The 4 best hiking routes near Annecy in France

Annecy is known for its gorgeous landscape and the Alpine views. Annecy lake is the city’s heart, and it offers 40km of beautiful coastline to explore. There are multiple hiking routes in and around Annecy, but for this article, I’ve just chosen the ones that are within easy reach of Annecy city and the ones I visited myself.

Mont Baron and Mont Veyrier hiking route

The closest hiking trail to Annecy city that you can do is Mont Veyrier and Mont Baron. These mountains lie on the left side if you are standing in the Annecy city watching the lake. There are trails with different lengths and difficulty levels.

I highly recommend walking all the way up to the top of the mountain. It takes a couple of hours, but the views are absolutely worth the climb! It was one of the most breathtaking spots I’ve ever been in! The route there is not the easiest, and especially at the end of the trail, there are spiky rocks, so better to have proper shoes with you.

You can either start the route from the lake or if you wish to do a shorter hike, there is a parking lot a bit higher on the mountain. If you want to start the trek from the lake, which I highly recommend doing, you should first find a boulangerie, a bakery shop, called Au Puits Savoyard 2.

Hiking route on Mont Sevrier

The crosses route goes through the Sevrier mountain that lies south of Annecy. I found this route super cool because of all the crosses that you can visit on this route. To get to this hiking route, you either need to go to Sevrier by bus, car, or bike.

The route’s starting point is a bit hidden but can be found with this link. On this part of the mountain, there are three crosses to see. One more cross is located on the other side of the mountain, and I didn’t go there since it’s a bit off the route. The three crosses that you want to see are Croix du Crêt, Croix Du Chef-Lieu Sevrier and Croix du Chuguet.

All in all, it is a relatively easy route to take since the mountain is not that high. The path is easy to walk on, and it goes through a lovely forest. However, the first half of the route is pretty steep, which is the most exhausting part of the hike. Once you tackle that, it will get a lot easier. The ground is not too rocky, mostly just a basic forest base, so easy hike for a beginner (like I am!). The route takes 2h 40min approximately, depending on how long you stay on the way to taking photos ;).

Mont Semnoz

Mont Semnoz is a bit further south from Mont Sevrier and requires to have a car to get here. This was the hike I needed to skip since, unfortunately, I did not have a car to use in Annecy. If you plan to do this hike, let me know how it was!

The Alps – Tête du Danay

There are dozens of hiking routes around the Alps, but the one I did was to Tête du Danay. Tête du Danay is 1700 meters high mountain and you get there from Espace Nordique des Confins where the route starts. The hike is a bit exhausting because there is much uphill to do and not too many resting points. This is also why it takes way longer to go up than down. It takes approximately an hour to get up but a lot less to go down. However, it depends on you and how fast you hike.

On this hike, you will see breathtaking views of the Alps. I highly recommend doing this hike both during the summer and during the winter. I was there during winter, and the snowy Alps were mesmerizing! Around this same mountain, there is also a cross-country skiing route that you can take if you prefer that instead of walking; however that route doesn’t go as high up as the hike does.

Hope the tips in this post will help you to decide the hikes near Annecy in France!