Swimming in Lake Annecy: where it is allowed, when it is supervised and what changed in 2026
You cannot swim just anywhere in Lake Annecy: outside the public beaches it is forbidden, and an open beach is not necessarily supervised. The shoreline rules, the free hours at the Impérial beach, which started charging in 2026, and the times with no lifeguard.
Swimming in Lake Annecy is allowed at the public beaches and forbidden elsewhere, including on the town's most photographed shores. The second rule to know: an accessible beach is only supervised for a few hours a day, two months a year.
This page covers both dividing lines. To choose a beach by price and opening hours, our comparison of Lake Annecy's beaches details each site, village by village.
Where is swimming forbidden?
Photo: fr:User:Semnoz, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
The City of Annecy bans swimming from the Pâquier, the Jardins de l'Europe and the Pont des Amours, as well as in the harbours. The byelaw covering the lakeshore bans it more widely outside the public beaches, and closes access to some jetties, except for supervised water sports.
To the south, the Bout du Lac nature reserve is entirely closed to swimming. A photo of a shore or a jetty on social media says nothing about whether you may get into the water there.
In 2025, the city also restated the ban on alcohol on the shores from 10pm to 6am until 31 October. These byelaws are renewed from year to year: the one that applies is the one for the season of your stay.
When are the beaches supervised?
Only the public beaches have lifeguards, and only in summer. At the Marquisats, the beach is open all year but supervised from 4 July to 31 August 2026, from 11am to 7pm.
One tourist source sums up the lake's supervised beaches as "10am to 7pm in July and August". That is an average: each municipality sets its own dates and hours, and the Marquisats lifeguard post opens at 11am, not 10am.
Outside these hours, you can still swim at a public beach, at your own risk. Children and less confident swimmers are better off planning their day around the lifeguard post's hours.
Staying within walking distance of a supervised beach saves the scramble for parking at 11am: the Marquisats area and the west shore at Sévrier are the most convenient. The search for summer accommodation in Annecy lets you sort by distance to the lake.
See places to stay near the beaches →Partner link: booking through this link supports the site at no extra cost to you.What changed at the Impérial in 2026?
Photo: Guilhem Vellut from Annecy, France, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The Impérial beach started charging in summer 2026, from 10am to 7pm, 4 July to 31 August 2026. The measure was announced in early June without prices; the price list only appeared later on the tourist office listing.
It stands at €4 at the standard rate, €2.50 for an Annecy resident, €2 for an Annecy resident aged 10 to 17, with season passes at €59 for an adult, €49 for a young person aged 10 to 17. The companion of a person with reduced mobility gets in free.
The beach remains free from 6am to 10am and from 7pm to 10pm, closed from 10pm to 6am, but there are no lifeguards during those hours. Older pages still quote, for 2024, €3.30 for adults, €1.70 for under-16s, free for under-4s: that price was for the complex's pool area, not for access to the beach.
Can you swim for free at Menthon-Saint-Bernard?
Yes, but late in the day and without a lifeguard. The beach charges from 10am to 6pm, with free, unsupervised entry from 5.45pm.
During the day, entry costs €2.60 per adult, €1.20 per child, and a ten-entry card €22.50 per adult, €10 per child. The municipal page publishing these prices was created in 2008 and only technically updated in 2026: check them at the till.
Can you swim across the lake?
Yes, as part of an organised event. In 2026, the Traversée du Lac d'Annecy took place on Saturday 15 August 2026, over four distances.
The starts: 10 km at 7.45am from the Petit Port, 1 km at 8.45am from the Impérial, 5 km at 9.30am from La Brune beach, 2.4 km from 10.30am at the Petit Port. The finish at the Jardins de l'Europe is open to spectators; the number of swimmers is not published.
When does the water become pleasant?
Lifeguard cover starts in early July, but the temperature matters more than the calendar. The lake's temperature month by month shows when the water rises above 20°C, and the lake water reading explains why websites give different figures.
To swim away from the crowded beaches in the centre, a licence-free boat hired in Doussard or Saint-Jorioz lets you reach a public beach on another shore.
Paddleboarding, kayaking and towed inflatables start from the water sports centres, not from the forbidden shores: supervised activities can be booked on the Annecy activities page.
See water activities →Partner link: booking through this link supports the site at no extra cost to you.Sources
City of Annecy (where to swim page, municipal lakeshore byelaws 2024 and 2026, press release of 1 July 2025), lac-annecy.com (Impérial and Marquisats beach listings, September 2026), annecy-ville.fr (Menthon-Saint-Bernard beach, 25 September 2026), Tourisme Haute-Savoie (Traversée du Lac, 12 and 13 August 2026).
Le Dauphiné libéré (7 June 2026), Radio Mont Blanc (8 June 2026), tourisme-annecy.net (2025), ryo.co (4 June 2026). Research compiled on 28 September 2026. No beach attendance figures, and no updated information on beach closures, were found.
Frequently asked questions
Can you swim anywhere in Lake Annecy?
Do you have to pay at the Impérial beach?
Are Lake Annecy's beaches supervised?
Can you swim across Lake Annecy?
Camille Perrissin
Camille grew up in Sévrier, on the west shore, and swims in the lake from April to November. She has been taking the water temperature herself since 2019 and knows where the bottom suddenly drops away. She writes about the lake without ever turning it into a postcard.
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