14 Avenue du Petit Port, 74000 Annecy
Location
The villa stands on the east side of the Petit Port, between the Avenue and the water. The drive is 60 metres long, with plane trees down one side and a gate that is open from 06:00 to midnight, and the lake path passes the bottom of the garden.
The neighbourhood
Petit Port is a residential area of tall gates, old gardens, a tabac and a bakery on the corner of Avenue d'Albigny. Five minutes north is the Impérial park, with its lawns running down to the water, and Le Pâquier, the great open green where the town meets the lake, is fifteen minutes on foot.
Carry on and you're in the old town, where the Thiou splits around the Palais de l'Île and the arcades of the Rue Sainte-Claire hold the Tuesday and Friday market. The Canal du Vassé comes in under its own avenue of plane trees, with rowing boats tied up along one side, and the castle sits above it all on the rock. It's an easy walk and flat all the way until you decide to go up.
Getting here
- By train. Annecy station is 2.4 km north: twelve minutes by taxi, thirty-five on foot along the lake, or the number 6 bus to Petit Port followed by a two-minute walk. Direct trains from Lyon take under two hours, and from Paris you change at Lyon or Chambéry.
- By air. Geneva is the nearest airport, 45 to 60 minutes by road depending on the border queue, and Lyon–Saint-Exupéry is about two hours away. Reception can arrange a car if you send the flight number the day before.
- By road. Leave the A41 at junction 16 and follow the lake south for 3 km. Behind the house there are fourteen parking spaces, free for guests and available first come, first served, and two of them have charging points.
- By boat. The lake shuttle calls at Petit Port from April to October, and the pontoon is 300 metres along the path. In high season the last crossing back from Talloires is at 18:40.
You can walk into the old town along the water without crossing a single road. People check that twice before they believe it.Alain Berthoud, floor manager
How long things take on foot
| Where | On foot | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Bakery, Avenue d'Albigny | 4 min | Shut Monday |
| Impérial park and beach | 6 min | Lawns to the water |
| Le Pâquier | 15 min | Along the lake path |
| Canal du Vassé | 18 min | Plane trees, rowing boats |
| Palais de l'Île, old town | 22 min | No road to cross |
| Market, Rue Sainte-Claire | 26 min | Tuesday, Friday, Sunday |
| Annecy station | 35 min | Or bus 6, nine minutes |
| Château d'Annecy | 30 min | The last five are uphill |