French Alps Recommended Airfields

I suggest you make stops at Gap, Annemasse, Annecy, Sion, Grenoble, Cannes…they are not necessarily “in the Alps” but you can see the peaks and the area around is just beautiful with few things within walking distance

Good luck with the RV build !

Right. Unless you have flown in the Alps before, leave the somewhat more challenging airfields for another time.

For the nicest town/city, go to Annecy. Chambery has a nice approach, but Aix Les Bains a bit less interesting.

For the best mountain scenery, go to Grenoble Le Versoud. Don‘t go to LFLS (far away from anything) unless you want to clear customs.

Gap-Tallard is a nice airfield and Tallard is a cute little village.

I would skip Annemasse. It‘s non-ATS, with lots of French-speaking traffic usually. Not partivcularly scenic either.

I would also recommend Annecy LFLP. The airport is great and is a good starting point for scenic flights.
The town center of Annecy is lovely and you will be 35min drive from Geneva if you want to go there.

If you go to Sion, you can let me know as I live close by.

Gap Taillard is a nice airfield with a lot of parachuting and glider activity. The city itself is not very nice and quite far away. The restaurant at the airport is good, and I’d recommend ordering a Salade de Chèvre Chaud, delicious
For an overnight stay I’d rather go to Barcelonette Saint-Pons (not far E from Gap). The airfield is in the Alps alright. Has a concrete runway. And a 30-40 minute walk will take you into a charming little historic city with accommodation and good food.

Anyone here personally acquainted with LFLB Chambery who could give some information?

I haven‘t been again in recent years but looking at their website and particular at the table of fees and charges gives you an impression…. they are now totally focussed on high value winter season jet traffic. Avoid in winter, especially on Saturdays, otherwise you pay 1000€ (it‘s written in the document!). Plus there is a truckload of other winter restrictions. In summer, it is quiet and OKish, but not your friendly GA aerodrome.

The AIP also had this friendly note:

Flight crew training
For all flights, a theoretical training about procedures intended to be used is mandatory for the pilot-in-command.
Night operations and operations with weather conditions below 3500 feet ceiling and 5000 metres visibility require a training using a suitable flight simulation training device (FSTD) or an on-site training in VMC conditions on a same category aircraft.
Note : all operators and pilots must be able to prove that they comply with the above training requirements. The application of these provisions will be subject to verifications during ramp inspections

Any particular reason for French?

For example, Aosta LIMW is a lovely destination, really friendly, and from the UK the flight is about as short as you can do and still be “in the Alps”. 3.5hrs in the TB20 from Shoreham, less in an RV I would think.

Anyone here personally acquainted with LFLB Chambery who could give some information?

I have been there in Jul2020, we paid a tenner for Mooney landing & parking one night, it’s not the most friendly GA AD as they take jets most of the time but full fuel uplift was cheap (don’t remember how much but cheaper than Albertville or Annemasse), as Boscomantico said the city is not charming city but there are load of places to walk around in the nature and plenty of “water activity” in the lac nearby: beach, waterski, swim, boat massage…

PS: if you fly IFR in weather or night over there, have some time to think about their departure/missed following the back course localiser (or use GPS ) and have a go at XPlane, keep trace of those logs, sign your logbook and good to go