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What to do around lake Annecy when it rains
Wellness and relaxation
If the weather looks glum, no need to follow suit. On the contrary, the sky turning grey offers the perfect opportunity for you to carve out an hour or an afternoon to pamper yourself and take full advantage of everything the area’s wellness and relaxation centers have to offer.
Spas, you deserve a timeout
As far as relaxation centers go, spas earn high scores time and again on the Zen scale. All of them, in their own unique way, pay careful attention to even smallest details, creating an atmosphere that allows you to feel completely whole and at one with yourself.
While all include a dry sauna, steam room, and a wide variety of treatments, let’s take one step further to learn more about each of their specialties…
At Cristal Spa, located within Annecy’s Imperial Palace Hotel, with views of the lake and mountains, they created a simple, mineral décor within the 600m² facility; the ideal place for you to feel precious like crystal. Whether relaxing in the extraordinary glass pool designed by architect Pierre Brunier, or in the more intimate setting of one of the six treatment rooms, each with its own unique identity, your senses will delight in the experience.
Mont Spa PureForm is located in the same facility as the PureForm fitness center in Saint-Jorioz, and makes you feel at home in their warm, colorful, and soft atmosphere. They offer a wide variety of relaxation treatments to choose from. Their specialty: LPG face and body treatments, which have anti-aging and body-slimming properties by naturally activating cellular renewal.
Mont Spa Les Trésoms offers 200m² around a balneaotherapy facility with no less than eleven massage stations. Whatever the weather outside, diving into the 30°C waters will always be a pleasurable experience.
On the other side of the lake in Talloires is Spa de l’Auberge, located within the hallowed walls of the world famous Auberge du Père Bise restaurant where Chef Jean Sulpice expresses his culinary genius. Once there, underneath the beautiful wood framework and surrounded by windows with great views of the lake, sit back and relax in the peaceful setting, while the lake waters quietly lull you into a calm serenity.
Abbaye de Talloires (“Talloires Abbey”) is a worthy outing in itself. Iconic, this history-filled location is a must-visit along the shores of Lake Annecy. First came the hotel and restaurant, both well known, and more recently the Spa de l’Abbaye. Built beneath the roofs, with wood beams and framework create a warm, friendly, and extremely cozy atmosphere for you to rest and relax.
Just a short distance from the lake, in the small town of Argonay, Spa de Lys offers the opportunity to privatize the spa area for two people. Treatments are available for those special moments as a couple.
Please note that all of these spas also offer several different types of massage.
Beauty salons, take the time to take care of you
Taking the time, pampering yourself, the beauty salons in the area all have their secret methods for offering whatever you need, that special touch to take you away and stop the passing of time, even for just a short moment.
Massages, wraps, and body and facial treatments, choose the salon that fits you like a glove.
Institut de Lys, the other side of Spa de Lys, specializes in wellness treatments from around the world; every experience offers a voyage within and across the seven continents.
Clé du Bien-Être, located in downtown Annecy, offers a wide range of massages: sports, Swedish, Hawaiian, Ayurvedic, and many others. Rarer still, a traditional Chinese Tuina massage, specific massages for pregnant women to relieve tension, as well as massages for children and parents/children over four years old for a unique experience as a family.
Innovation as a way to create an atypical experience
Certain locations focus on an alternative approach, developing innovative concepts to address the notion of wellness and well-being. To each their own…
Unique in Annecy, Pure Breath is a truly astonishing wellness center that promises a one-of-a-kind experience. In a floating tank, fully immersed in water heated to 36°C and filled with Epsom salts, you will truly feel weightless.
Energy and sound therapies in a salt cave offer another way to completely escape. Microscopic salt particles help to boost your immune system, while your respiratory system will be purified by the “halo generator” machine.
In winter, more audacious individuals will also want to try out cold-water immersion in the unheated outdoor pool. A unique, guided experience that includes meditation before making the plunge.
© Pure Breath / Massage tables
At Villa Caroline, located along the lake in Duingt, detox is the magic word. Listening to your body to make adjustments when appropriate is useful for boosting your immune system. This means paying close attention to your diet. Food detox and fasting are the most effective approaches for those staying at the hotel, but daylong introduction sessions are also available for locals. The program includes a healthy meal, massage, and access to exercise and leisure activities. Be sure to take a cooking class to learn the right habits and a better way to eat at home.
© Florian Peallat / Spa Villa Caroline
Bulle Nordic, located in the park next to Beauregard Hotel in Sevrier, is a wood sauna designed and built at a workshop in Annecy. Enjoy a truly extraordinary experience. Immersed in an all-natural environment, with incredible views of Lake Annecy and the surrounding mountains through the bubble window, take the time to enjoy a moment like no other.
Move, unlock, stretch… to put yourself back together at Au Studio Espace Bien-être in Saint-Jorioz. Try yoga, Pilates, or sophrology and the art of letting go. For exercise when it rains, enjoy water walking in Lake Annecy: tested, approved, fun, an amazing feeling, and 100% for your well-being.
Indoor activities
As the days become ever shorter, so does the range of possible activities. That said, fall is not necessarily synonymous with boredom, and Lake Annecy has more than one arrow in its quiver to turn the grey into a great day.
This article offers several ideas for indoor fun to keep your mind sharp and your body in shape, all while staying dry and warm. With so many options, from sports, to games, to full immersion in the cityscape, simply pick and choose your way to escape.
Take off with an Escape Game
If one activity has exploded in popularity over the last few years, it is playing escape games that throw you into different roles and creative situations. The concept: a theme, a riddle to solve, and a time limit. To succeed, you need to use your as much grey matter as possible mixed with a healthy serving of ingenuity to decipher the steps to follow while navigating through an enclosed space. As a couple, with friends, or with family take full advantage of all the game locations and scenarios in the area. You will become addicted for sure!
Escape Chô, 100% locally designed and made
This particular adventure takes us to Fillière, to meet with a genuine team of escape game enthusiasts who combined their areas of expertise to design a truly extraordinary facility. With a team consisting of an electronics engineer, magician, carpenter, graphic designer, woodworker, and illustrator to name a few, everyone put their heart and technical know-how into creating a full-immersion experience. With sound, lighting, a bit of magic, and a lot of ingenuity, four rooms await you, including one reserved for kids. Another room is currently under construction. We highly recommend entering the “Haunted House,” an experience that will definitely give you the heebie jeebies.
© Pascal Lenoble – Espace Chô / Group of friends after an escape game
Atelier des Enigmes, 100% homemade
With its completely self-made designs, Atelier des Enigmes was voted the best Escape Game in the Auvergne Rhône-Alpes Region in 2017, 2019, and 2020. Trust us, when you play an escape game there you will not be disappointed. Located in Seynod, their facility includes four rooms: “Trésor du Pêcheur” (Fisherman’s Treasure), “Charl-e et sa Drôle de Mission” (Charl-e and his Strange Mission), “Célestia la Citée Oubliée” (Célestia and the Forgotten City), and “l’Echoppe de Madame Ming” (Madam Ming’s Shop). Move from a fishing hut, to an apothecary’s workshop in Chinatown, to the enchanted city of Celestia, or take a leap into the future, each one of these experiences is full of surprises. Put your mind to the test as you explore one new realm after another.
Enigmus Live Escape Game, the 1st ever time travel agency!
Along the lake in Sevrier, this new, unique agency offers you the chance to travel through time. Here, technology and robotics have progressed to such an extent as to organize adventures all along the space-time continuum. Whether playing in one of the four Escape Game rooms – “Jurassic Lab,” “Vikings, the Ice Throne,” “Alien Investigation,” “The Bear, a Savoyard Legend,” – or one of the other evasion games such as the two Murder Party scenarios and the Treasure Hunt, all means lead to the great end of offering you an amazing experience.
The major plus for this facility are the rooms specifically designed for kids ages 7 to 12 in search of mysteries to solve (4 themes available); ideal for any rainy-day birthday party.
Intrigue Escape Game, an escape game at the farm!
Different is an understatement at the farm in Pringy, where this new escape game has set up camp. What better place to uncover the secrets of the “Trésor de la Ferme” (Treasure on the Farm)? Add to the fun by having lunch at the adjoining restaurant. For overall experience that tantalizes both your mind and your taste buds, you even have the option of ordering meals to go.
Mystères du Lac (Mysteries around the Lake), games and riddles
If Mystères du Lac’s specialty is having designed the incredibly amusing City Games, offering players the opportunity to wander through the city in a different light – something you absolutely have to experience during a spell of good the weather– they also offer two other just as astonishing themes indoors in the heart of Annecy’s old town. Step into the shoes of an alchemist looking for the philosopher’s stone or dive into troubled waters in the K74 submarine, you will make it out but probably not unscathed!
© Mystères du lac / Escape Game – Sous-Marin K74
Immerse yourself in a virtual world
After warming up your grey matter, you will be more than ready for a virtual reality experience. A headset, too many scenarios to count, and a whole new universe opens up right before your very eyes through this technological marvel that allows you to move through and interact with a completely imaginary world. Video game fans will definitively become addicted.
E. Reel, enter the virtual world
Located in Epagny, this virtual reality center offers a wide variety of worlds to dive into. With no less than 62 different options, you will have the choice between competing as a team in intense games designed for all ages and interests, or immersing yourself in incredible mysteries that you need to solve like a classic escape game.
Certain worlds will send chills up your spine, while others will fill you with a sense of wonder, and all will astonish you with their incredibly realistic and beautiful graphics.
Whether or not you are a seasoned player, this unique experience will definitely move you!
For purists, traditional arcade and racing games are also available.
© Yannick Perrin
Laser games: compete as a team
A well-known indoor leisure activity, a laser game always guarantees fun times, laughs, and just a little exertion for good measure.
Lasermaxx74, laser games and disco for kids
Located right next door to the virtual reality center in Epagny, Lasermaxx74 offers 800m² of staircases, walls, hiding spaces, and hallways to take on the opposing team in a combat without mercy (but all in good fun nonetheless). Alone or with your team, equipped with an electronic vest and a laser gun (don’t worry, it won’t hurt your eyes), move and duck through the two-storey maze filled with mist and special effects as you attempt to avoid the constant volley of fire from your adversaries.
More exciting and tiring than you might expect.
Good to know: on Sundays from 14:30-17:00, Discomaxx offers preteens ages 8-13 years old the chance to dance the afternoon away.
Indoor sports
To stay as physically active as possible even when it rains and avoid having to put your fitness goals on the back burner, you can count on the weight rooms, gyms, and multi-sport facilities in the area.
PureForm fitness center, stay in great shape
PureForm fitness center in Saint-Jorioz is one facility where you can focus on general fitness, lifting weights, cardio-training, water sports, or even switch to more Zen-inspired activities. In every case, you will find the right combination for your needs. PureForm does not require a membership; day passes offer you the option of coming and going as frequently or infrequently as you need. Feel free to spend time at the spa or beauty center after your workout; all-in-one when it comes to taking great care of yourself.
© Centre sportif Pure Form / Group activity
Vitam, your daily allowance of vitamin-filled activities
If there is one place where you can spend the entire day keeping warm indoors while playing hard non-stop, it is definitely at Vitam, the huge water park located in Neydens, just over the French side of the border from Geneva. Open all year long (except May 1 and December 25) from 10:00-20:00, Vitam is a recreation center that includes the region’s biggest water park, a wellness center and spa, an entire gym with fitness equipment, squash and badminton courts, as well as a 14-meter high indoor climbing wall. For kids as young as three years old, Vitam’Ludic has games, an adventure course, a karting race track, and much more. The perfect combination to keep kids of all ages busy whatever the weather.
Pathé movie theaters in Annecy
Movie theaters remain a great place for fun-filled entertainment when the weather takes a turn for the worse. Just a short walk from the train station, and next door to Courier Mall, Pathé movie theaters in Annecy has ten screens in an ideal location to offer everyone (at certain times, movies play in their original version) the chance to see the latest releases, sneak previews, cult films, major cinema classics, and even animated films every day all year long.
Much less well known is the fact that Pathé movie theaters also schedule broadcasts of ballets and plays, like Bolshoi Theater’s Swan Lake in March 2022, or Moliere’s Bourgeois Gentilhomme in June 2022 performed by actors from the Comédie Française.
Games of chance at Casino Impérial
Last but certainly not least, even if reserved for individuals over the age of 18, the casino at Annecy’s magnificent Imperial Hotel is also open all year long. In addition to the slot machines and classic games like blackjack and poker, Casino Imperial hosts many events throughout the year, such as concerts, shows, bingo nights, and other entertainment for those less interested in games of chance.
Copyrights:
- © Gill Maheu / Abbaye de Talloires
- © Nicolas Matheus / Spa Auberge du Père Bise
- © Francis Vauban / Mont Spa Les Trésoms
- © Vincent Krywdyk / Abbaye de Talloires-Spa
- © Nicolas Matheus / Spa Auberge du Père Bise
Journalist: Gaëlle Tagliabue
Translation: Darin Reisman