Annecy: The Venice of Savoie

Annecy in the North of the French Alps, is called touristically the Venice of Savoie.

Romance is the lifeblood of Annecy, a town in the Rhone-Alpes region of southeast France that’s replete with castles and cathedrals and softly curving architecture.

The medieval town centre built around a 14th Century Chateau is dissected by small canals and streams running out of Lac Annecy, which is clean, fresh and a wonderful azure colour. Annecy is also the prefecture of the département of Haute-Savoie.

The town is crisscrossed by ancient canals, geranium-covered bridges, medieval houses and arched alleyways perfect for meandering.

A cycling path snakes along the lake’s southwestern shore and pedalos, canoes and cruise-boats pepper its water in summer.

The town itself has several little canals which give it a Venetian air, encompassing several ancient villages dating from Neolithic times.

Little canals and the river Thiou wind through the old town, encircling the medieval palace perched mid-river

The town is constantly changing with its economic importance increasing in line with its industrialisation.

Today the town has developed into a small city offering every modern-day convenience but within the old town visitors are carried back to another time.

Charming homes and stores in pastel colors line cobble streets and follow man-made channels regulating the inflow and outflow of the lake’s water. It is due to these channels that Annecy has become known as the “Venice of Savoie”.