French Alps: Lyon, Annecy and Chamonix

1. Jour 1 : Arrive in Lyon

   Lyon Saint-Exupéry Airport or Lyon Part-Dieu station to your hotel in central Lyon

   • Environ 30 min de route
   • Welcome dinner
   • Nuit : Lyon
   Détail du jour 1

   Fly into Lyon Saint-Exupéry Airport (LYS), about 25 km east of the city, or arrive by train at Lyon Part-Dieu, and a driver meets you for the half-hour ride into the centre. Plan to arrive by about 4 pm. Lyon sits where the Saône meets the Rhône, and its historic centre, from the Roman hill of Fourvière to the Renaissance lanes of Vieux Lyon and the silk-weavers' quarter of the Croix-Rousse, is listed by UNESCO. In the early evening your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a short briefing on the week, then leads a gentle walk along the Saône quays as the lights come on across the river. We finish at a restaurant on the Presqu'île for a welcome dinner together, a first taste of the city that calls itself the capital of French cooking.

   Compris

   • Pick-up at Lyon Saint-Exupéry Airport (LYS) or Lyon Part-Dieu station
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Evening walk along the Saône
   • Welcome dinner

   Temps libre : Free until the early evening briefing

   Activité : About 2 km of flat walking in the evening.

2. Jour 2 : Lyon: Les Halles, Fourvière and the traboules

   Lyon on foot: Les Halles, Fourvière, Vieux Lyon

   • En train
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Lyon
   Détail du jour 2

   We start at Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse, the covered market, in the morning when it is busiest: your guide buys Saint-Marcellin cheese, rosette sausage and pralines from the stalls for the group to taste. A short ride brings us to Vieux Lyon, where the funicular climbs to Fourvière. We visit the basilica before 10 am, when it is still quiet, and look out from the terrace over the red roofs to the Alps on a clear day. Then we walk down through the Roman theatres and into Vieux Lyon, one of the largest Renaissance quarters in Europe. Your guide opens the doors to the traboules, covered passages that cut through houses and courtyards from one street to the next, with spiral stairs and arcaded galleries hidden from the street. Lunch is long and sit-down in a bouchon: quenelles, salade lyonnaise, a pot of local wine. The afternoon and evening are yours.

   Compris

   • Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse with tastings
   • Funicular up to Fourvière and the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière
   • The Roman theatres of Fourvière
   • Guided walk through the traboules of Vieux Lyon
   • Sit-down lunch in a Lyon bouchon

   Option plus facile : Ride the funicular back down instead of walking, and rest at the hotel after lunch.

   Option plus active : In the afternoon, walk with your guide's map up to the Croix-Rousse and its weavers' traboules, ending at the hilltop square for the view.

   Temps libre : Afternoon and evening free

   Activité : About 5 to 6 km on foot, with cobbles and some steep stairs on the way down from Fourvière. Les Halles closes on Mondays, so day 2 never falls on a Monday.

3. Jour 3 : To Annecy and out on the lake

   Lyon to Annecy, then the old town and a lake cruise

   • Environ 2 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Annecy
   Détail du jour 3

   After breakfast we drive east for about an hour and three quarters, leaving the Rhône plain for the foothills of the Alps, and reach Annecy by late morning, in time to check in or leave the bags. The old town is built around the Thiou, a short river that drains the lake through a grid of canals. Your guide walks you past the Palais de l'Isle, a 12th-century island prison shaped like the bow of a ship, along the flower-hung quays and up to the château above the roofs. Lunch is a sit-down meal in the old town, where tartiflette and Reblochon from the nearby Aravis valleys are on every menu. In the afternoon, once the light softens, we board a scheduled boat for a cruise of about an hour around the lake, known for its clear water, with the Tournette and the Dents de Lanfon rising behind the villages. The evening is free.

   Compris

   • Drive from Lyon to Annecy with your guide
   • Guided walk in Annecy's old town: the Palais de l'Isle, the canals and the quays
   • Sit-down lunch in Annecy
   • Lake cruise of about an hour

   Temps libre : Evening free

   Activité : About 3 km of flat walking in the old town.

4. Jour 4 : The Semnoz above Lake Annecy

   Annecy to the Semnoz and back

   • Environ 1.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Annecy
   Détail du jour 4

   If the calendar allows, we start in the old town's morning market, among the cheese, honey and charcuterie stalls. Then we drive up the mountain road to the Semnoz, the long ridge south of Annecy, about 40 minutes from town. We go in the morning, before cloud builds over the high peaks, because from the top on a clear day you see the whole lake below and Mont Blanc on the eastern horizon. The walk is easy: about an hour and a half on open meadow paths to the Crêt de Châtillon, the summit at 1,699 m, with an orientation table naming the peaks, and back by a different path through the pasture. In June and July the meadows are full of flowers. Lunch is a sit-down meal at a mountain restaurant on the Semnoz, then we drive back down to Annecy by mid-afternoon. The rest of the day is free: swim from the lakeside beaches, hire a bike on the lakeside path or sit in a café on the quays.

   Compris

   • Annecy old town market (on market days)
   • Guided walk to the Crêt de Châtillon on the Semnoz
   • Sit-down lunch on the Semnoz

   Activités en option

   • Bike hire on the lakeside cycle path (price shown at booking)

   Option plus facile : Stay near the car park and the orientation views, or skip the walk and spend the morning in Annecy.

   Option plus active : A longer loop of about 3 hours along the ridge with your guide, with about 300 m of ascent.

   Temps libre : Afternoon and evening free

   Activité : About 4 km and 150 m of gentle ascent on grass and gravel paths. Weather can close in on the summit; your guide moves the walk to the drier day if needed.

5. Jour 5 : Into the Chamonix valley by the Bellevue balcony

   Annecy to Les Houches, the Bellevue cable car and Col de Voza, then Chamonix

   • Environ 1.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Chamonix
   Détail du jour 5

   We leave Annecy after breakfast and drive about an hour and a quarter to Les Houches, at the mouth of the Chamonix valley, watching the Mont Blanc massif grow ahead. The Bellevue cable car lifts us to about 1,800 m, onto a balcony of open pasture facing the Bionnassay glacier and the Dôme du Goûter. The walk from here to Col de Voza is easy and mostly level, about 1.5 km and 30 minutes, or nearer an hour with stops at the viewpoints, on a section of the Tour du Mont Blanc path; you may see climbers heading for the Mont Blanc summit route from the rack railway stop at Bellevue. Lunch is a sit-down meal at a mountain restaurant on the col, with the whole valley below. Then we ride back down and continue the last few kilometres to Chamonix, our base for three nights, arriving by mid-afternoon. Your guide walks you through the centre, along the Arve river and past the statue of Saussure and Balmat, who first climbed Mont Blanc in 1786. The evening is free.

   Compris

   • Drive from Annecy to Les Houches with your guide
   • Bellevue cable car up and down
   • Balcony walk from Bellevue to Col de Voza
   • Sit-down lunch at a mountain restaurant
   • Orientation walk in Chamonix

   Option plus facile : Stay at the Bellevue terrace with the view while the group walks to Col de Voza and back.

   Option plus active : Climb on from Col de Voza to Le Prarion (1,969 m) with your guide for a 360-degree view, about 1.5 hours more and 300 m of ascent.

   Temps libre : Evening free

   Activité : About 3 km of easy walking at about 1,700 to 1,800 m. The Bellevue cable car runs in summer only.

   

6. Jour 6 : The Aiguille du Midi

   Chamonix to the Aiguille du Midi and back

   • Petit-déjeuner
   • Nuit : Chamonix
   Détail du jour 6

   This is the early start of the trip, and the reason for it is the air. We walk from the hotel to the Aiguille du Midi station for one of the first cabins of the day, booked in advance, when the sky is usually clearest and the queues shortest. The cable car climbs in two stages, via Plan de l'Aiguille at 2,317 m, to a rock needle at 3,842 m, about 2,800 m above the town in around 20 minutes. At the top a lift inside the rock takes you to the highest terrace, face to face with Mont Blanc, with the Matterhorn and the Grand Combin on the horizon on a clear day. Step into the Void is a glass box over a sheer drop. Your guide explains the peaks and the glaciers below. We come back down late in the morning, and the afternoon is free: lunch where you like, the shops of the rue du Docteur Paccard, or a rest after the altitude.

   Compris

   • Aiguille du Midi cable car on an early booked slot, with your guide at the top
   • Step into the Void (when open)

   Activités en option

   • The Panoramic Mont-Blanc gondola from the Aiguille du Midi across the glaciers to Pointe Helbronner, in summer (price shown at booking)

   Option plus facile : Ride only to Plan de l'Aiguille at 2,317 m and wait there with the view, or take a short walk to the Lac Bleu nearby.

   Option plus active : Ride down only to Plan de l'Aiguille and walk the steep path down to Chamonix through the forest with your guide's directions, about 2.5 to 3 hours and 1,300 m of descent.

   Temps libre : Afternoon and evening free

   Activité : At 3,842 m it can be near freezing even in July. Move slowly at the top; if you feel unwell, go down. If the summit is in cloud, your guide swaps this day with day 7; the Montenvers lunch moves with it and the farewell dinner stays on the last evening.

7. Jour 7 : The Montenvers train and the Mer de Glace

   Chamonix to Montenvers and the Mer de Glace, and back

   • En train
   • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Chamonix
   Détail du jour 7

   A slower morning, then we walk to the station of the Montenvers railway, the red rack train that has climbed through the forest since 1908. In about 20 minutes it reaches Montenvers at 1,913 m, above the Mer de Glace, the largest glacier in France, with the granite spire of the Dru opposite. The glacier has thinned dramatically, and markers on the way down show where the ice stood in past decades, which your guide uses to explain what the Alps are losing. Since December 2024 a new gondola takes you from Montenvers down towards the ice cave, carved fresh into the glacier each year; a staircase remains for the last part, and we confirm its length at booking. Lunch is a sit-down meal at Montenvers, on the terrace if the weather allows, then the train takes us back to Chamonix in the early afternoon. The rest of the afternoon is free before a farewell dinner together, with Savoyard dishes such as fondue or tartiflette if you want them.

   Compris

   • Montenvers rack railway up and down, and the Mer de Glace gondola (we confirm at booking that it is on the same ticket)
   • The Mer de Glace viewpoint and the ice cave, with your guide
   • Sit-down lunch at Montenvers
   • Farewell dinner in Chamonix

   Option plus facile : Skip the gondola and the stairs to the ice cave and stay at the Montenvers viewpoint and terrace.

   Option plus active : Walk down from Montenvers to Chamonix through the forest instead of taking the train, about 2 hours and 850 m of descent.

   Temps libre : Afternoon free until the farewell dinner

   Activité : The gondola takes you most of the way to the ice cave, then a staircase remains, with handrails; we confirm its length at booking. The ice cave is open through the June to September season.

   

8. Jour 8 : Down the valley to Geneva

   Chamonix to Geneva Airport

   • Environ 1.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner
   Détail du jour 8

   A last breakfast with the mountains in the window. If your flight is in the afternoon, the morning is free for a final walk along the Arve, a coffee on the Place Balmat or a look at the peaks from the Bois du Bouchet park at the edge of town. Late in the morning we load the minivan and drive down the Chamonix valley, past Les Houches and the bend where the road leaves the massif behind, then along the Arve valley to the Swiss border and Geneva Airport (GVA), about 85 km and an hour and a quarter. We usually arrive around 1 pm. Your guide sees you to the terminal before saying goodbye. If you are staying on, Geneva's lakeside centre is a short train ride from the airport, and we can drop you in the city instead on request.

   Compris

   • Drop-off at Geneva Airport (GVA)

   Option plus facile : For a morning flight, we leave Chamonix early enough to reach the airport two hours before departure.

   Temps libre : Morning free

   Activité : Book a flight leaving after about 3 pm to keep the morning free.

   

Faune et météo : June to September is the season: the summer lifts run, the Semnoz meadows are in flower in June and July, and Lake Annecy is warm enough to swim. Lyon can be hot in July and August; afternoon storms are common in the mountains, so we go high in the morning.

• Lyon2 nuits
• Annecy2 nuits
• Chamonix3 nuits