Le Balcon du Lac in Annecy: two places under one name, opening hours, seasons and capacity
A restaurant at the Col de la Forclaz whose opening hours are described three ways by three sources, and a holiday village in Sevrier whose listings count 120 to 155 rooms depending on the year. The two places behind the name, the published data, and the figures that do not match.
"Le Balcon du Lac" in Annecy refers to two places that have nothing in common except the view: a restaurant and brasserie at the Col de la Forclaz, and a three-star holiday village on the hills above Sevrier, whose name is in the plural. No event goes by this name.
Both are documented by their operators and by platforms that agree neither on opening hours nor on capacity. This page sets out what each source says, with its date.
Le Balcon du Lac or Les Balcons du Lac: which one are we talking about?
Photo: Hans Hagenaars, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Le Balcon du Lac, singular: a restaurant and brasserie at the Col de la Forclaz, 2299 route de Talloires Montmin, 74210 Annecy. Montmin is administratively part of Annecy, hence the address, but the pass is 30 to 45 minutes' drive from the town.
- Les Balcons du Lac d'Annecy, plural: a holiday village run by Neaclub and Vacances Bleues, 1487 route de Cessenaz, 74320 Sevrier, on the west shore, in grounds of 3 hectares.
The first sells meals and private hire, the second holidays and conferences. Travel times from Annecy are on the map of Annecy.
The restaurant at the Col de la Forclaz: when is it open?
Three sources, three answers. The restaurant's website separates a low season, every lunchtime and Friday evening, from October to April, and an extended season: lunch and dinner seven days a week, brasserie from 10am, restaurant every lunchtime and on Friday and Saturday evenings.
Tripadvisor shows a simple span for 2026: 11am to 11pm every day. The Talloires tourist office publishes a third version: every day from early May to late September, Saturday and Sunday lunchtime from October to April.
So the official website and the tourist office do not say the same thing about winter: "every lunchtime plus Friday evening" on one side, "Saturday and Sunday lunchtime" on the other. No independent source settles it. Out of season, a phone call the day before is the only reliable method.
How many seats, and how do you book?
The restaurant advertises 90 seats inside and 250 on the terrace, which makes it one of the largest terraces around the lake. The 2026 Tripadvisor listing carries a "high demand" note, with no visitor figure behind it.
Booking is by phone or through the website, with no prepayment described. The website highlights private hire for groups, christenings and corporate events, without a price list. And it publishes no menu prices: there is no way to give a sourced range for a meal.
To place it among the other formats of restaurant with a view, from beach bar to hotel restaurant, see the restaurants with a lake view.
The Sevrier holiday village is booked like a hotel: it is listed on booking platforms, with a standard room at €133 to €164 on one platform in 2026. The search for places to stay in Annecy lets you compare it with the hotels on the west shore for your dates.
Compare places to stay on the west shore of the lake →Partner link: booking through this link supports the site at no extra cost to you.The Sevrier holiday village: rooms, meeting rooms, season
The listings do not count the same way. The number of rooms ranges from 120 to 155 rooms depending on the source and the year: 120 in a 2019 listing, 150 "renovated" according to the tourist office in 2025, 155 on a conference website the same year. Successive renovations or a different unit of counting, no source says which.
The same vagueness applies to meeting rooms, 9 to 13 rooms, and to the capacity for the largest events, 250 to 300 people. The rooms can be hired from €100 for a half day without catering, according to a venue directory.
The season is consistent across sources: closed in February, which means open from 1 to 31 January and from 1 March to 31 December according to the tourist office. Reception is open 8am to 8pm, seven days a week. Kids' clubs during the French school holidays, daytime and evening entertainment, and some activities charged extra with no price list.
The tourist tax is added to the displayed rate, as for any accommodation in the Grand Annecy area; the rates are in where to stay in Annecy.
Why do the figures differ?
Because nobody consolidates them. Neither the tourist office, nor the municipality, nor any public body publishes statistics on these two businesses: no visitor numbers, no occupancy rate, no economic impact, no founding date and no history of the operators.
Each platform copies what it recorded on a given date. The gaps are therefore as much about different entry dates as about errors. That applies to the rooms, the meeting rooms, the opening hours, and everything this page reports.
What can you see from the Col de la Forclaz?
The whole lake, both basins, the Duingt peninsula and the west shore, from a natural balcony above Talloires. It is the most photographed viewpoint over the lake, and one of the few you can reach by car.
From Sevrier, the holiday village advertises a "180° view over the lake and the mountains". Both addresses sell the same thing under the same name: height. For the lake itself, its dimensions and its depth seen from above, see Lake Annecy in figures and the depth of the lake.
From the pass you look down at the lake; from the water you look up at the pass: cruises and water activities give you the reverse view. The Annecy activities page brings the options together with their duration and price.
See activities on Lake Annecy →Partner link: booking through this link supports the site at no extra cost to you.Sources
lebalcondulac-annecy.com (restaurant page, 2024 updated 2025), Tripadvisor (restaurant and holiday village listings, 2026), Talloires tourist office (restaurant listing, 2026), Lake Annecy tourist office (Neaclub holiday village listing, 2025), Vacances Bleues (2026 listing), Neaclub groups (2023 updated 2024).
destination-annecy.com (conferences, 2026), seminaire-lac-annecy.com (2025), ABC Salles (2024 updated 2026), Le Dauphiné (17 July 2025), lafrancedunordausud.fr (2019), Booking.com (property listing). Research consolidated on 12 September 2026. No institutional source confirms the opening hours or the capacity figures: they are self-declared.
Frequently asked questions
Where is Le Balcon du Lac in Annecy?
What are the opening hours of Le Balcon du Lac restaurant?
How many seats does Le Balcon du Lac restaurant have?
When does the holiday village Les Balcons du Lac d'Annecy close?
How many rooms does Les Balcons du Lac d'Annecy have?
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.
