The 10 Best Alpine Lakes to Swim In This Summer

From a hidden turquoise pool above Flims to the cinematic emerald of Lago di Braies, these are the alpine lakes worth lacing up your boots for – and the ones cold enough to make you yelp.

By the Love The Mountains team   ·   Updated for summer 2026

There is a particular moment, somewhere around mid-morning on a hot day in the Alps, when you round a switchback and the trees fall away and there it is: a lake the colour of cough-syrup turquoise, or that strange opaque blue that only glacier-fed water seems to produce. You stop. You take a photograph that will not do it justice. Then, if you have any sense at all, you unlace your boots.

For decades, the Alps have been sold to British travellers as a winter product — a season of snow, schnapps and ski lifts. But summer in the mountains is having a moment, and a big part of the appeal is the water. When the southern European cities tip over 40°C and the Mediterranean turns into a slow soup, the lakes of the Alps stay clear, cold and, in many cases, swimmable. Some are a cable car and a short stroll from the resort centre; others ask for a proper hike. All of them feel, when you finally slip in, like a small private reward.

Here are ten of the best across Switzerland, France, Italy and Austria — from the postcard classics to a couple of quieter spots the coach tours haven’t found yet. A note before we begin: alpine water is cold. Even in August, even when the sun has been on it all day. Acclimatise slowly, never swim alone in a remote spot, and check local conditions and resort updates before you go.

The best alpine lakes for swimming in Switzerland

1. Oeschinensee, Switzerland

© Switzerland Tourism / Kevin Wildhaber

The 20-minute walk down from the Oeschinen gondola above Kandersteg is one of those approaches that makes you slow your pace on purpose, because the reveal is too good to rush. The lake sits in a vast natural amphitheatre of limestone, with the Blüemlisalp glaciers hanging in the background like stage scenery. It is, frankly, ridiculous.

Wooden rowing boats trace lazy lines across the surface in July and August, and there’s a grassy shore on the western side where families set up picnics. The water is cool even in late summer — expect a sharp inhale on entry — but it warms enough by the shallows for a proper swim. UNESCO-listed and protected, which is part of why it still feels uncrowded by mid-afternoon.

Get there: Train to Kandersteg (direct from Bern), then the gondola. Stay: Hotel Doldenhorn for old-school Swiss comfort.

2. Caumasee, Switzerland

© Switzerland Tourism/Silvan Widmer

Caumasee is the lake people whisper about. Tucked into the pine forest above Flims in Graubünden, it’s reached by a small, slightly comic funicular that drops you straight onto a wooden platform at the lake’s edge. The water is a luminous, almost cartoonish turquoise — mineral-rich, fed by underground springs, and, crucially, warmer than most lakes at this altitude.

There are pedalos for hire, paddleboards if you ask nicely, and a small café doing reasonable rosti. On a still afternoon the forest reflects so cleanly on the surface that swimmers appear to be hanging in mid-air. Bring a book; you’ll stay longer than you mean to.

Get there: Train to Chur, bus to Flims-Waldhaus, then signposted forest walk or the funicular. Pair with: the dramatic Rhine Gorge — the Swiss Grand Canyon — a short drive away.

3. Lake Davos, Switzerland

© Switzerland Tourism / Ivo Scholz

Davos may be best known for its winter conferences and ski lifts, but in July and August the town’s lake quietly becomes one of the best places in the eastern Alps to swim laps without ceremony. It’s a working lake — sailing boats, swimming jetties, a lakeside path popular with road cyclists — and that’s precisely the appeal. There’s a designated lido at the northern end with a diving board, sun loungers and a kiosk doing decent ice cream.

The water, fed by mountain streams, sits around 18–20°C in midsummer: bracing on a cool morning, perfect after a long bike ride. The path that circles the lake is just under 4km, almost entirely flat, and links up with the wider Landwasser cycle network.

Swimming in alpine lakes in France

4. Lac d’Annecy, France

© Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Tourisme

If you want to argue that the French Alps have a south of France — a place where the light is gold rather than steel-blue and the locals seem genuinely relaxed — Lac d’Annecy is the case for the prosecution. The water has a long-standing reputation as some of the cleanest in Europe, thanks to a famously strict 1960s sewage diversion scheme, and it’s clear enough that you can see your own shadow on the lake bed five metres down.

There are public beaches at Saint-Jorioz, Doussard and Veyrier-du-Lac, and small wooden pontoons along the eastern shore where locals dive in straight from the road. Paragliders drift down from Col de la Forclaz overhead, and the 42km lakeside cycle path — the Voie Verte — is one of the great flat rides in the Alps. The town itself is honey-coloured and canal-laced; it deserves the cliche about being the Venice of the Alps. For more on what’s new in the region, see our guide to what’s changing in the Annecy mountains for 2026.

5. Lac de Montriond, France

A 10-minute drive from Morzine, in a quiet valley most people pass on their way to somewhere else, Lac de Montriond is the antidote to Annecy’s crowds. The cliffs on the far shore rise almost vertically out of the water, pine forest curling around the sides, and there’s a small beach at the eastern end with a kiosk and pedalos. The water is colder than Annecy but warmer than the high-altitude lakes — a sweet spot for actually swimming rather than just plunging.

Come at golden hour, when the cliffs catch the sun and the lake goes completely still, and you will understand why the regulars never tell anyone about it. Just up the valley, the Cascade d’Ardent waterfall is worth the 15-minute walk.

6. Lac Blanc, France

© Chamonix-Mont-Blanc Valley

Lac Blanc is the one you don’t really swim in. You hike to it — from the top of the Index lift above Chamonix, roughly 1½ hours each way — and you sit on a rock at 2,352m looking across the Mer de Glace at the entire Mont Blanc massif. It is one of the most photographed views in the Alps for a reason.

That said, on a hot afternoon in late July, you’ll see the occasional hardy walker strip down and dunk. The water is genuinely icy — we’d call it more of a baptism than a swim — but the bragging rights are unimprovable. The refuge at the lakeside does a passable tartiflette if you’re staying for sunset, which you should.

Italian alpine lakes for swimming in the Dolomites

7. Lago di Braies, Italy

There is an argument that Lago di Braies has been ruined by Instagram. There is a counter-argument, which is that it remains one of the most extraordinary places in the Dolomites and you should go anyway — just early. The lake sits in a bowl beneath the Croda del Becco, the water that strange emerald that comes from suspended rock flour, and the wooden boathouse on the northern shore is so picturesque it borders on parody.

Swimming is permitted in designated areas, though the water is properly cold and the season short — mid-July to late August is your window. To beat the crowds, arrive before 8am or after 6pm; from mid-July onwards, day-trippers need to pre-book parking. The 3.5km loop around the lake is mostly flat and shows you the mountains from every angle.

The wider Dolomites are having a renaissance for summer travel — see our piece on summer in the Turin Alps for more on northern Italy’s mountain appeal.

8. Lago di Carezza, Italy

Smaller than Braies and, to many eyes, even more beautiful, Lago di Carezza is a five-minute walk from the road between Bolzano and the Val di Fassa. The Rosengarten range looms above, its limestone teeth reflected so cleanly in the water that the lake has been a tourist attraction since the Habsburgs were taking the air here. Local legend has it that a wizard, jilted by a water nymph, smashed a rainbow into the lake — hence the colours.

Important: swimming is not permitted at Carezza. It’s a protected biotope and the water level fluctuates significantly through the season. Come for the looped boardwalk and the views; save your swim for the next lake on your itinerary.

Alpine lakes for swimming in Austria

9. Vorderer Gosausee, Austria

At the head of the Gosau valley in Upper Austria, with the Dachstein glacier filling the southern horizon, Vorderer Gosausee is the kind of view people commission paintings of. The lake is small, mirror-still on a calm morning, and the 2km loop walk gives you a slightly different composition every fifty metres.

Swimming is allowed and — yes — it is cold. Locals swear by an early-morning dip before the cable car opens; you’ll have the place essentially to yourself, mist coming off the surface, the Dachstein still pink with sunrise. There’s a Gasthaus at the car park doing the kind of breakfast you’ll need afterwards.

10. Achensee, Austria

Achensee is the outlier on this list, in the best possible way. It’s the largest lake in Tyrol, broad and silver, with proper paddle-steamers, a sailing school, lakeside campsites and a network of villages that have been running on summer tourism since the 19th century. Locals call it the Tyrolean Sea, partly for its size and partly because the water warms to a genuinely swimmable 22°C in August.

Pertisau, on the western shore, has the best public swimming areas and a 7km flat cycle path along the lake. Achenkirch, at the northern end, is quieter and good for stand-up paddleboarding. The whole area is well set up for travellers without a car — the Achenseebahn cog railway from Jenbach is a charming, if slow, way in.

Planning a swim: practical notes for alpine lakes

When to swim

The realistic alpine swimming season runs from mid-June to early September, with mid-July to mid-August the sweet spot for water temperature. High-altitude lakes (Oeschinensee, Lac Blanc, Gosausee) stay cold all summer; lower lakes (Annecy, Achensee, Davos) warm up properly by late July.

Getting there flight-free

Most of the lakes on this list are reachable by train. The Eurostar to Paris connects to overnight TGVs and SNCF day trains for Annecy, Chamonix and Morzine; ICE and ÖBB services run from Brussels to Switzerland, Tyrol and the Dolomites foothills. Flight-free travel to Europe is rising sharply and the Alps are arguably the easiest mountain region in the world to reach without flying.

Where to stay near the best alpine lakes

For mid-range chalets and apartments near these lakes, cooler summer holidays in the French Alps via Peak Retreats is a useful starting point for the French side. For Switzerland and Austria, look at the resort tourism boards directly — Kandersteg, Davos, Achensee and the Salzkammergut all run good multi-night packages that include public transport.

What to pack for swimming in alpine lakes

• A quick-dry microfibre towel — alpine sun dries you in minutes, but a proper towel takes up half your bag.
• Water shoes. Most lakeshores are pebbled or rocky, and Oeschinensee in particular is unforgiving on bare feet.
• A thin merino layer for after the swim. Alpine air cools quickly once you’re out of the sun.
• A dry bag for your phone if you’re paddleboarding or rowing.
• Reef-safe sunscreen — several of these lakes are protected biotopes and discourage standard chemical sunscreens.

The Alps are famous for the going-up part — the lifts, the peaks, the trig points, the views from the top. But the going-in part, when you slip off a wooden jetty into water cold enough to make you laugh, is the one that tends to stay with you. The best alpine lakes for swimming aren’t simply scenery you happen to wade into; they are the trip itself. Long after the journey home, when the photos have been scrolled past and the tan has faded, you will still remember exactly what it felt like, that first second under the surface, somewhere very high up and very far away.