Lake Annecy campsites: 2026 opening dates, recorded prices and the real distance to the shore

Camping is the cheapest way to sleep on the shore of Lake Annecy, and it is not cheap for all that: a week in a bungalow costs €777 to €1,295 at the best documented site. The real issue is not price but distance to the shore, which listings stretch from a few dozen to several hundred metres for the same address.

Here are the published 2026 dates, the recorded price ranges, the number of campsites depending on who is counting, and the contradictions between sources, left as they are. For a visitor flying in without a tent, the sections on mobile homes and bungalows are the ones that matter.

When do the lake's campsites open?

Four sites publish precise dates for 2026. The others simply say "open in season", which is no help in planning a stay in April or October.

• Au Cœur du Lac, Sevrier: from 3 April to 1 November 2026.
• Les Rives du Lac, Sevrier: from 28 March to 4 October 2026.
• La Nublière (Sandaya), Doussard: from 17 April to 1 November 2026.
• Europa, Saint-Jorioz: from 12 May to 18 September 2026, with one partner listing saying 13 May.

From 2023 to 2025, the same sites opened between late March and mid-April and closed between mid-September and 1 November, varying by 3 to 10 days from year to year depending on the French school holidays. The municipal campsite Le Belvédère, in Annecy itself, has no published dates in the documents consulted.

Reception hours are not centralised. The documented example is Le Solitaire du Lac, in Saint-Jorioz: 8am to noon and 2pm to 7pm, with a bell for arrivals from 7pm to 9pm. The other hours recorded are similar, sometimes with reception closed at lunchtime in low season, as at Camping Europa.

How much does a night on a lakeside campsite cost?

No public body publishes price statistics. The ranges come from 2026 comparison tables and from one operator's price list, the only complete one in the lot.

• Bare pitch (tent, caravan, motorhome): €35 to €70 a night in July and August, €20 to €45 from April to June.
• Mobile home or chalet: €85 to €130 a night in summer on campsites right by the water, €50 to €90 out of season.
• Au Cœur du Lac, by the week: €777 to €1,295 for a bungalow depending on the period, €294 to €980 for an equipped tent.

The tourist tax comes on top: €0.60 per adult per night on a 3 to 5-star campsite, on Grand Annecy's 2026 rates. The details by type of accommodation are in where to stay in Annecy.

These figures put the lake's campsites well above the image of budget camping. A week in a bungalow at the peak costs as much as a week in a two-star hotel near the station. The difference is the beach at the end of the path.

How many metres is "lakeside", exactly?

This is the most elastic figure in the file. The same campsite guide published two tables in 2026, and they do not say the same thing about the same sites.

• Le Lac Bleu: 800 m in one table, 80 m in the other, and the municipality switches from Doussard to Lathuile from one page to the next.
• La Nublière: 400 m in one table, 30 m in the other.
• La Ravoire: 500 m in one table, 70 m in the other, in Doussard or Talloires depending on the page.

We do not settle it: we have not measured. What these gaps show is that "lakeside" is a sales pitch before it is a distance. Campsites with a private beach and a pontoon say so explicitly: Au Cœur du Lac and Les Rives du Lac in Sevrier, La Nublière in Doussard.

The check takes a minute: open the exact address on a map and look at what separates the site from the water. A main road in between makes a real difference with children. The map of Annecy gives reference distances between the villages.

How many campsites are there around the lake?

Three answers, depending on the area covered. A national directory counts 29 campsites "near Lake Annecy", only one of them in the municipality of Annecy. A family guide lists 12 family campsites, 6 of them less than 100 m from the shore on one page, and around thirty on another.

They are concentrated on the west shore and in the south: Sevrier, Saint-Jorioz, Doussard and Lathuile have ten to fifteen sites between them. Annecy itself has only Le Belvédère. There is no single official list, either at the tourist office or at county level.

The published capacities confirm the size of the big sites: 106 pitches at Au Cœur du Lac, 90 pitches, 11 to 12 mobile homes and 2 equipped tents at Les Rives du Lac, and for La Nublière 303 rental units and 54 pitches for tents and vans according to the operator, but 250 pitches in a third-party table. The two figures do not count the same thing.

When should you book?

No campsite publishes occupancy rates. The only figure is indirect: at Les Rives du Lac, the boat moorings are announced as fully booked from 19 July to 16 August. If boat spaces fill up over those four weeks, pitches do too.

Second clue: several operators impose a minimum stay of 4 to 7 nights in high season. The "lakeside camping weekend" sold by promotional pages does not exist in July.

Out of season, the logic reverses: campsites open in April and October have space, the water is cold, and that is when the low price ranges apply. The lake temperature month by month is on its own page.

Which four points should you check before booking?

• Is the beach private or public? A beach within the campsite is included in the price. A neighbouring public beach means parking, often charged in summer, and crowds the campsite does not control.
• Where does the road run? The main road follows the lake along much of the west shore. Between the site and the water, or behind the site, makes for a very different stay.
• Which services cost extra? Moorings, bike hire, fridge, shared kitchen, entertainment: listings mention them without prices. Ask for the list of extras before paying the deposit.
• What happens if the beach closes? No listing consulted mentions swimming closures for health or weather reasons. They happen, and no campsite commits to anything on this point.

The greenway runs past most sites on the west shore: it is that shore's most concrete asset. The route, the distances and the closure of the east shore until December 2026 are in cycling round the lake. To eat without getting back in the car, the lakeside restaurants are listed by shore.

Sources

Office de tourisme du lac d'Annecy (Au Cœur du Lac and Les Rives du Lac listings, 2026; Campsites brochure, January 2025; campsites page), Sandaya (La Nublière listing, 2026), the websites of the Au Cœur du Lac, Les Rives du Lac, Le Solitaire du Lac and Europa campsites (2026), Grand Annecy (2026 tourist tax).

campingfrance.com (Lake Annecy theme page, 2025), annecy-camping-familial.com (two comparison tables, 2026), campyng.com, annecy-ville.fr (2020 ratings), haute-savoie-tourisme.org. Research consolidated on 12 September 2026. We did not measure the distances to the shore ourselves: the contradictions between tables are shown, not settled.