La Balme-De-Sillingy: Lake, Trails and Gardens

La Balme-De-Sillingy offers several reasons to visit: walks by the lake, marked trails, floral gardens and recurring events. To plan your trip, it is worth deciding on your main focus first. Would you like to take a short walk, plan a longer hike or time your visit to coincide with a particular festival? The options differ in distance, character and season.

Walks and trails by the lake

Lac de la Balme de Sillingy is accessible year-round for family walks. For a manageable outing, try the Tour du lac de la Balme-de-Sillingy: this stroller-friendly walk is about two kilometres long, takes around 30 minutes and starts at the tourist office in La Balme-de-Sillingy. The distance and duration provide a concrete guide for planning; conditions on site may change.

The Parcours de santé Domaine du Tornet, a fitness trail, also runs around the lake. For 2026, it is listed as freely accessible year-round. Check the current conditions before your visit. Another distinctive feature around the lake is its more than 300 flowering cherry trees, representing 145 different varieties. Together, they are known as the Collection Nationale de Cerisiers à fleurs d’Asie.

If you are looking for a longer hike, the easy circular À travers champs trail starts in La Balme-de-Sillingy. It covers 7.3 kilometres. This makes it quite different from the roughly two-kilometre Tour du lac—a useful guide when choosing between a short walk and a longer loop. The Route des Cerisiers comprises two tourist routes that start at the Domaine du Tornet. It is open year-round; check the current conditions before setting off.

La Mandallaz and floral landscapes

On La Mandallaz, marked trails lead to a viewpoint at the summit, offering panoramic views. La Mandallaz is covered by a biotope protection order. When planning your visit, both the marked trails and viewpoint and the area’s protected status are relevant considerations.

The Parc des Jardins de Haute-Savoie offers another way to discover the region’s landscape and history. It features 54 gardens created by the municipalities of the Usses et Bornes area. Local landscapes and heritage are presented there in original floral designs. The gardens thus bring together two themes that also define the character of the exhibition: plants and regional history.

Events throughout the year

The Festival des Arts Scéniques is a week-long theatre festival featuring daily performances at Espace 2000. It takes place every year in the third week of March. If the festival is the reason for your trip, check the dates for the relevant year before planning around it.

In autumn, the Foire de la Bathie is one of the recurring events in La Balme-de-Sillingy. It takes place every year and dates back to the 14th century. The programme includes a regional dish and stalls run by local producers. This gives the fair a culinary and regional dimension as well as a historical character.

The Fête du Lac is held every summer by La Balme en Fêtes in collaboration with the municipality. For all three events, the timing of your trip matters: plan around the occasion and check the dates for your visit.

Choosing the right focus for your trip

The short Tour du lac makes for a well-defined walk; À travers champs is an easy, 7.3-kilometre circular hike. On La Mandallaz, the focus is on marked trails and panoramic views from the summit, while the Parc des Jardins de Haute-Savoie presents landscape and heritage through floral displays. If you are travelling for a festival or fair, plan around its dates.

Discover more destinations: Étrembières, Lyaud, Messery, Morzine, Ville-La-Grand, Saint-Jeoire, Bons-En-Chablais, Maxilly-sur-Léman

For the regional travel overview: Haute-Savoie.