Discover Local Lakes & Mountains: What to Do Around Mercure Lakes & Mountains

At Mercure, we believe you shouldn't need a guidebook to feel like you belong somewhere. That's the idea behind Discover Local: since 1973, every Mercure hotel has been built around its neighbourhood, not just dropped into it — from the décor on the walls to the flavours on the menu. Step into any Mercure and our teams are on hand with the kind of tips you won't find in a guidebook: the market stall locals queue for, the bar where nobody speaks English, the walk that skips the crowds. They live here. They know. Discover Local isn't a generic city guide — it's a short, honest list of the restaurants, markets and neighbourhoods our own hotel teams actually recommend to guests, updated as the city changes around us. Below, you'll find our picks for Lakes & Mountains, an interactive map to help you find your way, and answers to the questions travellers ask us most. So — where will Discover Local take you?

Lakes & Mountains in 5 picks

Annecy

Canals thread through the old town, and the lake beyond it is regularly rated among the cleanest in Europe. Walk the Thiou river past pastel façades, then follow the lakeside path out toward the mountains.

Aix-les-Bains

A spa town on Lake Bourget, France's largest natural lake. Queen Victoria once stayed here; the thermal baths are still running, and the lakefront makes for an easy, flat walk.

Chambéry

The historic gateway to the Massif des Bauges, roughly 30km from Annecy. Its old town is compact and walkable, with arcaded streets built to shelter from mountain weather.

Talloires

A small village on Lake Annecy's eastern shore, built around an 11th-century abbey and some of the calmest water on the lake.

Menthon-Saint-Bernard

A lakeside village watched over by a château that's belonged to the same family for over a thousand years, with views across to the Massif des Bauges and the Tournette.

Where to eat
This is Savoie: reblochon melting into a tartiflette, cheese fondue for sharing, raclette scraped straight off the wheel. On the lake, look for féra, a local whitefish that shows up on menus around Annecy simply grilled or pan-fried.
Lake or peak
You genuinely get to choose. Mornings can mean swimming or paddleboarding on Lake Annecy or Lake Bourget; afternoons can mean a hike up Le Semnoz or into the Massif des Bauges. Neither is more than a short drive from the water.
Getting around
Lake Annecy sits around 25km from Aix-les-Bains and Lake Bourget, with Chambéry roughly 30km from Annecy — all manageable by car in under an hour. A car gives you the most flexibility for reaching mountain villages, though the main towns are also linked by train. Mountain passes can close in winter, so check conditions if you're heading up rather than around the lakes.
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FAQ

Yes — Lake Annecy is regularly ranked among the cleanest lakes in Europe, and swimming spots around Annecy and Talloires get busy on summer weekends.

Savoyard classics: tartiflette, fondue and raclette built around local cheeses like reblochon, plus féra, a whitefish caught in Lake Annecy.

Summer for the lakes — swimming, paddleboarding, lakeside walks. Winter shifts the focus uphill, toward the mountains around the Massif des Bauges and Bornes ranges.

Where to sleep

See our Mercure hotels across Lakes & Mountains, ideally placed to explore these picks.

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Where to sleep

See our Mercure hotels across Lakes & Mountains, ideally placed to explore these picks

View hotels