48 hours in Annecy without the queues

There are two Annecys. The one you cross between 11:00 and 17:00, where you move at the pace of whoever is in front of you, and the one that exists in the three hours either side of the day — before nine, after six — where the same town becomes usable again. A good weekend here is entirely a question of that gap. Here is how we organise it when friends come down for two days.

Saturday, 07:00: the Pont des Amours before anyone else

This is the only hour that matters. At seven, the light comes in low along the canal du Vassé and the water is flat, and you will have the Pont des Amours — the lovers’ bridge at the north end of the lake — to yourself, or share it with two joggers. At midday the same bridge is a selfie corridor where twenty metres take ten minutes.

Carry on to the Pâquier, the wide lawn between the old town and the water, while the grass is still wet. The view towards the Tournette, the peak that closes the far side of the lake, is better early, when the mist has not finished lifting off the surface. You will be back in the old town as the bakeries open.

Saturday morning: the market, but the right one

The old-town market runs on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday mornings, along rue Sainte-Claire and under the arcades. On Saturdays it is the Romains district market instead, less busy, and mostly full of people doing their weekly shop. The cheeses are the same and the prices are a little less touristic.

If you want to take something home: a reblochon fermier, made on the farm, rather than a laitier made in a dairy; a tomme de Savoie aged four months; and Savoyard charcuterie that has not spent the night in the sun on a stall.

Saturday afternoon: the lake, without overpaying for the boat

This is where most visitors get caught. The hire companies on the quays, right in front of the Jardin de l’Europe, are the dearest on the lake — logically enough, they occupy the most visible spot. Walk ten minutes north, or take the bus to Sévrier or Saint-Jorioz, and the same boat, the kind you can take out without a licence, costs noticeably less.

Two rules worth knowing:

• Book the day before in July and August. Turn up at 14:00 on a Saturday and there is nothing left.
• Go out around 16:00 instead. The thermal breeze drops in the late afternoon, the lake smooths out, and the light gets much better for photographs.

From the old town	On foot	By bike	By bus
Albigny beach	30 min	12 min	10 min
Sévrier	—	20 min	15 min
Duingt	—	35 min	30 min
Doussard (far end of the lake)	—	1 hr 15	40 min

Saturday evening: eat at 19:00 or 21:30, never at 20:00

Annecy’s kitchens are saturated between 19:45 and 21:00. If you have not booked, turn up as the doors open or wait for the second sitting: you will be served better, and the staff will have time to talk you through the menu. The tables on the quays fill first; the ones on the streets climbing towards the château, fifty metres away, often have space and more interesting cooking.

Sunday morning: follow the Thiou on foot, not by pedalo

The Thiou is the shortest river in France — three and a half kilometres between the lake and the Fier. It is the lake’s outflow, and it explains the town: the canals in the old town are mill races cut to capture the force of the water, not Venetian scenery. Tanneries, spinning mills and a cotton works ran here for centuries.

Walk it from the Palais de l’Isle, the old prison set on an islet mid-channel, downstream past the former factories. You will see the sluice gates, the weirs, the retaining walls — the infrastructure that made the town. From a pedalo in the middle of the canal you see façades and nothing else.

Sunday afternoon: go up, at last

Two options, depending on your legs.

The Semnoz, Annecy’s own mountain, is reachable by bus in summer. From the top the lake appears whole, and you can see the double curve of the two basins, which is hard to make out from below. Go in the late afternoon: the light is low and the paragliders launch one after another.

The Roc de Chère, between Talloires and Menthon, is easier: a loop of an hour and a half through woodland in a nature reserve, with two viewpoints directly above the turquoise water. Almost nobody midweek. Wear closed shoes — the limestone is slippery after rain.

What we would not do

The little tourist train, if you walk normally: the old town takes twelve minutes to cross. The restaurant boats at midday in the middle of July. And the car to reach the lakeside on a Saturday in August — the bike is faster than finding a parking space.

Two days are enough to understand Annecy if you accept getting up early. It is the town’s only real skip-the-queue ticket, and it is free.