Évian lent its name to a mineral water, a peace treaty and two summits. The town on the French shore of Lake Geneva is one of the Alps' most elegant summer resorts – with a palace from 1909 and mountains right behind it.
In this story · 5 sections
Évian-les-Bains is situated on the southern, French shore of Lake Geneva in Haute-Savoie, with Lausanne on the other side of the water and the Chablais Alps behind the town. It is world-famous for its mineral water, but it is also one of the few small towns in France that has written itself into world history. It was here that the agreements ending the Algerian War were signed, and here that the world's leaders have met twice.
For the traveller, Évian is a summer resort rather than a ski resort: a lakeside walking town with Belle Époque architecture, a casino, golf and boats to Switzerland. The property market in the town can be found on VERA PI's page about Évian-les-Bains.
Évian through the years
- 1827
- The Cachat spring is bought by the water company
- 1865
- The town becomes Évian-les-Bains
- 1909
- Hôtel Royal opens
- 1962
- The Évian Accords are signed
- 2003
- G8 summit
- 2026
- G7 summit, 15–17 June
01The water that built the town
The springs in Évian were almost unknown at the time of the French Revolution. The Empire's interest in spa towns led a scholar to analyse the water in 1807 and 1808, and in 1809 the town was given a harbour and a new road towards Milan and Paris. In 1823, an entrepreneur from Geneva founded the first mineral water company, and in 1827 it bought the town's two most important springs – the best known being Cachat, named after the family who sold it.
The modern water company was founded in 1859 by investors from Paris, and in 1865 the town changed its name to Évian-les-Bains. The spa town grew during the Belle Époque: in 1902 the bathing establishment was built, and in 1909 the Hôtel Royal followed. Among the guests, according to the town's history, were Anna de Noailles, Frédéric Mistral, the Lumière brothers and Marcel Proust.
02Hôtel Royal – the palace that waited for a king
Hôtel Royal was inaugurated on 16 June 1909, designed by the Parisian architect Albert Hébrard on commission from the mineral water company. The name comes from King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, who had a suite reserved but died in May 1910 without having visited the hotel. The hotel is situated in a park of 19 hectares above the lake, holds the Palace distinction from Atout France, and is part of the Évian Royal Resort together with, among others, Hôtel Ermitage.
It is one of France's seven alpine palaces – and the only one that is not located in a ski resort. Five of the others are in Courchevel and one in Megève.
03From Frankenstein to the G7
Évian holds an unusual place in history. In Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein spends his wedding night here, and Shelley herself travelled through the town in 1817. In July 1938, the Évian Conference on Jewish refugees from Germany was held. On 18 March 1962, the Évian Accords were signed, which ended the Algerian War and recognised an independent Algeria.
In June 2003, the G8 summit was held at the Hôtel Royal, and on 15–17 June 2026 the world leaders returned for the G7 summit. Évian thus became the first French town to have hosted a G7 or G8 summit twice.
04A summer day in Évian
Start by the lake, on the promenade along the quay, and walk up to the Cachat spring in the centre, where the water still flows from a public fountain. The town has a casino and a golf course where the women's golf major The Evian Championship is played every summer. Then take the boat across the lake to Lausanne for lunch on the Swiss side and come back in the evening light, when the mountains behind Évian take on their pink hue.
05Évian according to VERA PI
Évian is a town with year-round residents: according to VERA PI, 9,224 people live here, and 28 per cent of the properties are second homes. From January 2021 to June 2026, 1,550 properties were sold, with a median of 4,660 euros per square metre for flats and 4,836 euros for villas and houses – less than half of what a flat costs in Courchevel. Compare on VERA PI's page on Annecy.
More destinations can be found among metromode.co's destinations, and with Metro Mode Camera you get the story of the buildings along the quay.
