My friend and I are French teachers and our husbands are babysitting while we spend 9 nights in France. Flying directly to Lyon we plan to spend some time there and then taking a train to Annecy for some day trips. Not sure how long we should spend in each city. And I am wondering if we should split the trip into 3 cities. Maybe 4 nights Lyon, 3 nights Annecy and then 2 nights elsewhere?? Has anyone done something like this? We won't have a rental car...is that a big mistake? Merci mille fois

What nice husbands! Sounds like a good plan...you've got a major city with good transportation, a smaller one with a central vieille ville. For the third choice, what about Yvoires, or a nearby spa town?

We spent 3 nights in Annecy in September as part of a 4 week trip and loved it. We parked the car in a long-term parking and didn't use it once. We would consider staying a week in a gite sometime or doing as you, except training from Paris. To not miss out on seeing the communities around the lake, you can take a wonderful boat tour. We did the lunch cruise and loved it.

Merci mille fois. I'll check out Yvoires. Could you recommend a hotel in Annecy?

Chamonix, at the base of Mont Blanc, is about an hour from Annecy and that would be my suggestion as a contrast to your other stops. You could either take the telepherique to Aiguille du Midi or the cable car up Mont Brévent, on the opposite side of the valley, for an even better view.

Yes. Can highly recommend the Splendid Hotel, diagonoal to the Hotel de Ville.

Splendid Hotel
4, quai Eustache Chappuis
74000 Annecy
tel: 33 (0) 4 50 45 20 00
fax 33 (0) 4 50 45 52 23

You can go to www.splendidhotel.fr or email them at: [email protected] for more info. We had a wonderful stay here. Great location right on the Quai in front of the lake, though a large park extends in front before you actually are on the lake. Double room was 108 euros with mini-bar and A/C that was the best we've had in France. We took one of the less expensive back rooms with view of roofs of the old town, but the front rooms have views of Lake Annecy. buffet breakfast was rather expensive (12 euros) but they also offer continental for less.

Many restaurants nearby.