Les Arcs has become part of one of the biggest ski areas in the world, comprising five village-sections on five separate levels. The ski region lies south of Lake Geneva, near the Swiss border and not far from the exclusive ski resort of Chamonix. The skiing and snowboarding is fantastic and facilities are extensive.
The five villages are known as: Arc 1600, the lowest section; Arc 1800, which makes up the main village; Arc 1950; Bourg-Saint-Maurice; and Arc 2000, higher up the mountain. The purpose-built resort of Les Arcs features staggering architecture by renowned architects and a huge choice of shops and services, including quality childcare and children’s facilities.
There are over 30,000 beds available throughout the five villages of Les Arcs, with accommodation ranging from luxury hotel/resorts to self-catering apartments. Among the non-skiing activities are ice-skating, hang-gliding and sleigh riding; while there is a huge selection of bars, restaurants, nightclubs and cinemas offering a lively après-ski. Arc 1800 is the liveliest village.
Les Arcs boasts 200kms of pistes, 140kms of which is shared among intermediates and advanced skiers and snowboarders; there are also many off-piste possibilities. Fifty-four ski lifts have an hourly capacity to lift 87,000 people to pistes as high as 3,226m and the longest run is seven kilometres.
Alternatively, the resort of La Plagne is lift-linked to Les Arcs and offers more piste opportunity. The Trois Vallees (Three Valleys) ski region is just to the southwest and includes the resorts of Meribel, Les Menuires, Val Thorens and cosmopolitan Courchevel. There are 600kms of pistes with every level catered for, including exciting and challenging off-piste powder for snowboarders.
The ski season at Les Arcs runs from mid-December to late April, with cheaper, low season rates offered at the beginning and towards the end of the season. The quickest way to get here is to fly to Geneva and hire a car, although you can take a train from London to nearby Bourg-Saint-Maurice.
