Annecy in 2 days, on foot

This 2-day self-guided walking plan for Annecy covers 12 narrated sights in an easy day-by-day order. Each day is split into a morning and an afternoon loop, and every stop has a two to three minute audio story in the Gingerguide app.

You set the pace: this is a suggested order, not a schedule. Walk it in 2 days, or stretch it out. Reorder freely; Annecy rewards a detour.

The Annecy route at a glance

Day 1

Day 1 covers 6 stops over about 1.3 km as the crow flies, from Basilique de la Visitation to Pont des Amours. ≈ 1.3 km between stops, straight line

Morning

1. Basilique de la Visitation: A 20th-century basilica on the hillside above Annecy, holding the tombs of Saints Francis de Sales and Jane Frances de Chantal, with a 72-metre campanile and a 37-bell carillon. 0.6 km to the next stop
2. Château d'Annecy: A hilltop castle of grey stone that once housed the Counts of Geneva and the dukes of Genevois-Nemours, later a barracks, and now Annecy's municipal Musée-Château. 0.2 km to the next stop
3. Cathédrale Saint-Pierre d'Annecy: A 16th-century cathedral in the heart of the old town, with a strict Renaissance façade, where Saint Francis de Sales once officiated and, by his own account, young Rousseau sang. 0.1 km to the next stop

Afternoon

1. Vieille Ville (Old Town): Annecy's medieval quarter straddles the river Thiou below the castle hill: a pedestrian maze of arcaded streets, pastel canal-side houses and cobbled alleys, nicknamed the Venice of the Alps. 0.1 km to the next stop
2. Palais de l'Île: An island building marooned in the river Thiou, this triangular stone landmark has served as a mint, a courthouse and a prison, and now holds Annecy's local-history museum. 0.3 km to the next stop
3. Pont des Amours: An early-20th-century iron footbridge over the Vassé canal, linking the Jardins de l'Europe with the Pâquier, and famous for a kissing legend it does not promise to keep.

Day 2

Day 2 covers 6 stops over about 34 km as the crow flies, from Jardins de l'Europe to Gorges du Fier. ≈ 34 km between stops, straight line

Morning

1. Jardins de l'Europe: A landscaped 19th-century lakeside park at the northern tip of Lake Annecy, planted with giant sequoias and ginkgos, where the lake meets the Thiou and Vassé canals. 6.1 km to the next stop
2. Lake Annecy: A glacier-carved Alpine lake in Haute-Savoie, ringed by mountains and lakeside villages, with the town of Annecy at its northern tip and a hard-won reputation for clean water. 3.2 km to the next stop
3. Château de Menthon-Saint-Bernard: A medieval castle held by the Menthon family for over 800 years, standing high above Lake Annecy's eastern shore, its slender turrets fuelling a persistent fairytale reputation. 2.7 km to the next stop

Afternoon

1. Talloires: A quiet village on Lake Annecy's eastern shore, home to a former Benedictine abbey, now a hotel, where Cézanne is said to have painted the lake in 1896. 9.8 km to the next stop
2. Le Semnoz: A green mountain in the Massif des Bauges rising south of Annecy, with high pastures, a small ski station and summit views reaching to Mont Blanc and Lake Annecy. 12 km to the next stop
3. Gorges du Fier: A dramatic narrow limestone gorge near Lovagny, just west of Annecy, crossed by an 1869 cliff walkway suspended about 25 metres above the churning river Fier below.

Distances are straight-line between stops; streets add a little.

Updated: September 28, 2026

Full Annecy guide and all stops →