Annecy sits at the northern end of its lake in Haute-Savoie, an hour from Geneva, with the Alps rising directly behind it. The old town is built around the Thiou, a short fast canal draining the lake, and in the middle of it stands the Palais de l'Isle, a twelfth century building shaped like the prow of a ship that has been a residence, a courthouse and a prison and is now the most photographed thing in the Alps that is not a mountain.
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Lake Annecy is fed by mountain springs and is often described as the cleanest lake in Europe, the result of a coordinated clean up begun in the 1960s when the water had badly deteriorated. It is also, for the same reason, cold. A paved cycle path runs most of the way around it, the mountains either side are paragliding country, and the whole thing is compact enough to do without a car.
What Makes Annecy Different to Pack For
Alpine weather at a low altitude
The town is only about 450 metres up, so summers are properly warm at 25°C to 30°C, and the lake moderates it. But the mountains either side rise past 2,000 metres, weather comes over them quickly, and afternoon storms in summer are common and sudden. Winters are cold at around 0°C to 6°C with snow in the town occasionally and reliably above it.
A merino wool base layer for women covers the evenings, which are cool even in August because the air comes off the water and down off the mountains, and the whole of the winter.
The lake is beautiful and cold
Surface temperatures reach about 22°C in late summer and sit near 6°C in winter, and it drops away fast from the shore. It looks like a swimming pool and it is a deep alpine lake, and cold water shock is the reason people get into trouble in it.
Everything is done on foot or by bike
The old town is small and pedestrian, and the Voie Verte cycle path runs about 33 kilometres around the lake on a former railway line. Bikes are easy to hire and this is genuinely the best way to see it.
It fills completely in summer
July and August, plus the international animation festival in June, fill the town beyond comfort. Accommodation prices multiply and the old town lanes become difficult to move through.
Recommended Tours and Experiences
The Annecy Packing List
Footwear
Comfortable flat shoes for the old town, which is cobbled, uneven and slippery when wet, and something you can cycle in.
For the Semnoz, the Mont Veyrier ridge, the Gorges du Fier or any of the paths up from the lake, waterproof hiking shoes are the right tool. These are real mountain paths with loose rock and exposure in places, not lakeside strolls.
Clothing
Layers with a windproof, in every season. Long sleeves for the evening even in July. In winter a proper coat, hat and gloves, because the valley holds cold air and the damp off the lake sharpens it.
Covered shoulders and knees for the churches, including the cathedral and Saint-Maurice. Annecy is affluent and dresses neatly without being formal; the lakeside restaurants lean smart in the evening.
For the water
Swimming things and a towel, because the beaches, several of them free, are the point of a summer visit. Water shoes for the stonier entries. If you are swimming any distance, a tow float is standard here and sensible given the boat traffic.
For sun
A wide brim sun hat, high factor sunscreen and sunglasses. Altitude plus reflection off the water burns quickly, and on a boat or a bike you will not feel it happening.
For rain
A packable rain jacket, because alpine storms arrive fast in summer afternoons and the shoulder seasons are genuinely wet.
Practical
Cards work everywhere. Book accommodation far ahead for June through August. The train from Geneva or Lyon is straightforward and the station is central. A water bottle, because the tap water here comes off the mountains and is excellent.
What to Wear at Key Sites
The old town and the Palais de l'Isle
Canals, arcaded lanes, flower boxes and pastel houses, with the Palais de l'Isle sitting in the middle of the Thiou. It held prisoners as recently as the second world war.
Practically: the photograph everyone wants is from the Pont Perriere and it is crowded from ten in the morning until dusk in summer. Go at seven and you will have it alone. The lanes are cobbled and slick after rain, and the Tuesday, Friday and Sunday market fills the whole quarter.
The lake and the Pont des Amours
The Jardins de l'Europe and the Pacquier lawn meet at the Pont des Amours, and the lake opens out beyond with the mountains on both sides.
Practically: free, flat and the best free thing in town. Boat trips run from the quay, from an hour's circuit to a full crossing to the villages at the far end. The boats are exposed, so take a layer.
The Voie Verte and cycling the lake
A paved, largely flat path on an old railway alignment running down the western shore to Doussard, with a rougher road route back up the eastern side to complete a loop of around 40 kilometres.
Practically: the western path is easy and suitable for anyone; the eastern return shares the road with traffic and is harder. Hire bikes near the station or the lakefront. It is busy with families and rollerbladers in August, so ring your bell.
The chateau and the museum
The Chateau d'Annecy above the old town, once home to the counts of Geneva, now the town museum with an alpine lakes observatory inside.
Practically: a steep cobbled climb from the old town. Worth it for the view over the roofs as much as the collection.
Paragliding from Col de la Forclaz
The ridge above the eastern shore is one of the best known paragliding sites in Europe, and tandem flights launch there constantly in season, landing on the field at Doussard.
Practically: it is cold in the air, so wear long sleeves and trousers and closed shoes regardless of the temperature on the ground. Flights are weather dependent and cancelled often. Use an established school, check they are insured, and be honest about the fact that this is an aviation activity with a real accident record rather than a fairground ride. The viewpoint itself is worth the drive even if you do not fly.
The Gorges du Fier and Semnoz
A narrow gorge north of the town crossed on a walkway bolted to the rock, and the Semnoz, the mountain above Annecy, reachable by road with wide views and cross country skiing in winter.
Practically: the gorge walkway is damp, cool and enclosed, so take a layer and skip it if enclosed heights bother you. The Semnoz road closes in heavy snow.
What Not to Bring
Leave the assumption that an alpine lake is warm. Leave heels for the cobbles.
Leave a car if you can, because parking in the centre is difficult and expensive and everything is walkable. Leave an August visit unbooked. And leave the idea of swimming far out without a tow float, in a lake with a great deal of boat traffic.
Essential Resources for Women in Annecy
Emergency numbers in France: 112 is the European emergency number and works for everything. 15 reaches the SAMU medical service, 17 the police and 18 the fire service, who also handle most rescues. For a mountain rescue, call 112 and ask for the PGHM, the gendarmerie's mountain unit, which covers Haute-Savoie.
Tourist support: France has no dedicated tourist police force, though the Police Nationale runs seasonal reinforcement in tourist towns. A theft needs a plainte filed at the commissariat, which can be pre-registered online, and you need it for insurance and for a replacement passport.
US Consulate: there is no consulate in Annecy. The US Consulate General in Lyon serves this region, with the embassy in Paris at fr.usembassy.gov, and Geneva, where there is a US Mission, is only an hour away across the border. Enrol in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program at step.state.gov before you travel.
Main hospital or clinic: the Centre Hospitalier Annecy Genevois at Epagny Metz-Tessy is the main hospital with a 24 hour urgences department, and it is well equipped because it serves a region full of ski and mountain injuries. EU and UK visitors should carry the European Health Insurance Card or the UK Global Health Insurance Card; everyone else needs travel insurance, and check specifically that it covers paragliding and mountain activities, which standard policies exclude.
Official health authority: the French Ministry of Health at sante.gouv.fr, with the regional health agency publishing bathing water quality for the lake beaches, which is consistently excellent here.
US State Department travel advisory for France: current advisory level and detail. Read it directly rather than relying on this page.
UK FCDO travel advice for France: entry requirements, safety and health guidance, including the advice on mountain safety and on the terrorism threat level, which applies nationally.
Official tourism authority: Atout France at france.fr, with the Annecy tourist office for the lake boat timetables, the market days and the Voie Verte conditions, and Meteo France for the mountain forecast, which is the one to check before going up rather than the town forecast.
Solo women safety assessment: Annecy is a very safe and pleasant town for a woman travelling alone. It is affluent, small, busy with families and cyclists, and the old town and lakefront are populated until late in summer. Violent crime is rare, street harassment is uncommon and mild by French urban standards, and eating alone at a canal side restaurant or on the Pacquier lawn is completely ordinary. The town is easy to navigate on foot and the train station is central and safe. Petty theft is the main urban risk and it is concentrated exactly where you would expect: the market crowds, the lakefront in high summer, and bags left on beaches while people swim. Take nothing to the water you would mind losing, and be aware that bicycle theft is common, so use a proper lock. The area around the station is unremarkable. The genuine hazards here are outdoor ones. The lake is the first: it is deep, cold and busy with boats, cold water shock is a real risk when the air is 30°C and the water is 20°C, and swimmers are struck by boats on lakes like this, so a tow float and staying inside the marked zones matter. Second, the mountains: the paths above the lake are proper alpine terrain with exposure and loose rock, storms build fast on summer afternoons with lightning on the ridges, and mobile coverage fails in the gorges. Check Meteo France, tell someone your route, and start early. Third, paragliding, which is the thing most visitors here do that carries real risk; use an established school and accept a cancellation rather than pushing for a marginal flight. Finally, in winter the roads up to the Semnoz and the passes require winter equipment and are closed in heavy snow.
Reading On
Annecy is the best two days in the French Alps that involve no skiing, and it works as a stop between Geneva and Lyon or as a base for a week on the lake. The France travel guide for women is the parent for the country and the France packing list for women covers a trip across it. An hour east, the Chamonix travel guide for women covers Mont Blanc and the high mountains. West, the Bordeaux packing list for women covers the Atlantic side and the wine country, and northwest the Brittany packing list for women covers the Breton coast. North, the Paris travel guide for women covers the capital, and south the Nice travel guide for women the Mediterranean. The travel packing guide for women is the parent for all destinations. For why a thin wool layer earns its place beside an alpine lake in August, the best merino wool base layers for women explains the fibre, and the Roman Trail collection is where the tops themselves live.
If the outer journey is calling you, the inner one usually is too. Explore SoulMap at romantrail.com/blogs/soulmap.
