How to spend the ultimate weekend in Annecy, France

They call Annecy the "Venice of the Alps" for good reason. An utterly charming town in the Haute-Savoie region of Southeastern France, it is crisscrossed by canals lined by flower boxes and encircles a great, glittering alpine lake, with shorelines best seen from the bow of a boat.

Guided by French friends with a family home here, I explored every medieval castle, beach, boat, restaurant, hotel, café and curio shop I could squeeze into summer. Now, I can't wait to return.

• When to arrive: If you're traveling overseas, booking a Thursday night flight to Geneva Airport (GVA) that arrives Friday morning is best. Delta, United and Swiss Airlines offer non-stop flights to GVA.

• How to get from the airport: The fastest way to get into town is to either pick up a rental car and drive 45 minutes or hop on a low-cost shuttle bus. FlixBus offers direct shuttle services from Geneva Airport to Annecy for less than $22.

• Getting around town: Almost everyone cycles. Thankfully, Lake Annecy is lined with friendly bike shops that rent out e-bikes, cargo bikes, and classic road bikes, baskets and bells included.

• Where to stay: Airbnb rentals are popular in Annecy, which makes it easy to feel like a local with your own fridge and washing machine. For a mid-tier hotel, the Black Bass has a prime lakeside position with a hip vibe. On the higher end, Le Palace de Menthon literally feels like a palace with a full-service spa and glass-encased rooftop restaurant.

• What to pack: Pack bathing suits and beachwear, along with comfortable sneakers, hiking boots and athleisure to make the most of the alpine trails. Annecy is also home to 10 Michelin-starred restaurants, which require smart-casual evening wear for dinner (think summer dresses, light blazers and lots of natural linen).

Friday

Morning: Start your morning like a true Annécienne: with really good coffee. Head into the historic old town called Annecy-le-Vieux and stroll down the charming, cobblestone Rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau, where you'll find Café Bunna Annecy. Despite being the "smallest coffee shop in Annecy" (it's literally a hole in the wall), there is a barista counter churning out some of the town's best lattés, croissants and baguettes served warm and laden with fresh local goat and cow cheese.

How to spend the day: Imagine if Italy's Lake Como had a wide, 42-km (26-mile) bike path along its entire perimeter where pro-cyclists spend summers breezing past the petals of wildflowers – that's Lake Annecy. The world revolves around cycling here, regardless of skill level. I recommend Cyclable rentals, which has two separate locations and a robust inventory. On the bike path, you'll pass signage designed to lure you into a lakeside lunch. Let it.

Generally speaking, the restaurants here are casual waterfront affairs, often facing their own pier or patch of beach. A great spot for lunch is Le Poisson Rouge, where the staff is attentive but chill, the fare is local (think filets de perche served with crisp pomme frites), and the Aperol spritz cocktails are flowing. You could easily while away the entire afternoon here if you had no agenda. But we've only got 72 hours, so get ye to the boat, young sailor!

Lac d'Annecy is brimming with French teenagers renting paddle boats to passersby from €14 to €24, and it's carefree and cute. But if you want a more luxurious experience, cycle to The Boat (book ahead online) and spend the afternoon sailing on a catamaran with a born-and-bred Annécienne, Captain Arnaud Depee. Even in the summer months, the bright turquoise water is cooled by alpine snowmelt and makes for a fantastically refreshing swim. Make friends with Captain Arnaud, and he'll tell you the town's secrets, including chic places to wine and dine. For tonight's dinner, he recommended restaurant Vincent Favre Félix, which hosts only nine tables and serves a tightly orchestrated, prix-fixe gastronomic escapade.

Dinner: The coolest thing about this dinner is that Chef Félix personally greets you alongside his French-and-English-speaking waitstaff and prepares several dishes for you tableside. The one I am still craving is a riff on le petit déjeuner (breakfast), based on the Chef's childhood memories of his uncle dipping toast in coffee. A small bowl of Beaufort cheese mousse cradles a lightly cooked egg yolk, gingerly topped with small squares of Roquefort and croutons, salt and pepper. It's soft and deeply creamy, but when you dip your spoon into the bottom of the bowl, there is a dusting of coffee grounds that give the whole dish shape and texture. It's so simple but creates a strong internal response, which I can only call tenderness.
Pro tip: Go for the 8-course "Essential" (€119) menu over the 10-course "Audace" (€169) menu, which is more food than most people can consume in one sitting.

Saturday

Morning: Get ready to shop, fueled by a light, healthy breakfast at the hip beach café Pura Vida. After Friday night's indulgences, I opt for a purple acai smoothie to go. Most retail shops in Annecy aren't open on Sunday, so getting an early start on Saturday is the best way to go.

Two stores stand out for genuine made-in-France craftsmanship. One is Paul Marius, selling vintage leather goods designed in Normandy. Here, you'll find a colorful collection of handbags, backpacks, duffle bags, wallets and sneakers. Next, head back over to Rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau and get lost in the homeware reverie that is Le Tetras, a Savoyarde shop filled with pottery hand-painted by local artisans. The place is stocked floor-to-ceiling with whimsical egg cups, coffee mugs, flower vases, water pitchers, salad bowls and cherry red fondue sets for that idyllic French farmhouse tablescape (the shopkeeper will bubble wrap your purchases tight as a drum if you've got space in your suitcase).

How to spend the day: A visit to Château de Menthon-Saint Bernard is an absolute must. It's a stunning medieval castle on a hill, which is said to have inspired Walt Disney's Sleeping Beauty. Take a 45-minute guided tour for the full backstory, which includes a primer on the life of Count François de Menthon (1900-1984), a WWII French liberation fighter and professor who, despite being wounded in the French army and captured by members of the Vichy regime, became the attorney general of France. It's a fascinating true story, which you'll need a bit of time to process.

Within walking distance is the public Plage de Menthon Saint Bernard. Here, you can shelter in the shade of the trees and swim to your heart's content. You can bring your own lunch or patronize the cheap-and-cheerful beach café (which sells ice cream, sandwiches, snacks and drinks). To be honest, you'll probably want to take it easy on lunch because tonight's dinner is another knock-out Epicurean experience.

Dinner: If I had to choose one meal in Annecy, it would be Chef Jean Sulpice's Michelin-starred restaurant at Auberge du Père Bise, in the chic town of Talloires. Even locals aspire to eat here because the ambiance is magical. From an outdoor terrace table, you can witness the mirror of Lake Annecy meeting the mountains whilst sitting shaded by the broad green leaves of sweet-smelling mulberry trees.

Service is an elegant, well-choreographed dance, presenting dish after remarkable dish from a six or eight-course menu. Here again, go with the lighter menu and take your time. Weeks later, the dish I still crave is the "cueillette d'été," a perfect circle of summer vegetables that make a kind of laurel crown for emulsified cream sauce. It's a celebration of the season in a bowl. For the meal's grand finale: a massive wheel of local Beaufort cheese "in the spirit of an alpine pasture," sliced paper-thin on your plate, finished perfectly with a swig of caramel-colored Roussillon wine.

Sunday

Morning: In any weather, Sunday morning is best spent sipping coffee and tucking into avocado toast at Dip Honest Food, Annecy's answer to Brooklyn's boho-chic brunches. It's an all-day café populated by locals who seem to be perpetually sipping noisettes with nowhere to go. Not you, dear voyager. It's time to ASCEND!

How to spend the day: Pack a backpack with a water bottle and a change of fresh clothes, lace up your hiking boots and head directly to Roc de Chère, a protected nature reserve spanning 168 acres of dense forests, sandstone ridges and dramatic limestone cliffs. Thankfully, the trails range from easy to moderate, making the experience accessible even to wannabe hikers like me. It may take 90 minutes to reach its summit, but you'll be rewarded with breathtaking views of the lake, the surrounding Mont Veyrier mountains and the postcard-picture village of Talloires below.

On a clear morning, you'll spot dozens of people paragliding through this pure mountain air. Most take off from Col de la Forclaz, which is home to well-known paragliding schools, including Les Passagers du Vent and Annecy Aventure. If you want to give it a go, you'll need to book your slot ahead of time (prices range between €85 to €170), park your car at the "Col de la Forclaz" public car park, then walk up to the take-off site.

To end your weekend with a soft landing, I suggest a languorous, late lunch in the elegant restaurant inside Le Cottage hotel. From behind its panoramic bay window, the surface of the lake seems to change colors from turquoise to zephyr green to azure blue, depending on the angle of sun rays that seem to beam through the clouds just for you, making this horizon that much harder to leave.

Take it in. Raise a glass of Chablis, savor the last few tender bites of lobster cassoulet and try not to mourn over the loss of sheer delights, like apricot gelato with wild thyme. As they say, you can't take it with you.