My partner and I are planning on heading down to the Haute-Savoie and Jura regions of France at the end of the month.

Has anyone been here and have any recommendations? Planning to spend a few days at Lac Annecy and hoping to ride Col du Grand Colombier.

thanks

I know the area north of there pretty well (st Claude – Saint Laurent area) and it’s a fantastic part of France.
I “might” have some guide books on the area too – what would you like to know?

Had a week in St Claude (a town that seems to be larger vertically than horizontally, and specialises in Pipes and Diamonds). Really nice campsite with access to the big municipal pool, lots of nice roads and trails (some very steep, others across plateaux) and not too busy.

However, we were very lucky with the weather. It’s verdant enough to make me think that loads of sunshine may not be the norm.

Edit: Oh, and it’s quite different to around Annecy, which is more alpine and more crowded.

Yes I’ve been to both, as @timb says they are quite distinct.

The Jura runs along the whole length of lake Geneva to the North. High Jura is near Geneva with smaller mountains & hills further East. I’ve done a bit of mtb riding and hiking in the Jura, its more xc generally with uplift and trails in Metabief. Quite rural as you would expect, famous for it’s Comte Cheese and the wine (vin jaune) good for mushrooms too. Quite varied from West to East. If you are going to be in the area its worth having a lunch on Lake Geneva perhaps in a town like Nyon (I have a friend who lives there) or taking a boat trip over to the French side to a town such as Yvoire (medieval well preserved, nice restaurant there near the water)

Annecy is a very cute town, can be busy with tourists though. Its worth making the effort to go on market days. Watersports on the lake. Good road riding around there and nice restaurants up in La Clusaz ski resort and also some mtb trails options which I’d like to explore more.