Annecy
In a warren-like 18th-century building in the centre of the old town, this hotel leans towards nostalgia with parchment-effect wallpaper and regal maroon hues, but keeps things up to date where it matters: tastefully modern bathrooms, minibars and a sleek lounge-bar. Rooms have views of the palais, the château or the old town’s rooftops.
The continental breakfast spread costs €12.
21.4 MILES
When landing by plane, this lakeside fountain is your first dramatic glimpse of Geneva. The 140m-tall structure shoots up water with incredible force –…
23.41 MILES
Founded in 1954, the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), 8km west of Geneva, is a laboratory for research into particle physics. It…
4.43 MILES
Twenty-three generations of the De Menthon family have lived within 1000-year-old Château de Menthon-St-Bernard. The birthplace of St Bernard in 1008 –…
Conservatoire et Jardin Botaniques
22.83 MILES
Geneva's premier botanical park – renowned for its Botanical Conservatory – boasts over 12,000 species of plants from around the world, meticulously…
Musée d'Ethnographie de Genève
20.7 MILES
Admission is free to the permanent collection of this excellent hands-on museum, which examines the similarities and differences of our planet's myriad of…
Cathédrale St-François de Sales
25.05 MILES
All is not as it seems inside Chambéry's 15th-century Franciscan cathedral, decorated with 6000 sq metres of trompe l’œil painting. The largest such…
25.15 MILES
Medieval walls, Gothic tracery, trompe l'oeil detailing…Chambéry's château has acquired a wealth of styles since its founding in the 11th century. Once…
0.1 MILES
It’s a pleasure simply to wander aimlessly around Annecy’s medieval Old Town, where emerald-green canals flow beneath stone bridges and pastel-painted…
0.03 MILES
Sitting on a triangular islet surrounded by the Canal du Thiou, the Palais de l’Isle has been a lordly residence, a courthouse, a mint and a prison,…
2. Église St-François de Sales
0.05 MILES
Inspired by the design of Rome's Church of the Gesù, this Catholic church is also known as the Church of the Italians (and hosts mass in Italian). Dating…
0.07 MILES
A pale sandstone church, Annecy's oldest, made all the more dazzling by the turquoise Canal du Thiou running alongside it. Step through the 15th-century…
0.1 MILES
It’s a pleasure simply to wander aimlessly around Annecy’s medieval Old Town, where emerald-green canals flow beneath stone bridges and pastel-painted…
0.1 MILES
With commanding views across the ochre rooftops of the Vieille Ville (Old Town) to the Massif des Bauges, the Château d’Annecy is at once imposing and…
0.14 MILES
A former Franciscan chapel consecrated in 1535, Annecy's cathedral has a Renaissance-meets-Gothic style. Drawing attention from the unadorned walls are a…
7. Église Notre Dame de Liesse
0.17 MILES
Largely built during the mid-19th century after its 14th-century predecessor was damaged during the French Revolution, the Church of Our Lady of Liesse…
0.18 MILES
On the tree-fringed lakefront, the flowery Jardins de l’Europe are linked to the grassy Champ de Mars, a popular picnic spot, by the poetic iron arch of…