Annecy owes almost everything to its lake: the river that runs through the old town, the lawns where the whole town gathers, and the summer night when fireworks light up the water. This guide follows the water from the lake shore back into the old town, with the Panorama du lac, the Pâquier and the Fête du Lac, then the collegiate church of Notre-Dame-de-Liesse, the castle of the counts of Geneva and the Thiou river down to the Pont Morens.
Lake Annecy and the Panorama du lac
Lake Annecy was formed when the great Alpine glaciers melted. It covers about 2,759 hectares, lies at about 447 metres above sea level and is up to 82 metres deep, and it is often described as one of the purest lakes in Europe; its water is considered drinkable without treatment. That is no accident: sewage used to flow into the lake untreated, until the local lake authority, the SILA, was founded in 1957 and began building a collection network under the lakeside road that same year.
- From the shore by the Pâquier, the Panorama du lac is the classic view: the water opening out towards the mountains that ring the lake. It is one of the stops on our scavenger hunt.
- Watch for the tour boats at the landing stages; the steamboat Couronne de Savoie, a gift from Napoleon III, entered service in 1861.
Le Pâquier
The long lawn along the shore is the Pâquier, a landscaped promenade of about 7.5 hectares, also known as the Champ de Mars. Its name comes from the Savoyard Arpitan word for pasture: the site was once wet grazing land beside the lake, later divided into gardens, orchards and meadows. According to family archives, Count Bernard VI de Menthon gave the great meadow to the town's company of marksmen in 1613. A popular story credits a lady named Mossière with giving the land, but it rests on a text of 1892 and no archive confirms it, so treat it as a legend.
Early in the 20th century a developer, Saturnin Favre, wanted to build a casino, a hotel, a tramway and a racecourse here; he died in 1907 and the plans never happened. Today the Pâquier is Annecy's open-air stage, used for big-screen showings during the international animation film festival, the Fête de la musique, sports events and stages of the Tour de France.
The Fête du Lac
The Fête du Lac is Annecy's great summer night: a show of fireworks, water jets, light projections and music over the lake, usually held on the first Saturday in August (until 1978 it took place on a Sunday). It lasts well over an hour and draws around 200,000 spectators, some in paid seats on the Pâquier and many more watching from the shores and balconies. It is often called one of the largest fireworks shows in Europe.
Its roots go back a long way. Annecy's first fireworks were set off from the castle courtyard, and the oldest date on record is 1640, when the fireworks spelled out the words VIVE SAVOYE. Festivities on the lake, sometimes called a Venetian festival, were also held for the visit of Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie.
- The show has not taken place every year: it was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 because of the Covid-19 pandemic and in 2024 because security forces were needed for the Paris Olympics, so check the official programme before you plan a trip around it.
Notre-Dame-de-Liesse and the Place Notre-Dame
Back in the old town, the church of Notre-Dame-de-Liesse stands on the Place Notre-Dame. In 1394 Robert of Geneva made it a collegiate church; it became the burial place of the counts of Geneva and a popular place of pilgrimage. Both the church and the square are stops on our scavenger hunt.
- Look up at the bell tower, built in the 16th century, during the years of the Counter-Reformation.
The Château d'Annecy
Above the old town rises the castle of the counts of Geneva, who moved to Annecy at the end of the 12th century and enlarged the castle in the 13th. Robert, the last count of Geneva, the same man who raised Notre-Dame-de-Liesse to a collegiate church, was born here. The Logis de Nemours wing was added in the 16th century, and in 1953 restoration of the castle and the historic quarters began. Today it houses the town's museum.
- Walk along the Rue Sainte-Claire, one of the four medieval arcaded streets of the old town, which runs at the foot of the castle rock between the Porte Perrière and the Porte Sainte-Claire, before you climb up.
The Thiou and the Pont Morens
The Thiou is the lake's natural outlet, a short river that runs through the old town and joins the Fier just beyond Cran-Gevrier. In the Middle Ages its water turned the wheels of flour mills, forges making swords and knives, sawmills and tanneries. One of its arms, the Canal du Vassé, was dug to fill the moats of the town walls.
The river also controls the lake. From 1874 the engineer Sadi Carnot built sluice gates on the Thiou, run by the town of Annecy on behalf of the state since 1876; the main gates are at the Pont Perrière, the Pont Albert-Lebrun and Saint-Dominique, and the level of the lake is measured under the Pont de la Halle.
- Finish at the Pont Morens, one of the bridges over the Thiou in the old town and the final stop of our scavenger hunt, a good place to end among the canals of the old town.
How to see them in one walk
Start on the Pâquier for the Panorama du lac and the lakeside lawns where the Fête du Lac is watched. Walk back into the old town to the Place Notre-Dame and the church of Notre-Dame-de-Liesse, then follow the Rue Sainte-Claire and climb to the castle for the view over the roofs. Come back down to the Thiou and follow the canals to the Pont Morens.
See Annecy with World City Trail
Our Annecy scavenger hunt turns the old town into a game you play on your phone. The route links 10 stops, from the Pont des Amours to the Pont Morens, and the Panorama du lac, the Église Notre-Dame-de-Liesse, the Place Notre-Dame and the Pont Morens are all stops, along with the Palais de l'Île and the Cathédrale Saint-Pierre. At each stop you solve a puzzle and learn a story, at your own pace.
There is also a self-guided walking tour and an outdoor escape game in Annecy, for people who prefer a different format.
Play the Annecy scavenger hunt →
Take the self-guided walking tour of Annecy →
Play the outdoor escape game in Annecy →
Facts checked in October 2026.