Parking in Annecy: where to leave the car

Cars parked in rows beneath plane trees on a town square, old rooftops rising behind

The short version: you cannot drive into the Old Town — it is pedestrianised — so the question is only which car park to walk in from. Bonlieu (693 spaces) and Hôtel de Ville (432 spaces) are the two closest, both cheap by the hour and both a few minutes on foot from the canals — rates are in the table below. Courier is the biggest at 779 spaces but has a 1.95 m height limit, which is the single most useful sentence on this page if you are in a van or have a roof box.

The rule that catches everyone out

The historic core of Annecy is closed to cars. Not discouraged, not difficult — closed. Every photograph you have seen of this town, the canals, the Palais de l’Île, the arcaded streets, is of an area you arrive at on foot. Drivers who set a satnav to “Annecy old town” end up circling the ring of one-way streets around it, which in July is a genuinely miserable half hour.

The good news is that the town is small enough that this barely matters. The historic centre is about half a kilometre across. From any of the central car parks you are inside it within five to ten minutes.

The central car parks

Car park	Spaces	Price	Worth knowing
Bonlieu	693	EUR 1.10/hr · EUR 2.50 / 90 min	Rue Guillaume Fichet. Closest to Le Pâquier and the lakefront.
Hôtel de Ville	432	EUR 1.10/hr · EUR 2.50 / 90 min	Esplanade de l’Hôtel de Ville. Closest to the canals.
Courier	779	Standard town tariff	1.95 m height limit. No season passes.

Insider tip

If your vehicle is over 1.95 m — a camper, a van, a hire car with a roof box on it — Courier is closed to you no matter how many free spaces the sign outside shows. Head for Bonlieu or Hôtel de Ville instead, or park further out and walk in. This is the mistake people make once.

How long you actually need

The 90-minute tariff at EUR 2.50 is aimed at people doing an errand, not at visitors. A realistic first visit to the Old Town — the canals, the Palais de l’Île from the outside, a look at the château, a coffee — is three hours or more. If you are also going out on the water, budget for most of a day.

Season passes are available at most of the town car parks, with two exceptions: Palais de Justice and Courier. That is a detail for residents and long stays rather than for a weekend, but it is the kind of thing nobody tells you until you ask at the barrier.

Parking at the lake, not in town

Two of the free town beaches have their own approach. Plage d’Albigny sits about 1.5 km from the centre along the lakefront, and Plage des Marquisats about 1 km the other way. On a hot August afternoon both fill up early, and the honest advice is to leave the car in town and walk or cycle along the shore rather than join the queue for a lakeside space.

Around the lake itself, the village beaches at Sévrier, Saint-Jorioz, Duingt and Doussard have their own car parks, and they are the reason a lot of people drive at all. If that is the plan, the greenway is worth a thought first — it reaches most of the same places without the parking problem.

Arriving without a car

Worth saying plainly: Annecy is one of the French towns where a car is genuinely optional. The station is a ten-minute walk from the lakefront, the direct train from Geneva exists whatever the aggregators say, and everything inside town is walkable. A car earns its keep here only if you intend to drive the lake circuit or head into the mountains.

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Frequently asked questions

Can you drive into Annecy Old Town?

No. The historic centre is pedestrianised. Park at Bonlieu, Hôtel de Ville or another central car park and walk in — nothing in the Old Town is more than about ten minutes from the nearest car park.

How much is parking in Annecy?

The two most central car parks, Bonlieu and Hôtel de Ville, both charge EUR 1.10 an hour or EUR 2.50 for 90 minutes. A half day in town is therefore a few euros rather than a significant line in the budget.

Which is the biggest car park in Annecy?

Parking Courier, with 779 spaces — but it has a 1.95 m height limit, so vans, campers and cars with roof boxes cannot use it. Bonlieu is next at 693 spaces, then Hôtel de Ville at 432.

Is there a height limit in Annecy car parks?

Parking Courier is limited to 1.95 m. If you are driving anything taller, use Bonlieu or Hôtel de Ville, or park outside the centre and walk in.

Is there free parking in Annecy?

Not in the centre in season. Free spaces exist further out and fill early, and on a summer weekend the search costs more time than the tariff costs money. Budget for a paid car park and treat anything free as luck.

Do you need a car in Annecy?

Only if you plan to drive the lake circuit or head into the mountains. The town itself is walkable end to end, the railway station is ten minutes from the lakefront, and buses and boats reach most of the lake villages.