Discover our course
Yoga and hiking above Lake Annecy at the foot of the Aravis mountains !

Trip

Hiking and Yoga Workshop in Annecy :

Annecy is the Venice of the Alps, and you'll be arriving in the heart of one of the most beautiful towns in the Alps. You'll meet your guide on Thursday evening at the Edelweiss hotel at 6 p.m. to get to know each other and organise the days that follow, depending on the weather.

Our yoga teacher will give you the opportunity to discover yoga during this weekend course, at the same time as taking part in an outdoor sporting activity: you'll learn about meditation and breathing with dynamic yoga...

Program

Program of the Yoga Hiking course in Lake Annecy

Day 1
Arrival in Annecy

You will enjoy Lake Annecy and the town if you arrive early in the day. Annecy is one of the most beautiful towns in the Alps, with a 14 km long lake. The town is made up of numerous canals and is known as the Venice of the Alps.
There are plenty of small shops and ice-cream stands around the Pãquier, and you can take advantage of the many beaches for swimming. Generally speaking, Lake Annecy is as warm as the Mediterranean.

Meeting point: at the Hôtel Villa Riva, from 3 p.m. you can collect your rooms.
Briefing / Yoga: at 4.30pm in the hotel garden. You'll have a drink with your mountain leader and your yoga teacher to get to know each other, organise the next three days and start your stay with a first yoga session.

Night in hotel.

Day 2
Col de la Forclaz - Col de Lancrenaz and Chalet de l'Aulp - Col de la Forclaz

You're off for a beautiful hike on the heights of Lake Annecy. We'll be passing by the paraglider take-off point at Montmin, where you can watch the spectacle of take-offs at an impressive pace on sunny days. Annecy is world-famous for paragliding, with one of the world's largest paragliding crowds, and it's possible to see over 200 paragliders in the skies above Annecy.
We climb a path through the woods along a ridge, before heading out into the mountain pastures near the Chalet de l'Aulp, where we can have a yoga session overlooking the lake.
The view of the Teeth of Lanfon and Mont Verrier is magnificent, and the Bauges massif is right in front of us.

Night in hotel.

Day 3
Col de la Forclaz - Direction Plateau de la Tournette - Col de la Forclaz

We're heading off to discover the altitude below Annecy's highest peak, La Tournette, the first major summit in the Aravis range. You may well be a beginner hiker or a yoga enthusiast, but the paths have been chosen so as not to be too long, with superb views over the lake. In some areas, the walking is a little more aerial and challenging, but the distances are short unless the group decides to make the day a little longer for the fun of it.

Night in hotel.

Day 4
Yoga at the Col de la Forclaz or at the lake, depending on the weather.

Your yoga teacher will work with you to organise the last morning according to your wishes. You can do a fasting yoga session in the morning at sunrise or a little later if you feel like running beforehand or sleeping...
Sunday afternoons are free for you to enjoy the area: go for a first paragliding experience, take part in an adventure course or return home quietly ...

Vinyasa yoga will be one of the various forms of yoga practised.
Like other types of yoga, Vinyasa Yoga works on both the physical and emotional levels:

Physically, it strengthens the spine and joints and makes the muscles more supple. It has a particular effect on heart rate (strengthens the heart), breathing capacity (develops breath, increases endurance), muscle mass, balance and concentration. Yoga is dynamic and sporty.
On an emotional level, it acts on the parasympathetic nervous system by reducing stress, which is a source of muscular tension, and allows for more restful sleep. Breathing is the fundamental element of the practice. It guides the consciousness towards less accessible areas and helps to release tension.

Materiel

The backpack

Equipment for hiking:

Take your time to prepare your gear and the journey, your holiday is just beginning so it's best to do it calmly so you don't forget anything!

Day bag:

• Small: 25-30 litres max.
• Large: 30 litres max

If possible, take a lightweight bag with a good load-bearing capacity; the bag should not weigh more than 800 g.
Your rucksack for the day's essentials will contain the day's picnic, around 2 litres of water and the day's equipment.

Head to toe equipment for a day hike:

• A cap or hat for the sun
• A hat for the cold in bad weather
• An optional buff or choker, but very pleasant in bad weather
• A Gore Tex jacket or equivalent for bad weather
• A warm fleece
• A pair of light trail shoes or mountain boots

Yoga equipment

• A light, flexible mat for outdoor exercise, easy to carry and attach to the rucksack.

Essential items and back pack :

• Sun cream factor 30 to 50
• A pair of category 3 sunglasses
• Cash and identity papers

Pharmacy & other :

• Your usual or personal treatments
• A light survival blanket
• Nail clippers
• Enough to make small dressings
• A few compresses and plasters or, better still, Strappal

Your guide will have a more comprehensive first-aid kit in case of a major accident.

Necessities for meals :

• A Tuperware large enough to hold a nice salad for lunch and avoid waste
• A light Opinel knife, fork and spoon
• A nice speciality to share with the rest of the team, liquid or solid

Weight is the hiker's enemy, but a frozen or soaked hiker is a hiker without pleasure, so take the time to prepare your bag well.

IMPORTANT: if a person is not properly equipped and dressed, the mountain guide may decide not to allow him/her to take part in the climb. We ask you to read carefully the equipment list provided in the programme PDF and to call us if you have any doubts.

Level

Physical Level 1/5

EASY COURSE 
Effort corresponding to about 500-700m of ascent per day.
Your guide will manage the speed of the group so that everyone has fun in the mountains, you will see lakes to enjoy the day, we do not race!

Technical Level 2/5

QUITE EASY MOUNTAIN WALKING
There can be vertiginous passages where you have to be concentrated, it's better not to be afraid of heights!
Learning how to launch a mountain rescue and mapping.

Useful infos

Practical information for organising your yoga course

How do I get to Annecy?

• From Paris: direct train to Gare de Lyon at 10.47am; arrival in Annecy at 2.30pm.

Meeting point:

At the Hôtel Villa Riva, 12 Rte de la Tournette, 74290 Veyrier-du-Lac, from 3pm you can collect your rooms.

Briefing / Yoga :

At 4.30pm in the hotel garden. You'll have a drink with your mountain leader and yoga teacher to get to know each other, plan the next three days and start your stay with a first yoga session.

How do I get to the hotel?

From Annecy station, take bus no. 60, which takes 15 / 20 minutes to get to the village of Veyrier du Lac.
Bus stop: The main town of Veyrier, the hotel is 50 metres from the bus stop.
There is a bus every 40 minutes, for more information: https://annecy.transdev.com/line/ligne-60/
Bus fare: €1.50

Accommodation :

In double, triple or quadruple rooms depending on the number of participants and hotel availability.

Insurance

Cancellation and repatriation insurance is mandatory, as is mountain search and rescue insurance (minimum cover of 10,000 Euros).

Esprit Montagne offers the following insurance: https://www.assurance-multi-sports.com.

Car sharing

When you register online, you can choose whether or not you wish to take part in the car-sharing scheme to get to the starting point of your course. Once you have made your booking, you can log back into your Esprit Montagne account to access a section dedicated to carpooling. Here you will find the contacts of the other participants who are interested in car-sharing, so that you can contact them directly.