Les Arcs ski resort review – as featured on PV Holidays Blog

High in the Upper Tarentaise Valley, Les Arcs is a gem of a resort with plenty of accommodation choices and some brilliant skiing for beginners and advanced skiers. It was linked to La Plagne in 2003 via the Vanoise Express cable car and now includes over 260 miles of piste and 175 lifts. This new area, Paradiski, now rivals the 3 Valleys and Espace Killy for skiing and facilities.

There are 5 main resort bases, 1600, which consists of mainly apartments, 1800, the central hub, Arc 2000, outerlying Peisey-Vallandry and the Intrawest developed new resort of 1950. This new area of Arc 1950 offers a great new option for visitors to Les Arcs, with a range of well located apartments with good access to the slopes.

In Les Arcs itself there are a good amount of varied ski runs, in fact I think it is probably one of the best resorts for mixed ability groups with a large amount of entry level skiing plus some excellent harder runs and off piste. The ski area rises to 3,226m giving it great snow sureness and making it a banker for early and late season.

There are two major ski areas, the area above 1800 over to Peisey-Vallandry and the bowl of Arc 20000. The central part of this bowl is great for improvers offering a range of blues and reds under the Plagnettes lift. The most testing pistes run down from the top of Aiguille Rouge, though watch out as the cable car can fall foul of the bad weather and be closed sometimes. The Aiguille Rouge Black run is my favourite in Les Arcs, and takes in 7km of twists, turns and fun!

As you head over towards Arc 1800 the runs seem to get harder. Take in the beautiful descents in 1600 of Cachette and Rouelles, a bumpy scenic black recently reclassified from it’s blatantly incorrect redness! Arc 1800 is the best area for beginners as there is a number of linked blues and plenty of beginners slopes at a high enough altitude to ensure good snow. The skiing around 1600, 1800 and Peisey Vallandry is mainly tree lined, offering good shelter in bad weather.

If you haven’t had enough of skiing during the day there is night skiing until 7pm in Arc 1600 and 1800 and until 9pm in Arc 1950 and 2000 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, it’s definitely worth a try once, especially on a clear, moon lit night.

The best mountain restaurants to try in Les Arcs are L’Arpette near the snow park which seems to be one of the more reasonably priced. Alternatively give the pizza a go at Le Solan near the Vanoise Express (also has free WIFI.)

Interestingly, and as I discovered on a recent trip to Les Arcs with some beginners, the ski schools are one of the first adopters of using shorter skis for beginners. The theory being is that it’s easier to ski on blade type skis, and means you can start parallel turning straight away. You will need to return to your ski hire shop several times during the week to pick up longer skis as you progress so ensure you choose a well located ski hire shop.

Paradiski (Les Arcs and La Plagne via the Vanoise Express) lift passes for 6 days will cost a whopping 243euros or 182.50euros for children. Alternatively a Les Arcs lift pass will cost 203euros or 152.50euros for children. This is not cheap, but it’s such a good, well linked area that it more than makes up for it.

In the evenings, there’s quite a bit of varied entertainment depending on where you are staying. 1800 is the place to be if you want to be near the busy bars and clubs. For traditional cheesy alpine dancing try the Red Hot Saloon For proper club action I recommend Apocolypse or trendy Igloo. Arc 1950 is well supplied with restaurants offering a range of traditional and non traditional including a Mexican restaurant which is a rare sight in the Alps. Plus visit Chalet Luigi a great bar well worth frequenting with dancing downstairs if you’ve any energy left at the end of the day. At 2000 shoot some pool at Whistlers Dream and visit Latino Loco, touted as the best bar in 2000 by seasonaires, it’s definitely got a more local feel that other bars. A beer will cost you on average around £4, which is well under what you’d expect to pay in nearby Espace Killy.

Getting to Les Arcs is possible by all methods of transport. Fly to Chambery (79miles), Geneva (97miles) or Lyon (125miles). Alternatively the drive from Calais or Dunkerque to Les Arcs will take around 8-10 hours. Perhaps the easiest way to get to Les Arcs is by the direct Eurostar from St Pancras to Bourg St Maurice, just beneath Les Arcs. The transfer up to Les Arcs resorts from Bourg St Maurice train station take less than 45 minutes by taxi.

All in all a great ski resort with fantastic skiing and good facilities, with the bonus of being easily accessible by all transport methods. It’s a must visit for mile eaters and beginners.

Do you know of the best places to stay, ski, eat and drink in Les Arcs? If so leave them in a comment to help other users find out more about Les Arcs ski resort.