Chambéry and Aix-les-Bains sit at the heart of the French Alps — close enough to the major ski resorts and summer mountain destinations to serve as a base, but interesting enough in their own right to deserve more than a passing glance. Between them: France’s largest natural lake, one of the finest viewpoints in the Northern Alps, a medieval city with an unexpected Italian character, a pristine pre-Alpine nature reserve and two excellent rainy-day museums. Here are the five things you should not miss.
1. Lac du Bourget — France’s largest natural lake
The Lac du Bourget is the centrepiece of the region — 18 km long, flanked by the Épine mountain range to the west and the Bauges massif to the east, with water clarity that rivals the best Alpine lakes in Switzerland. It is the largest natural lake entirely within France, and the town of Aix-les-Bains on its eastern shore has been capitalising on that fact since the Romans built thermal baths here two thousand years ago.
The classic way to experience the lake is the circuit tour — 55 km by road or 50 km by bike, passing through the canal village of Chanaz, the viewpoint above the Abbaye d’Hautecombe and the lakeside villages of Châtillon and Le Bourget-du-Lac. The boat trip to the Abbaye d’Hautecombe — the Savoie royal abbey perched directly above the water — is one of the most atmospheric short excursions in the Alps. The lake’s 18 beaches are at their best from June to September, with water reaching 24–26°C in summer.
Activities to book on Lac du Bourget
Paragliding over the lake
Tandem paragliding flights from the Revard plateau or Pragondran, with panoramic views over the lake and the Alps. 15–25 minute flights.
From €100 per person
Canyoning in the Bauges
River walking, swimming, jumps, slides and short abseils in the Bauges gorges. Suitable from age 8.
From €40 per person
Cycling around Lake Annecy
The Lake Annecy circuit is 40 minutes from Chambéry and one of the finest easy cycling routes in the Alps. Bike hire available in Annecy.
From €50 per person
2. Mont Revard — the best viewpoint above Aix-les-Bains
At 1,500 m above Aix-les-Bains, the Mont Revard plateau is the finest viewpoint in the region — with a panorama that takes in the Lac du Bourget directly below, the full sweep of the Northern Alps from Mont Blanc to the Belledonne range, and on clear days the Jura beyond. The summit has been developed with a series of viewpoint walkways, including a glass-floored bridge that extends into the void — dramatic and, for those with a head for heights, genuinely spectacular.
Revard is one of France’s oldest ski stations, and in winter it functions as a cross-country skiing and snowshoeing destination (sharing the first cross-country skiing domain in France with La Féclaz). In summer it is a hiking and paragliding base. One of its great appeals is the “sea of clouds” effect in autumn and winter: the valley fog fills the depression around Chambéry and the Lac du Bourget while the Revard plateau sits in sunshine above — one of the most memorable natural phenomena in the Alps. Open year-round and accessible by car from Aix-les-Bains in around 25 minutes.
3. Chambéry old town — the Italian city in the Alps
Chambéry surprises visitors expecting a generic French provincial city. The old town has a distinctly Italian character — the result of its history as capital of the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia from the 12th century until 1562, when the capital transferred to Turin. Savoie itself only became definitively French in 1860. The legacy is visible in every street: Italian-style traboules (covered passageways between buildings), colourful ochre and terracotta facades, arcaded streets and a general Mediterranean lightness that feels unlike anywhere else in the French Alps.
The highlights of a walking tour: the Château des Ducs de Savoie (the seat of the Savoy dynasty), the Cathédrale Saint-François-de-Sales (with its remarkable trompe-l’œil interior), the Fontaine des Éléphants (Chambéry’s quirky landmark, an 1838 memorial column topped by four elephants) and the maze of covered traboules in the Curial quarter. The Musée Savoisien, renovated in 2023 and free to enter, traces the history of the Savoie region from prehistory to the present — an excellent context for understanding the area before exploring further.
4. The Bauges massif — nature reserve 30 minutes from the city
Thirty minutes from both Chambéry and Aix-les-Bains, the Bauges massif is a regional nature park of extraordinary quality — a limestone pre-Alpine range almost entirely free of ski infrastructure, largely protected from development and home to chamois, ibex, golden eagles and the only wild population of Méditerranée bearded vultures in France. The villages are authentic and working, the hiking trails are excellent from May to October and the cheese is exceptional.
The Bauges are best explored from the market town of Albertville to the east or the village of Le Châtelard to the north. The summit of the Arcalod (2,217 m) is the classic objective for experienced walkers — a full day from the valley with panoramic views across to Mont Blanc. For a shorter outing, the Semnoz ridge above Annecy (accessible by car to 1,700 m) gives outstanding views of the lake below and the Alps beyond. The local Tome des Bauges cheese — a nutty, semi-hard cow’s milk cheese protected by a French AOC since 2002 — is available from farms throughout the massif.
5. Galerie Eurêka and the museums of Chambéry — for rainy days
Chambéry has two museums worth visiting in their own right — and both become essential when the weather turns. The Galerie Eurêka is a science and culture museum dedicated to the mountain environment: interactive, accessible to children and genuinely interesting for adults, with a permanent exhibition on mountain ecology, geology and Alpine life that provides excellent context for everything you see in the surrounding landscape. Entry is very reasonable.
The Musée Savoisien, in the former Franciscan convent, is the larger and more traditional of the two — a comprehensive museum of Savoie history and culture, from prehistoric artefacts through Savoyard folk traditions to contemporary Alpine life. Renovated in 2023 and notably well-presented, it is one of the better regional history museums in France. Both museums are free to enter for under-18s.
Getting to Chambéry and Aix-les-Bains
Chambéry is well-connected by rail — direct TGV from Paris Lyon in 1h45, and regular services from Lyon (1h) and Geneva (1h15). Aix-les-Bains is one stop further on the same line. By road, Chambéry sits at the junction of the A43 (Lyon to Turin via the Fréjus Tunnel) and the A41 (Annecy and Geneva). Geneva airport is approximately 1h15 by road. For UK visitors flying into Lyon Saint-Exupéry, Chambéry is around 1h by road or 55 minutes by train from the airport station.
👉 Read also: Best beaches on Lac du Bourget · Cycling around Lac du Bourget · Free alternatives to the Fréjus Tunnel · 15 most beautiful villages in Savoie