My wife and I will be stopping over in the annecy/geneva region on our way from Colmar to Provence for one night and a half day the next day. We are interested in seeing Chillon possibly and also looking for a reasonably priced hotel with lake views and walkable. Does anyone have suggestions or recommendations if they were to stay in Annecy vs. geneva, or if we can get the full experience by staying in Annecy and still drive to see the lake castle. Let me know your ideas.
Merci
Posted by
Portland, Maine
2916 posts
Having stayed in both Annecy and Geneva, I'm partial to Annecy. "Reasonably priced hotel" in Geneva is hard enough, never mind the lake view part. We stayed in a hotel with a canal view in Annecy, but lake views might be tricky because of the locations of most hotels, being in from the lake. I think there are a couple of hotels away from Annecy in towns on other parts of the lake which might have lake views. But central location for walkability in Annecy is not a problem, as there are many hotels right in the center.
Posted by
OP
san francisco, California, United States
2 posts
Thanks! That is helpful. It seems that Annecy is a very walkable town with beautiful mountain and lake views so I guess I am kind of leaning towards Annecy rather than Geneva. I believe one could drive to see the Castle Chillon on Lake Geneva rather easily once you are in this area. Is Geneva located more in the mountains? I would like to try to get a bit of the Alps experience as we drive through this part of teh countryside to provence.
Posted by
Santa Barbara, CA, USA
177 posts
You could consider staying in Montreux or Vevey that are close to the Chillon Castle. You have wonderful views over the alps from both of those towns. You could even consider taking the cogwheel train up to Rochers-de-Naye in addition to visiting the Chillon castle for a different experience.
Posted by
Corvallis OR
7158 posts
I've not stayed in Geneva but I have stayed in both Annecy and Montreux. Both lakes are surrounded by mountains although they are not the high, snow covered, alpine peaks you may be wanting. Both have beautiful views. Annecy is about 2 hrs from Chillon castle, Geneva about 1-1/2 hrs, Montreux is very close (a few minutes away). My personal preference would be Annecy as I found it one of the most beautiful towns I have ever stayed in, loved the canals and it had a great market day. However, if you are set on Chillon castle, I would stay in Montreux since it's so much closer. We drove through Geneva and saw a couple of things and it's nice but I didn't feel compelled to stay there. Can't really recommend any hotels in Montreux. We were on a tour and stayed at the Suisse Majestic, definitely recommended but it's pretty pricey (I couldn't afford it on my own). In Annecy I stayed at Hotel du Chateau which was very nice and very reasonable. It's up by the chateau (thus the name) so not on the lake and my view was of the town and the hills in the distance not of the lake and it's up a pretty steep street from town but not very far and no stairs - I walked down to town several times without trouble. I walked a lot around the lakefront and I took a 2-hour cruise around the lake which was very worthwhile.