UKC

From what I can find searching online Geneva is the best airport to fly to. However I was wondering if anyone whos done mont blanc could say wether this is the best airport to fly to? Thanks in advance

In reply to Mercian1991:

Yes, without question.

In reply to Pete Houghton:


I normally never comment on "dislikes" but the fact that someone disliked Pete's short, correct, non-controversial, and helpful reply to the OP tells me that someone/ some people are pressing the dislike button just for the heck of it.

Edit - to the OP, yes, Geneva airport is a good choice for Mont Blanc.

Are there other options?

In reply to FesteringSore:

You could use Lyon or Grenoble if Geneva (for some bizarre reason) wasn't easily reachable, though the transfers would be lengthy.

In reply to FesteringSore:

If you are looking at the Italian side, Turin and Milan both work well, and the journey from the airport is much more beautiful.

In reply to FesteringSore:


Yes, as mentioned by the other helpful people in this thread, there's Grenoble, Lyon, Milan, Turin, and an honorable mention must also go to Chamberry; then slightly further afield you have Nice, Bern, Madrid, Heathrow, f*cking Dallas if you want to make life difficult enough for yourself, but none of the above are even -slightly- as convenient, as Chamonix's closest, cheapest, and quickest airport, Geneva.

In reply to abseil:

Water off a duck's back, it makes no difference. It just reinforces a long-held belief that there are some truly intriguing people on the planet.

As for those three (at current count)... swivel on it!

In reply to Pete Houghton:
What about Megeve? Much closer, but the transfer might take a while

Or Sallanches? Another great option.

In reply to pneame:

Ha, I was going to suggest Megève! Sallanches on the other hand, is ULMs only now.

In reply to Pete Houghton:


I've just glanced at the map and noticed to my surprise that a large part of Mount Blanc seems to be in Italy. Totally gobsmacked - I'd always assumed it was in Chamonix!

In reply to jon:

You're getting it confused with Monte Bianco, which is in Courmayeur.

In reply to jon:

You are indeed quite correct, and it was presumptuous, perhaps even a little arrogant of me, to assume that the OP was looking for information on getting to the French side of the hill. For that, I hold up my hands, and truly your forgiveness I implore.

However... given that the three most popular routes to the summit are on the French side, with around 50-70% of people taking the Gouter route alone and, being stingy here, let's say that only 10% try either the Three Monts or Grands Mulets routes (which I can't help but feel is lowballing it a little...), can we assume that around 80% of the 20,000 successful summiters each year have come from France?

Given these numbers, only some of which I've plucked out of my ass just now, I think that without any qualifiers from the OP such as "I am interested in climbing Mont Blanc via one of the less-popular Italian routes, which is the best airport for that?", I don't think it was too far a step to jump to the Chamo-centric conclusion.



(Also, if you want to suggest Megeve altiport as a viable alternative to Geneva, I might just put forward the idea of the helipad at Argentiere... it's closer, people do fly into it... ten minute transfer time to Chamonix... therefore it must be the best option!)

In reply to Pete Houghton:
> Also, if you want to suggest Megeve altiport as a viable alternative to Geneva, I might just put forward the idea of the helipad at Argentiere... it's closer, people do fly into it... ten minute transfer time to Chamonix... therefore it must be the best option! >

Isn't there a helipad at the Gouter refuge? Most huts have one so surely that's the best option

In reply to Pete Houghton:

Just teasing, Pete. However, even though the French map shows the totality of the summit in France, it belongs to the commune of St Gervais - much to the delight of it's megalomaniac maire - and not Chamonix! But Cham-centric is about right!

As for the aerodrome at Megève, I took a fabulous flight around the massif from there a few years ago in one of their little toy planes. We flew around the Tour, Argentière, Leschaux glaciers, the entire length of the Mer de Glace in both directions and back via the Bionnassay. I can thoroughly recommend it for a special occasion.

In reply to jon:

And the Italian map...

In reply to jon:

I'd absolutely love to have a flight in a fixed-wing aircraft around the massif, I've done it twice now for my dad's birthday in a chopper from the Argie pad... best money ever spent.

I'll look into flying from Megeve for sure, thanks for the beta.

In reply to Pete Houghton:
Given the need to acclimatise, Turin might not be such a bad option as it's convenient to stop off to do Gran Pradison on the way to Cham. Public transport links are good round there - train to Aosta, then buses.

In reply to Mercian1991:

Even if you're climbing Monte Bianco from Italy, Geneva is the nearest airport, and there are many more flights to there from the UK. That said, the Italian side is wilder and stunningly beautiful.

In reply to David Rose:

Not with a 2 hour wait to get through the tunnel in high summer, it's not!

In reply to jon:


Great thought for some point soon, hopefully.

Even though suggested by you (just teasing of course!)