Lake Annecy beaches: which one should you choose? Free, paid and lifeguard hours beach by beach

"Lake Annecy beach" does not refer to an event or to a single beach. It covers a dozen beaches spread across the municipalities around the lake, each with its own lifeguard dates, hours, and free or paid status.

Here are the details beach by beach, up to date with the 2026 listings, and the points where the official sources disagree with each other.

Which Lake Annecy beaches are free?

• Albigny (Annecy): free access all year, day and night, lifeguards in summer.
• Marquisats (Annecy): free access, lifeguards from 4 July to 31 August 2026.
• Sevrier: free access, lifeguards from 26 June to 29 August 2026 from 10:15am to 5:45pm.
• Angon (Talloires-Montmin): free access, lifeguards from 4 July to 30 August 2026 from 12:30pm to 6:30pm, a shorter window than the town beaches.
• Bout du Lac (Doussard): free access all year, but parking is charged from 1 May to 30 September, which changes the bill if you come by car.

At Albigny and the Marquisats, lifeguards are on duty from 11am to 7pm every day, paid for by the municipality, with no ticket at the entrance. The City of Annecy dated the 2024 season from 6 July to 1 September, a few days off the press release for L'Impérial.

Which beaches charge for entry, and how much?

Photo: Guilhem Vellut from Annecy, France, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

• Saint-Jorioz: free access for the rest of the year, but paid and supervised from 1 July to 31 August 2026 from 9:30am to 5:30pm. The official listing does not publish the entry price.
• L'Impérial (Annecy): part of the complex, with a pool and facilities, charges €3.30 for adults, €1.70 for under-16s, free for under-4s over the period from 2 July to 4 September according to the national press.

For Saint-Jorioz, the lack of a published price on the official listing stands out: there is no way to budget an afternoon on the beach without calling the town hall or turning up.

What time should you avoid to escape the crowds?

Neither the municipalities nor the tourist office publish hour-by-hour visitor figures. The only indirect clue comes from lifeguard numbers: at Albigny, the municipality goes from 3 lifeguards from 11am to 12pm, then 4 from 12pm to 7pm, which suggests a rush from midday rather than a steady load all day.

Without published data, the only rule the guides repeat is common sense: mornings are calmer, weekend afternoons in July and August are busier. No source puts a figure on how much.

Which costs do the official listings not highlight?

Official communication stresses free access and safety, but stays silent on three practical points.

• Parking: free on paper at Doussard, the site is in reality charged at the car park from 1 May to 30 September.
• Water quality: no listing consulted publishes a record of closures for pollution, even though regulatory checks exist.
• Incidents and one-off closures: storms, flooding, safety incidents. No official document records them in advance.

The lakeside cycle route runs past most of these beaches: the full route is set out in cycling around the lake. For the water temperature before you pick a beach, the dedicated page compares the readings.

To stay near the lake, where to stay in Annecy compares the districts, and camping by the lake gives the pitches with a checked distance to the shore.

Sources

City of Annecy (2024 press kit, 2026 public beaches bylaw), Lake Annecy tourist office (Marquisats, Saint-Jorioz and Sevrier listings, 2026), Talloires-Lac Annecy (Angon beach listing, 2026), Le Figaro Voyages (2024).

La-Yaute (2024), loisirs74.fr (2026), annecybouge.fr (2024), histoiresdepatrimoine.com (2017). Research consolidated on 12 September 2026. No visitor figures by beach are published in the sources consulted: the indications of crowding remain qualitative.