The ship's prow
The house splitting the canal like a stone ship — the French Alps' most famous view.
Tiia Monto — CC BY-SA 3.0 · GFreihalter — CC BY-SA 4.0 · GFreihalter — CC BY-SA 4.0 · GFreihalter — CC BY-SA 4.0
The Palais de l'Isle is the image of Annecy the world knows: a twelfth-century stone house splitting the Thiou canal like the prow of a ship moored for eight hundred years, flowers trailing along both banks around it. It is said to be among the most photographed buildings in all France. Over the centuries the building has been nearly everything: the local lord's residence, a mint, a courthouse, and repeatedly a prison — even in the Second World War. Inside today is a small museum of Annecy's history and the building's own, passing through the old cells. The truth visitors learn quickly: the outside outranks the inside. The two best angles are from the Perrière bridge in front and the canal quay behind, and going in is a short bonus, no more.
The house splitting the canal like a stone ship — the French Alps' most famous view.
The building's prisons through the centuries survive inside — a history harsher than its picture.
The flowered, café-lined canal around it — Annecy's loveliest walk starts here.
3 Passage de l'Île, 74000 Annecy
Church of Saint-MauriceAnnecy's oldest church, built in the fifteenth century for the Dominican friars 1 minute walk4.4
Church of Saint-FrançoisIt stands on the bank of the Thiou canal directly opposite the **Palais de l'Île1 minute walk4.5
Château d'AnnecyThe castle of Annecy sits on its rock directly above the old town, home to the c2 minutes walk4.2
Saint-Pierre Cathedral of AnnecyAnnecy's cathedral is a sixteenth-century church with a quiet Renaissance front 2 minutes walk4.3
Jardins de l'EuropeThe Jardins de l'Europe are a green tongue between the lake and the Thiou canal'4 minutes walk4.7If time is precious, the photo and the canal walk suffice — the interior is a modest little museum. Go in if it rains, if a building that served as a prison until 1945 intrigues you, or simply because the ticket costs a coffee.
From the Perrière bridge facing the 'prow' — the classic angle — then from the Quai de l'Île behind for the reverse with the flowers. Light is best from the front in the morning, from behind in the afternoon.
The old-town lanes and market (Tuesday, Friday, Sunday mornings), then the Thiou canal down to the lake — ten minutes' walk ending at the Jardins de l'Europe and the Pont des Amours.