After the Brooks Marathon du Lac d'Annecy: Lake Annecy

The Route: Central Annecy → Talloires or Menthon-Saint-Bernard (1 night) → Central Annecy Logistics: Local bus around the lakeshore, or taxi for a more direct journey. Marathon Month: April Duration: 1 night

Central Annecy ──(local bus or taxi, ~30-45 mins)──> Talloires / Menthon-Saint-Bernard
                                                                │
Central Annecy ◄──(same route, reverse)────────────────────────┘

The Brooks Marathon du Lac d'Annecy runs south along the lake's western shore before turning back for the city, so a runner has already seen the eastern side of Lake Annecy only from a distance, if at all. This excursion is the simplest one in the whole collection: instead of a new city, a second night on the same lake, in one of the quieter villages around its far shore, Talloires, Menthon-Saint-Bernard or Sevrier.

April on Lake Annecy is shoulder season, and it changes the transport options in one specific way worth knowing before planning this trip: the lake's Navibus shuttle boat, which links the villages around the shore in summer, does not begin its season until early May, so it is not an option for an April race weekend. A local Sibra or Proximo bus service covers the lakeshore corridor instead, though schedules run lighter than the enhanced summer timetable; check the current route and timetable at mobilites.grandannecy.fr before travelling, or take a taxi for a more direct journey if the bus connection looks awkward on the day.

That single seasonal fact is worth acting on rather than discovering at a jetty that isn't yet staffed: plan the journey here as a road trip by bus or taxi, not a boat crossing, and treat the lake itself as the view rather than the transport for this particular night.

Night One: Talloires or Menthon-Saint-Bernard

Talloires, on the lake's eastern shore, is a small village built almost entirely around its position on the water, with none of the transport pressure of central Annecy on race weekend. The Chemin des Moines, a flat waterside path running along the shore, is the primary recovery asset here: paved and level, with the lake immediately alongside and the mountains of the Roc de Chère rising behind it, an easy 30-to-45-minute stroll for legs that ran a marathon the day before. Menthon-Saint-Bernard, a short distance further round the shore, offers a similar flat lakeside walk with its own château visible on the hillside above, worth viewing from below rather than climbing to on a recovery day.

Sevrier, closer to Annecy on the same western shore the marathon itself runs along, is the most convenient of the three if minimising travel time matters more than distance from the race route; it trades a little remoteness for ease of access, without losing the lakeside setting that is the whole point of this extra night. It also holds the Musée Paccard, a working bell foundry and museum, a different way to spend an hour than another lakeside walk, and one that asks nothing of tired legs beyond standing and looking.

Where to stay: Palace de Menthon, in Menthon-Saint-Bernard, is the area's premium option, directly on the lake with the château as a backdrop. Hôtel du Lac, in Talloires-Montmin, offers a more modest, lake-level alternative in the same stretch of shore, both putting a guest within a short, flat walk of the water.

Where to eat: Auberge du Père Bise, on the route du Port in Talloires, holds two Michelin stars and is a special-occasion choice rather than an everyday dinner, appropriate for a trip built around finishing a marathon. Given its standing, book well ahead and check its current opening days for April specifically, since a restaurant of this calibre does not necessarily run a full seven-day week outside peak season.

Getting Back to Annecy

Return to central Annecy by the same local bus or taxi route, roughly 30 to 45 minutes depending on which village this stay is based in. From Annecy, the onward connections to Geneva Airport or Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport covered elsewhere in this collection apply in full; this extra night is best treated as a coda to the main trip rather than a new departure point of its own.