Lac de Taney

Taney lies at about fourteen hundred metres in a closed limestone basin under the Grammont and the Dent de Valerette, a short but real walk above the last road at Miex. It has been a protected landscape since 1977 and no vehicles reach it, so the hamlet by the shore - a chapel and a few buildings, two of them serving food - runs on what can be carried or brought by cable hoist. The lake drains underground rather than by a surface stream. From the Grammont above, an hour and a half further up, the whole of Lake Geneva is laid out below with the Alps behind, which is the reason many people continue past the lake rather than stopping at it.

What you actually see

• A closed limestone bowl - the lake draining underground, not by stream.
• No vehicle access - a forty-minute walk from the last road.
• A hamlet and chapel - supplied by hoist and on foot.
• The Grammont above - Lake Geneva end to end from the summit.

When to go

June to October. Half a day, or a full one with the Grammont.

Honest expectations

Parking at Miex is limited and charged, and fills on fine weekends. The walk up is short but steep. Facilities at the lake are two seasonal restaurants. Snow blocks the approach into June.

Nearby

Vouvry and the Rhone plain are below; Lake Geneva is west.