Château de Menthon-St-Bernard

Top choice

LoginSave

Twenty-three generations of the De Menthon family have lived within 1000-year-old Château de Menthon-St-Bernard. The birthplace of St Bernard in 1008 – and supposedly one of the inspirations for Walt Disney’s Sleeping Beauty castle – the château clings to a forested hillside, 12km south of Annecy. Tours of the medieval interior take in tapestry-adorned salons and a magnificent library, stacked with more than 12,000 volumes dating to before the Revolution. But it’s the sparkling Lac d'Annecy panorama that leaves many visitors speechless.

At weekends, tour guides in costume add atmosphere (and entertain the kids).

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

  • Jet d'eau, Geneva

    Jet d'Eau

    23.87 MILES

    When landing by plane, this lakeside fountain is your first dramatic glimpse of Geneva. The 140m-tall structure shoots up water with incredible force –…

  • Large Hadron Collider, Geneva, Switzerland

    CERN

    26.54 MILES

    Founded in 1954, the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), 8km west of Geneva, is a laboratory for research into particle physics. It…

  • Conservatoire et Jardin Botaniques

    Conservatoire et Jardin Botaniques

    25.36 MILES

    Geneva's premier botanical park – renowned for its Botanical Conservatory – boasts over 12,000 species of plants from around the world, meticulously…

  • Musée d'Ethnographie de Genève

    Musée d'Ethnographie de Genève

    23.32 MILES

    Admission is free to the permanent collection of this excellent hands-on museum, which examines the similarities and differences of our planet's myriad of…

  • The Cathedral of Saint Francois de Sales in Chambery.

    Cathédrale St-François de Sales

    24.72 MILES

    All is not as it seems inside Chambéry's 15th-century Franciscan cathedral, decorated with 6000 sq metres of trompe l’œil painting. The largest such…

  • Château des Ducs de Savoie

    Château des Ducs de Savoie

    24.84 MILES

    Medieval walls, Gothic tracery, trompe l'oeil detailing…Chambéry's château has acquired a wealth of styles since its founding in the 11th century. Once…

  • People drink coffee near the River Thiou in Old Town, encircling the medieval palace perched mid-river - the Palais de l'Isle in Annecy, France.

    Vieille Ville

    4.51 MILES

    It’s a pleasure simply to wander aimlessly around Annecy’s medieval Old Town, where emerald-green canals flow beneath stone bridges and pastel-painted…

  • Vieille Ville

    Vieille Ville

    23.39 MILES

    A stroll around Geneva's beautiful Old Town is a must. Its main street, the Grand-Rue, shelters the Maison de Rousseau et de la Literature at No 40, where…

View more attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Waterfront

4.33 MILES

On the tree-fringed lakefront, the flowery Jardins de l’Europe are linked to the grassy Champ de Mars, a popular picnic spot, by the poetic iron arch of…

2. Église St-François de Sales

4.42 MILES

Inspired by the design of Rome's Church of the Gesù, this Catholic church is also known as the Church of the Italians (and hosts mass in Italian). Dating…

3. Église St-Maurice

4.45 MILES

A pale sandstone church, Annecy's oldest, made all the more dazzling by the turquoise Canal du Thiou running alongside it. Step through the 15th-century…

4. Palais de l’Isle

4.46 MILES

Sitting on a triangular islet surrounded by the Canal du Thiou, the Palais de l’Isle has been a lordly residence, a courthouse, a mint and a prison,…

5. Château d’Annecy

4.48 MILES

With commanding views across the ochre rooftops of the Vieille Ville (Old Town) to the Massif des Bauges, the Château d’Annecy is at once imposing and…

6. Vieille Ville

4.51 MILES

It’s a pleasure simply to wander aimlessly around Annecy’s medieval Old Town, where emerald-green canals flow beneath stone bridges and pastel-painted…

7. Cathédrale St-Pierre

4.56 MILES

A former Franciscan chapel consecrated in 1535, Annecy's cathedral has a Renaissance-meets-Gothic style. Drawing attention from the unadorned walls are a…

8. Église Notre Dame de Liesse

4.59 MILES

Largely built during the mid-19th century after its 14th-century predecessor was damaged during the French Revolution, the Church of Our Lady of Liesse…