| Les Arcs, France » Location In southeast France, in the Savoie region, close to the FrenchItalian border. 10 mls above and southeast of Bourg St Maurice. 42 mls southeast of Albertville. 42 mls southwest of Courmayeur (Italy). 128 mls east of Lyon and its airport. 100 mls southeast of Geneva (Switzerland) and its airport. » Position West-facing Arc 1800 is situated among pine-clad slopes halfway between the Tarentaise Valley floor and the Col de Frettes ridge. Arc 1600 is similarly situated 650 ft below, overlooking the town of Bourg St Maurice. 7 mls southeast of Arc 1600, above the tree line in the next valley, is Arc 2000, perched on the edge of the Arc Valley Bowl at the foot of Aiguille Rouge, with impressive views of both Aiguille Rouge and Mont Blanc peaks. » Description The 3 villages of Arc 1600 (also called Arc Pierre Blanche), 1800 and 2000 are mainly differentiated by their relative altitudes (in metres). Arc 1800 divided into Charvet, Villards, Chantel and Charmettoger is the largest (1,400 yds by 700 yds) and most established. Comprising large, individual, modern, purpose-built buildings loosely strung out at various levels along the main road, it is relatively traffic free and boasts a couple of commercial centres with adequate facilities, navigated by a series of tiered pedestrian walkways. Arc 1600 is a smaller (500 yds by 200 yds), more intimate version of its loftier neighbour, architecturally similar but built around a main square; its direct funicular link with the town of Bourg St Maurice in the valley below means that it can get rather overcrowded at weekends. Arc 2000 (250 yds by 200 yds) is a typical high-altitude, purpose-built satellite consisting of a small clutch of modern, interconnecting, timber-clad buildings; somewhat utilitarian in comparison with its neighbours, it attracts the purist with its piste-to-porch position. The latest addition to the Arcs ski-region is the purpose-built residential village of Arc 1950, which provides accommodation for 3,500 visitors. Les Arcs features some of the best, wide, "motorway" pistes to be found anywhere - with long, steep slopes with moguls to appeal to expert skiers and great wooded ski slopes down to lower villages. » Suitable for Arc 1800 is a good all-round base with a lively atmosphere, attracting young adults and families, with abundant slopes for beginners and intermediates. Arc 1600 is more low-key and has a less extensive ski-area on its doorstep. Arc 2000's more demanding descents and position attract dedicated skiers less interested in shopping and apres-ski. » Accommodation Modern, purpose-built, wood-faced buildings comprising predominantly self-catering apartments and a few middlemarket hotels most of which are situated in the older Arc 1600. The accommodation is mainly bland with a few character hotels. » Shopping Each village has its own selection of shops from supermarkets, souvenir shops, banks and post office to sports and ski-hire shops, cheese shops and delicatessens; Arc 1800 has the greatest choice, Arc 2000 the least. The residential district of Charmettoger in 1800 has only basic facilities, with main shopping often just a 500-yd walk away. » Entertainment Daytime: winter activities include downhill, cross-country, slalom and speed skiing (with a permanent speed-skiing run based at Arc 2000), snowboarding (snow park with half pipe at both Arc 1600 and 2000), tobogganing, paraskiing, ice-skating, snowshoeing, kite-surfing, snowmobile rides, paragliding, dog or horse sleigh rides; "ski Joering" (being pulled along behind a horse at speeds of up to 38 mph); ice grotto at Arc 2000; also a fitness centre, sauna and amusement arcade at each village. Arc 1800 is the largest and liveliest of the resorts, additionally offering squash and 10-pin bowling. For summer, there is an 18-hole golf course. Nightlife: several lively bars; a few unsophisticated nightclubs; cinemas; floodlit and torchlight night skiing. There is perhaps a lack of any major nightclub centres. » Eating All villages offer a variety of restaurants from fast-food outlets and pizzerias to good-quality French cuisine and local specialities. Several mountain restaurants. Try the local Beaufort cheese. » Public Transport A free ski-bus runs every 15 mins between the 3 main villages. The funicular railway runs regularly till early evening from Bourg St Maurice railway station up to Arc 1600 (free for ski-pass holders); the journey takes 10 mins. TGV train service from Bourg St Maurice to Paris. » Excursions Generally limited to ski-related activities; the nearby, more traditional town of Bourg St Maurice (10 mins away by funicular from Les Arcs 1600) is worth a visit. » Skiing Descsription 57 lifts in the immediate Les Arcs area: 1 funicular, 2 cable cars, 3 gondolas, 30 chair-lifts and 21 drags; the Paradiski area offers around 70 lifts in total. Several ski-schools located in Les Arcs/Bourg St Maurice area, with around 350 instructors and English-speaking tuition; also tuition in snowboarding, off-piste, slalom and "evolutif" skiing (a revolutionary method of training using half-length skis which was pioneered in Les Arcs). Children's ski-schools and kindergartens. Ski-passes are available for individual villages only or there is the "Grand Domaine" ski-pass covering all Les Arcs villages, Plan Peisey, Vallandry and Villaroger; a lift pass is also available for the whole Paradiski ski-area. » Statistics Villages: Arc 1600 - 5,250 ft; Arc 1800 - 5,900 ft; Arc 2000 - 6,560 ft. Highest lifts (Aiguille Rouge): 10,584 ft. Situated at high altitude, the season runs from mid-Dec to April (Aiguille Rouge runs 2 weeks longer), offering good snow cover all season; snow cannons resupply the sunnier lower slopes. A wide range of skiing within an extensive area incorporating the neighbouring villages of Villaroger and Plan Peisey and offering 125 mls of piste as well as off-piste opportunities; 117 runs (10 green, 51 blue, 38 red and 18 black) including an awe-inspiring descent of over 4 mls from Aiguille Rouge to Villaroger; 12 mls of cross-country trails around Les Arcs supplemented by a further 19 mls around Bourg St Maurice. The Vanoise Express (a double-decker cable car) links Les Arcs with the nearby resort of La Plagne across the Ponthurin Valley, creating a vast ski-domain (collectively known as Paradiski) of 262 mls of runs (12 green, 125 blue, 64 red, 31 black), 2 glaciers and 2 summits over 10,900 ft, plus 4 snow parks and 2 half-pipes. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hotels in Les Arcs, France |
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