Is there hype about Annecy, France?
There was for me!
The Venice of the Alps?
I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of Annecy, France. But if you have, you probably imagined it to be pretty amazing. All of the blogs, websites, and travel sites I read prior to visiting described it as a “Venice of the Alps”. If a place is called the “Venice” of anything I generally want to see it! Who doesn’t love waterways, beautiful buildings and bridges galore! So anyway, I hyped up Annecy in my head, and now you can too! We decided to visit for a night after hiking the Tour Du Mont Blanc and ending in Chamonix. There are so many charming parts of Annecy that truly did remind me of Venice in Italy! Here is a nice way to spend 24 hours there, although I could have easily spent days!
Visit on a Market Day (if you can)
Annecy was fantastic. It was especially special in the summer. We arrived in the morning and happened to be there on a market day which was so exciting. The market is open Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays from 7am to 1pm. Walking around the market is always one of the most fun ways to explore a city. This market is huge for the size of the town and takes up a lot of the main streets. We decided to purchase a bunch of small things to have a little picnic out on Lake Annecy.
Gather a Picnic & Head to the Lake
The lake is just an absolute highlight of visiting Annecy. Walking around it, biking around it, renting a boat and getting out there, no matter what you choose you will be happy. We walked down to the lake and rented a pedal boat. It was so easy to just walk right up and rent it for a few hours. We took our speaker and our picnic out onto the water and just relaxed and floated around and enjoyed the sunshine. It was absolutely beautiful and so fun to see all of the other people out there on the lake doing the same. Being out on the water also provided some really beautiful views looking back at the town and the surrounding mountains.
Take some time to explore the streets
After our time on the lake we walked back into town to explore. Walking around Annecy is like walking around in a fairytale. Every corner is colorful, artsy, and bright. Many times, when you eat in a touristy area the food is less quality. This was not the case in Annecy. We dined right on the water in a beautiful spot for lunch and had an excellent meal! I don’t think you could go wrong in this place.
Dinner at Cozna
One of the best parts of our day was the dinner we had. We ate dinner at a place called “Cozna”. It was highly recommended by all my sources googling prior to our trip. We did a tasting menu and every plate had us more excited than the last. We were shamelessly taking pictures of all of the courses, laughing, and sharing wine all night. It was an excellent experience that I would highly recommend. I noticed earlier in the day when we were walking around the town that many places were booked full for dinner and had signs up declaring this. It would be wise to book ahead if you want to eat somewhere special when visiting Annecy.
Enjoy strolling for sunset
It was beautiful to walk around as the sun was setting and to see the sunset over the lake. This is one of the most picture perfect towns we have visited and I am so glad we were able to make the stop. There are countless places to stop for drinks, snacks, gelato, et and just to sit and people watch and enjoy the scene. I would love to come back someday and spend more time traveling around the lake and seeing other small areas and exploring further.
Plan for me dani 