even more then with all of the restaurants and fading light.

- Don’t miss Bridge Amours + Manège Dufax iconic carousel in the park, there are two lovely playgrounds in Annecy here and here.

- From Annecy walk round the lake - a super scenic walk - to Pan et Gato patisserie for a picnic to take to the lake at beach at Plage d’lalbigny - this was probably our favourite swimming spot out of all of them.

- You can hire pedals & boats near Annecy or by the gorgeous Chateau at Duingt.

- Food wise: We mainly self catered but a few spots worth mentioning - Les Jardins du talliefer is an organic garden restaurant bridges and balloons recommended, L atelier du matt et lulu for the best pastries/baguettes, la buvette de monte medio was a sweet cafe under the trees for crepes and hot dogs by the water after Plage D’angon.

- There are a couple of big hypermarches by Annecy. We went to the Carre Four and Aldi half way in between Annecy & our campsite, they both got the kids seal of approval with mini trolleys haha.

- If you do one thing as a family, make it cycling the lake path. The Voie Verte runs for around 40km around much of the lake, and large stretches are completely flat and traffic-free — ideal for children. We loved that it didn’t feel stressful. There are plenty of stopping points, beaches, snack bars, and playgrounds along the way, so you can break it up into manageable sections. Even younger children can comfortably cycle short stretches, and bike trailers are widely available to hire {we took ours with us}. We loved both the alpine/countryside & being right next to the sparkly water. Just be aware of the hill if you cycle anti clockwise round to Talliores. We really wanted to cycle the whole lake but it was too ambitious for us with the kids in the trailer & the heat.

- You can get a boat from Doussard to Annecy but book in advance.

- We didn’t make it to the nature reserve at Doussard but it was on my list for gorgeous paths & you might see beavers!

- I’ll let the photos below do the rest of the talking but it really was such a special place I can definitely see us returning to. We were there in August and it wasn’t as busy as I expected given that it’s the French school holiday time too. We were blessed with beautiful weather but did have a couple of spectacular evening thunderstorms which are fairly common because it’s surrounded by mountains.

Mountains

- One of the things we loved most about Annecy was the proximity to the mountain towns to mix up our lakeside days. They’re within an hour’s drive and are ridiculously scenic.

- Chamonix

is around an hour away and I’ve heard makes for an unforgettable day trip. The views of Mont Blanc are spectacular, and if you’re planning to take the cable car up (Aiguille du Midi), definitely book tickets in advance — especially in summer. It’s popular for a reason. Even if you don’t go all the way up, simply wandering Chamonix town and soaking in the mountain atmosphere would be worth it {we sadly ran out of time}

Gorges du Fier

The Gorges du Fier also looked incredible — a dramatic natural gorge with walkways suspended above the water. It’s on our list for next time and would make a brilliant half-day adventure with older children.

Watching the Paragliders

One of our favourite simple pleasures was watching the paragliders soar off the mountains, glide across the lake, and land near Talloires. It’s mesmerising to watch — and we were so tempted to try it ourselves. For adventurous families with older children or teens, this could be a bucket-list experience.

- From Lake Annecy we took two trips up to the Alps as it was only a 40 minute drive and really nice to get up into the mountains. These two towns, La Clusaz and Le Grand Bornard were close together and had such great activities for families, it ended up being a real highlight of our trip.

La Clusaz Highlights

• Summer Toboggan Run – Don’t miss this. You take a cable car up the mountain before racing down the alpine coaster. It cost €30 for six runs (two each for us), and children under five are free with proof of age. Do note it closes for a few hours around lunchtime.

• @grangedesminis – A beautiful indoor play barn for ages 0–8, right next to the cable car entrance. Perfect if the weather turns or little ones need downtime.

• Le Hameau des Petits – A children’s takeover of the town museum at certain hours, which looked like such a thoughtful, interactive way to introduce kids to local culture.

• Lac De Confins offers a rare buggy & family friendly walk around an alpine lake easy for kids just outside La Clusaz, we drove and parked on the road but you could also get a bus. It’s an easy, scenic walk with mountain backdrops the entire way and you can hear the cow bells ringing around like a soothing surround sound.

Le Grand-Bornand Highlights

Le Grand-Bornand felt especially magical — traditional wooden chalets, flower-filled balconies, and a slower pace.

• has the most magical carousel we’ve ever come across {with separate queues for the most popular ride ons e.g. the Rocket which blasts up above the canopy!} in the centre of town (again, note the lunchtime closure).

• A fantastic playground with mountain views.

• A shallow river perfect for paddling.

• A pump track for bikes and scooters.

• We just missed the morning market but it looked like a really good one along with nice cafes & plenty of ice cream shops.

• La Source,– A unique outdoor creative play space where children can explore, build, and interact with nature and farm animals. We were undecided on whether to buy tickets but the reviews were all really positive so we spent a few hours here and the kids were completely in their element. It was really creatively done and based around the mountains it overlooks.

- It’s worth looking up the town events, there are lots of summer festivals going on & workshops/guided hikes. And we also looked up the local car boot sales/brocantes and planned our visit around these too! Love a French vintage sale.

- The town museum in La Clusaz has a kids take over called Le Hameau des Petits at certain hours which sounded great too.

- There’s also Chamonix and Les Gets not too far away which are on our list for next time!

Let me know on Instagram or on here if you have any questions! You can find more of our French adventures here.