City of Annecy

Annecy (map) is located in the Rhone-Alpes region on the bank of the lake that bears its name, in the northern French Alps, 50km north of *Chambery, and 40km south of Geneva (Switzerland).

From the end of the 19th century, Annecy developed tourism around its lake summer facilities, winter resorts proximity and cultural attraction with its castle renovation and fine art museum opening in 1956.

⇒ Activities • Maps • Hikes & Walks

Palais de l’Isle (map) is a 12th-century castle on an island in the river Thiou in Annecy’s administrative headquarters. It mostly served as a prison and courthouse until the French Revolution. It again was a prison during World War II. The Palais de l’Ile was classified as a Historical Monument in 1900, and today houses a local history museum.

Annecy Castle (Château d’Annecy, map). On a hill overlooking the city and the surroundings. The building houses a museum with a varied collection of medieval, nineteenth-century, and contemporary art; traditional local furniture; and natural history.

Saint Peter’s Cathedral (Cathédrale Saint-Pierre, map). Erected at the beginning of the 16th century by Jacques Rossel as a chapel for a Franciscan priory. It has many examplars of Baroque art and also features a splendid organ of the 19th century.

Saint-Maurice Church (Église Saint-Maurice, map). Built in flamboyant Gothic style in the 15th century. Its paintings date back to the 15th and 16th century.

April: A cozy village festival is held, a great place to bring the family. Rides and vendors are abundant, along with the great French cuisine. The festival lines Lac Annecy and is very peaceful and beautiful.

The *French Riviera (Côte d’Azur, map), in southeastern France, is the second leading tourist destination in the country, after the Parisian region. Main cities on the French Riviera include Nice (map), Antibes (map) and Cannes (map); Cap Ferrat (map) is also a popular destination.

Provence – numerous famous natural sites can be found in the region, as the Gorges du Verdon (map), the Camargue (map), the Calanques National Park (map) and the typical landscape of *Luberon.

Loire Valley – This World Heritage Site is noteworthy for the quality of its architectural heritage, in its historic towns such as Amboise (map), Angers (map), Blois (map), *Chinon (map), *Orléans (map), and Saumur (map) >> +*Châteaux of the Loire Valley)

French Alps are the portions of the Alps mountain range that stand within France, located in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (map) and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur regions. Notable towns in the French Alps include Grenoble (map), Chamonix (map), Annecy (map) is called “the Venice of Savoie”, Chambéry (map), Évian-les-Bains (map) and Albertville (map).

Corsica – is the fourth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea after Sicily, Sardinia and Cyprus. It is a popular attraction for tourists with both cultural aspects (cities *Ajaccio and *Bastia) and geographical features (Parc naturel régional de Corse, map).

The coach companies compete with rail on price, which means they usually are somewhat cheaper than trains, sometimes much cheaper, especially if booked in advance. Trains will be more comfortable and sometimes much faster.

⇒ Public transport (parisinfo.com) • Getting to France (uk.france.fr)