Why Go to Annecy at Christmas
Annecy at Christmas is so pretty it’s almost unfair.
The chalets run from the canals of the old town along the quays to the edge of the lake, garlands strung above them like a sky full of stars after dark, and the mountains stand right across the water. Canals, a lake and the Alps in one evening’s walk is a lot for one Christmas market to have.
Annecy’s Christmas market is called Noël des Alpes, about 150 chalets in one long line from Place Saint-Maurice to the Jardins de l’Europe on the lakeshore, with a rink of natural ice by the water and the old town’s church and clock tower lit up to music every night, and it’s free to walk in.
The chalets themselves are another story. Most of them sell food and drink, a good few of the rest sell things you could buy anywhere, and the prices sting even for a town as smart as this one. So I’d come for the place rather than the shopping, and if you’re after presents to take home, Alsace does that far better.
Annecy keeps going far longer than its neighbours, though, and it’s open on Christmas Day and runs until 3 January, long after Geneva, Montreux and Strasbourg have shut on Christmas Eve, and Lucerne on the 23rd, so it’s one of the few places where a Christmas market trip still works in the week after Christmas.
When Is the Annecy Christmas Market 2026–2027?
The Annecy Christmas market runs from Thursday 26 November 2026 to Sunday 3 January 2027, every day, and entry is free. It opens three days earlier than last year, when it ran from 29 November to 4 January.
The old town chalets are open from 11:00 to 21:00, and until 21:30 on Fridays and Saturdays. The lakeside at the Jardins de l’Europe starts at 11:00 too and stays open until 22:00 from Thursday to Saturday, and 21:00 the rest of the week.
The sun’s down by about ten to five and the projections in the old town start at 17:00, so I’d come on a weekday and arrive around three, with nearly two hours of light left. You get the old town in daylight, the lake as the light goes and the projections after dark, all in one go, and you miss the opening weekend and the Saturday evenings, when the lakeside gets properly jammed.
If your trip lands in Christmas week, the market doesn’t close a single day, and only Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve finish early, at 19:00 in the old town and 20:00 by the lake. Christmas Day and New Year’s Day open at 11:00 this year, but last year neither opened until 15:00, so check before you set out early.
| Date | What’s on |
|---|---|
| Thu 26 Nov | Noël des Alpes opens, with the opening on Place Notre-Dame |
| Sat 5 Dec | Lyon’s Fête des Lumières begins (to Tue 8 Dec), about two hours away by train |
| Thu 24 Dec | Open 11:00 to 19:00 in the old town, 11:00 to 20:00 by the lake |
| Fri 25 Dec | Open 11:00 to 21:30 in the old town, 11:00 to 22:00 by the lake |
| Thu 31 Dec | Open 11:00 to 19:00 in the old town, 11:00 to 20:00 by the lake |
| Fri 1 Jan | Open 11:00 to 21:30 in the old town, 11:00 to 22:00 by the lake |
| Sun 3 Jan | Last day of Noël des Alpes |
| From Mon 4 Jan | Closed until next season |
The Annecy Christmas Market, from the Old Town to the Lake
It’s one market in two parts, five minutes apart along the water, and the old town end is nine minutes’ walk from the station. If you remember the Village des Alpes by the Courier, that went in 2025, and the lake end of the market is now the Jardins de l’Europe, right on the shore.
The Old Town: Place Saint-Maurice and the Ancienne Grenette
About 135 chalets fill the old town, along the Quai de Vicenza, across Place Saint-Maurice and the Ancienne Grenette and into the lanes around them. Walking in, you notice how much of it is food, raclette, churros and nougat one after another, and a fair bit of what isn’t food looks mass-produced, which is a real letdown in a town this lovely.
The makers that are here are mostly in this part, though, so do your gift shopping in the old town, in daylight, and leave the lake for eating.
Afternoons in the old town are also when children can see Father Christmas in his house on the Ancienne Grenette, and last year he was in for photos on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, three Wednesdays in December and the days just before Christmas, so check this year’s times before you build an afternoon round him.
Then come back after dark, because that’s when the old town is at its best. The church of Notre-Dame-de-Liesse, a few steps from Place Saint-Maurice, the Conservatoire and the clock tower at the Porte Sainte-Claire are lit with projections every evening from 17:00 to 23:45, set to music by the Conservatoire’s students. Walking from the church to the clock tower with a vin chaud while the music plays over the old walls is when Annecy feels most like Christmas to me.
The Jardins de l’Europe by the Lake
Walk five minutes along the water from the old town and you come out at the Jardins de l’Europe, where about 15 food chalets face the lake, DJs play in the evening and there’s a 460-square-metre rink of natural ice. Get there for dusk, when the garlands come on over the chalets, the lake goes dark and the mountains turn into silhouettes behind the skaters, because that’s the view I’d come to Annecy for.
That view pulls a crowd, and the aisles by the lake are narrow, so on the opening weekend last year you could get stuck in the middle of the stalls for a good hour, and Saturday evenings aren’t far behind. On a weekday it’s a different place, and at the weekend I’d see the lake in daylight and keep the evening for the old town.
Whichever day you come, book your slot on the ice ahead, because the rink runs in 30-minute sessions, online or at the box office, and it’s steep. Last year an adult and a child paid €29.50 for half an hour, plus €4 for a pair of gloves, so bring your own gloves.
What to Eat and Drink at the Annecy Christmas Market
Savoyard cheese is the reason to come hungry, melted over potatoes, scraped onto bread or bubbling in a pot. The chalets are for snacks, though, and the proper feast is at a table, so I’d book a table for the tartiflette or fondue and graze the market around it.
For the grazing, this is what I’d go looking for between the old town and the lake.
- Vin chaud comes red or white, and some stalls make it with blueberries, which is the one I’d try first.
- Spiced apple juice is the hot drink for anyone who isn’t drinking, and it’s far better than it sounds.
- Raclette comes scraped onto bread in a sandwich or in its own little portion, and it’s the snack to eat by the lake.
- Tartiflette is potatoes, bacon and onions baked under reblochon, and croziflette is the same thing made with crozets, the little square Savoyard pasta.
- Diots are Savoyard sausages cooked in white wine, and a hot dish of them by the rink is what I’d want once the sun’s gone.
- Reblochon pretzels put the local cheese on a soft pretzel, and they’re the easiest thing to eat walking along the quays.
- Roasted chestnuts are for the walk back along the water at the end of the night.
None of it comes cheap. Last year vin chaud was €8 for 25 cl, twice the €4 a cup it cost in Colmar, and a raclette sandwich you eat standing up was €12, with a beer at €8 and a €4 deposit on the cup on top.
If you’re handing the cup back, take it to the stall that sold it, because last year a couple of stalls refused cups bought elsewhere.
How I’d Spend a Day at the Annecy Christmas Market
I’d walk the canals before the chalets open at 11:00, past the Palais de l’Isle and over the Pont des Amours while the lanes are still empty.
From 11:00 I’d browse the old town chalets for gifts, with Father Christmas on the Grenette if he’s in that day, and by mid-afternoon I’d be walking along the quay to the lake for a slot on the ice.
Then stay by the water for dusk, head back into the old town for the projections from 17:00, and go on to dinner at the table you booked. From Thursday to Saturday the lakeside stays open until 22:00, so there’s time for one last vin chaud by the rink.
How Cold Is Annecy in December?
Annecy is cold and often damp in December, with an average high of 7.3°C and a low of 0.3°C, and once the sun’s gone it feels more like −2.5°C. Just over four in ten December days are wet, and it’s dark by five. That’s a touch milder than Montreux, which is no comfort on the ice after dark.
Don’t count on snow in town, though. Annecy sits at only about 450 metres, so pack warm layers and waterproof shoes and treat any snow as a bonus.
Beyond the Market: Day Trips from Annecy
Annecy makes an easy base for a second Christmas market before the 24th, when all three of these close.
- Geneva is about an hour and a quarter away on the 272 bus and the Léman Express, with tickets you buy on the day and your ID for the border, and its Noël au Quai runs until Christmas Eve, with vin chaud at CHF 5.50 last year.
- Lyon is just under two hours on one of about ten direct trains a day, and from 5 to 8 December the Fête des Lumières lights up the whole city, which is worth the trip on its own. Its market runs until Christmas Eve.
- Montreux is about two and a half hours with a change in Geneva, and its market on the lake runs until 24 December, with vin chaud at CHF 7 last year plus CHF 2 on the cup.
Annecy Between Christmas and New Year
This is the week I’d pick Annecy for, because the chalets and the rink keep going right up to 3 January, and families are still out skating by the lake the week after Christmas.
The town around it is quieter that week. Christmas Day belongs to families, plenty of restaurants close on Sundays and some on Mondays in winter, and New Year’s Eve packs the old-town restaurants, so book New Year’s Eve dinner early.
Is the Annecy Christmas Market Worth It?
Yes, for the setting, and most of all for the days between Christmas and New Year, when you get a lake, a rink and an old town lit up to music, with the chalets still open into the new year. It’s not where I’d shop for presents, and if that’s what you’re after, Strasbourg and Colmar are the best French Christmas markets for it.
But if you’d rather skate by a lake than shop, I’d come on a weekday, be on the ice at dusk and back among the projections after dark, with a table booked for the fondue afterwards.
