Running in Annecy: The Lakeside Routes, From Easy Jog to Trail

Annecy is a town where you pass more runners than casual joggers, and the terrain explains it. A flat, open waterfront, a car-free path running for kilometres, an accessible mountain for climbing — the perfect triangle. Here’s where to run depending on the session, from people who wear out their soles here.

The urban jog: quays + Pâquier

All of Annecy’s warm-up loop: the quays, the Pâquier and the Jardins de l’Europe, chained in 3-to-6 km variants. Flat, lit, with the view — and packed at tourist hours. The local runners’ rule is the same as the photographers’: before 8.30 a.m., the town is yours; after that, you’re slaloming.

Route bonus: the park fountains in summer, and a Marquisats beach that turns the end of a run into recovery in water still warm into September.

The long run: the greenway

For endurance there is nothing better in the Alps: about 30 flat kilometres without a single car, on the west shore’s old railway line — the same one the cyclists use. Even surface, summer shade, beaches along the way to split a session in two. You build your half or your marathon kilometre by kilometre, with the lake as metronome.

One cohabitation to manage: the bikes. Run on the right, hold your line, and avoid the 10-to-6 slot on summer weekends.

The climbing: the Semnoz

When flat is no longer enough, Annecy’s mountain is the trail ground at the town’s door: forest paths from Les Puisots, and the ridge as reward. Same advice as for walkers — the hazy summer afternoon shows nothing, late day shows everything — with the runner’s advantage: the descent is half the fun.

The calendar: September is bib month

The season’s fixtures cluster at the rentrée: the Ancilevienne (a popular run-and-hike, starting and finishing at Place Gabriel Fauré in mid-September) then the Lake Annecy International Triathlon closing the season in late September. Two moods — the local festival and the timed race — in the most pleasant running month of the year here: dry air, golden light, quays returned to the locals.

What we wouldn’t do

• The long run on the quays at 3 p.m. in August. That’s a slalom, not a session. The greenway exists for this.
• Set off on the greenway without water at the height of summer. The shaded stretches deceive: you dehydrate fast over 25 km.
• Attack the Semnoz in road shoes. The Puisots trails deserve trail soles, especially downhill.
• Skip the lake recovery. Ten minutes of cool water on the legs after a long run — the town’s best recovery tool, free.

Running here means training in scenery other people cross half of France to photograph. The only real risk is stopping every kilometre to look — and honestly, that’s not the worst flaw a route can have.