Les Arcs - introduction

Les Arcs has exactly what it takes to appeal to British skiers and snowboarders. It is in France - the most popular winter sports holiday destination. It has endless terrain suitable for intermediates – ideal for the typical Brit who goes to the mountains once or twice a year and hasn’t moved beyond the “plateau”; and it is good value compared to some of its glitzier neighbours.

Les Arcs is actually a collection of five interconnected resorts – four bearing their altitude in their name (Arc 1600, 1800, 1950 and 2000) and the traditional mountain town of Bourg St Maurice. (Although don’t tell anyone that Arc 1950 is not actually at 1,950 metres.)

Since the winter of 2003/04, Les Arcs has been made even more appealing thanks to a link to nearby La Plagne via one of the world’s longest and highest cable cars, the Vanoise Express. The resorts have both improved the lifts taking skiers and snowboarders to the cable car, making day trips around the Paradiski network even more enjoyable.

Highlights

• Part of the Paradiski ski domain, great for intermediates
• Easy access to Les Arcs slopes by direct funicular from the Bourg St Maurice railway station
• Lots of ski-in, ski-out accommodation

Lowlights

• A few more traditional mountain restaurants would be welcome
• The ground-breaking architecture of Charlotte Pérriand, Pierre Faucheux and Guy Rey-Millet is not to everyone’s taste
• Limited pisted terrain for experts (but lots off-piste)