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Thinking of Les Arcs?
Les Arcs is a high altitude, snow sure ski resort in the French Alps that’s particularly good for beginner and intermediate skiers.
It offers a fantastic variety of terrain, atmosphere and accommodation across its many villages, and, together with La Plagne, makes up the expansive Paradiski area, one of the biggest ski areas in the world.
We have a great selection of chalet, apartment and hotel deals across Les Arcs' many villages live and bookable online and through our specialists, with both package and non-package deals available.
Resort Statistics
| Level | Rating | Runs |
|---|---|---|
| Beginners | 65 | |
| Intermediates | 42 | |
| Advanced | 16 | |
| Snowboarders | ||
| Total Runs | 123 |
Good for
- Off piste
- Families
- Groups
Resort features
Ice Rink
Nightclub
Indoor Pool
Health Spa
Gym
Parapenting
Snowshoeing
Snow sure
Glacier Resort
High altitude skiing
High altitude resort
Resort bus
Supermarket
Tourist Office
Green Resort
Resort Statistics
| Resort Altitude | 1600m |
| Highest Lift | 3226m |
| Total Piste | 200km |
| Longest Run | 7km |
| Directions of Slopes | N/W, N, N/E, S/W |
| Total Lifts | 55 |
| Gondolas/Cable cars | 10 |
| Chairlifts | 26 |
| Drag Lifts | 19 |
| Snow Parks | 1 |
What is Les Arcs like as a ski resort?
With a fantastic range of villages to choose from and 425km of slopes to explore across the incredible Paradiski ski area, Les Arcs is one of the best ski resorts in France and a no-brainer for those looking for endless runs and some of the best conditions the Alps has to offer.
Discover Les Arcs' different villages, top reasons why you should choose Les Arcs, Les Arc's partying scene and more below.
What are the different villages in Les Arcs?
Not sure where to stay in Les Arcs? Here’s a snapshot of what you can expect from its different villages.
Arc 1800 and Arc 1950 are the resort’s liveliest hubs, while the more relaxed Arc 1600 (the original resort) is popular with families.
Les Arcs' highest village, Arc 2000, offers plenty of ski in ski out accommodation options and swift access to some of the area's best conditions.
Peisey Vallandry is a great place to stay if you want to explore La Plagne (due to its proximity to the Vanoise Express cable car), while Villaroger, the lowest village, is secluded and peaceful.
The town of Bourg-Saint-Maurice, which is connected to London via the Eurostar, is just 7 minutes away from Les Arcs on the funicular railway.
Find out more about each of the villages below.
Les Arcs 1800: Now the main hub of Les Arcs, Arc 1800 is a convenient base for the whole resort, offering easy access to the pistes, as well as amenities, activities, and après ski bars.
Les Arcs 1950: Arc 1950 is the newest village in Les Arcs, but still has an authentic Alpine charm, and is known for its luxury hotels and apartments, wellness facilities, shops, restaurants and bars.
Les Arcs 2000: If you’re a hardcore skier, Arc 2000 should be your base. Perched at high altitude in the heart of the Paradiski, it offers direct access to the challenging pistes and freeride par excellence of Aiguille Rouge.
Les Arcs 1600: Arc 1600 is in the perfect location for accessing the beginner slopes, making it a great option for both families and first-time skiers. You can also get the furnicular from Bourg St Maurice to Arc 1600, making it super convenient for anyone training it to the mountains.
Villaroger: Nestled low down in the Tarentaise valley, Villaroger is best for those seeking a little tranquillity during their ski holiday, with a relaxed vibe and a few quiet restaurants.
Peisey Vallandry: Peisey Vallandry is another quieter village that’s great for families and, thanks to its enviable position next to the Vanoise Express that takes you between Les Arcs and La Plagne, it's a great base for exploring the Paradiski area.
Top reasons to go to Les Arcs
Here are five equally good reasons why you should choose Les Arcs for your next ski holiday.
Vast ski area: From Les Arcs, you have the 425km Paradiski playground on your doorstep, offering enough slopes to keep you entertained for several ski trips over.
Variety: Whether you want to party as much as you want to ski or you want a relaxing family holiday, Les Arcs can accommodate all preferences across its multiple villages.
Convenience: Much of Les Arcs is purpose-built, with ski-in-ski-out accommodation and easy access to amenities and lifts, convenience is baked into the fabric of the resort.
Family-friendly: The aforementioned convenience, as well as the number of quality ski schools and family-friendly activities, make Les Arcs the perfect resort for families.
Snow-surety: Les Arcs’ altitude (it ranges from 1,250m to 3,250m), snow record, glacier, and extensive snow cannon coverage make it very snow sure.
Read more:
We go into further detail on why Les Arcs is such a great ski resort in our dedicated guide.
What is the accommodation like in Les Arcs?
Here’s a breakdown of the different types of accommodation you can find in Les Arcs’ main villages.
As the largest of Les Arcs’ villages, Arc 1800 has the best range of accommodation for all budgets, with large apartments, chalets, and hotels that are ideal for big groups.
If you’re looking to have a luxurious holiday, there’s only one place to stay: Arc 1950. Here you’ll find many premium hotels and apartments, all with modern, comfortable accommodation, excellent facilities, and top-notch customer service.
Up in Arcs 2000, you’ll mainly find great value 3-star hotels, ultra modern chalets, and self-catered apartments, which are great for committed skiers who need easy access to the slopes.
Arcs 1600, Villaroger and Peisey Vallandry are home to some of the best family-friendly and budget accommodation, with a great choice of traditional Alpine chalets and apartments.
What’s the après scene like in Les Arcs?
As long as you’re in the right village, Les Arcs has an après scene to rival anywhere else in the Alps.
Arcs 1800 is where you’ll find the liveliest party scenes, with enough bars and clubs to satisfy even the most hardcore après aficionados.
Start with L’Arpette, which you’ll find near the snow park between 1800 and 1600. It’s a classic mountain bar and restaurant, with a panoramic terrace and daily DJ sets that are sure to have you clambering up for a table-top boogie.
You could also head for some guaranteed post-ski fun at Folie Douce, which is next to the Gondola de Villard.
To continue the party, head to the Les Villards area of 1800. You can enjoy live music and dancing until 10.30pm at the Red Hot Saloon, which is one of the resort’s biggest bars, or cocktails until 1am at Jungle Cafe.
If you're in Peisey Vallandry, check out The Mont Blanc Bar at the bottom of the Grizzly lift, which has everything you’d expect from an après spot, including a decent terrace, chilled tunes and a pool table.
Or slip in to Les Belles Pintes, an Irish-themed pub, to have a pint, play pool, or watch a sports fixture. If you’re after a later night, O’Chaud is a lounge bar and nightclub that hosts DJs playing electro, house and R&B until 2am.
There are bars in the other villages, which are generally better for a quiet post-ski beverage. But as it’s pretty easy to get around Les Arcs in the free shuttle bus, you can still stay in a quieter village and enjoy the après in 1800 or 1950.
Have a read of our extensive guide to Les Arcs's après-ski scene for all the key details.
What activities are there to do in Les Arcs?
There are plenty of alternative activities to enjoy across Les Arcs’ different villages.
If you’re up for a physical challenge, there are 20km of woodland trails to explore by snowshoe, as well as nordic skiing and ski-touring routes.
You could also try the specially groomed toboggan runs of Les Arc 1800 and 2000, dog sledding, speed riding, or being towed on skis behind a horse or pony.
If you’re keen to discover what it’s like to be an Alpine bird, you won’t get closer than the Aiguille Rouge Zip Line. Starting from the top of the Varet cable car at 2,680m, you’ll hit speeds of up to 130km per hour as you fly down the mountain, coming to a stop near the Olympic flame at Arc 2000.
The Igloo Village is a fun experience for all the family. It features an ice grotto, with beautiful ice sculptures carved right into the walls, as well as a bar and restaurant.
The Mountain Animal museum at the top of the Vallandry telecabin, The Illuminated Murals of the Aiguille Rouge, and Archi skiing (a guided ski tour of les Arcs’ architectural wonders) are good ideas for more educational outings.
More relaxing family activities include the swimming pool and bowling alley in Arc 1800.
Finally, if you’re a keen off-piste skier, you can learn how to stay safe when freeriding at the Avalanche Park, a dedicated area that teaches you how to use an Avalanche Victim Detector (AVD).
Skiing in Les Arcs
Les Arcs gives you access to a vast, snow sure ski area, that’s second only to the Three Valleys in size, and offers 258 slopes across its 425km of terrain.
Whichever village you stay in, you’ll have easy access to the entire area thanks to the efficient lift system, the centrepiece of which is the world’s largest cable car, the Vanoise Express, which will have you in La Plagne in just 4 minutes.
Why is Les Arcs a good place to ski?
In Les Arcs alone, there are 123 pistes, including 18 greens, 55 blues, 42 reds, and 16 blacks, with many wide and spacious runs. This variety makes it an ideal destination for skiers of all abilities.
The other great thing about the resort is that this variety is fairly evenly dispersed across the six villages. You’ll find excellent nursery areas above each one, as well as a wealth of blue and red runs, that will both delight and challenge intermediate skiers, within easy reach.
The Mont Blanc blue is great for progressing onto, and there are some more friendly blues down from the top of the St Jacques chair.
When you’re ready to start pushing yourself a bit more, you’ll find some relatively easy and wide motorway reds over in the Vallandry area, with the Belette run a particular highlight.
For experts, the lion’s share of advanced terrain can be found on the Aiguille Rouge, the highest peak in Les Arcs, but you should also sample the Écureuils down from the Blanchot chair.
Don’t leave Les Arcs without tackling the Aiguille Rouge black, which descends over 2000m to Villaroger.
And make sure to leave something in the tank for the extensive off-piste, the best of which is on Aiguille Rouge or down from the Col de la Chal. Just make sure to hire a guide to keep your freeride adventuring safe.
Read more:
Discover more incredible runs in Les in our list of the top 5 runs in the Paradiski area.
Skiing from Les Arcs to La Plagne
If you have a full Paradiski lift pass, it’s easy to get from Les Arcs to La Plagne. Just board the Vanoise Express from Peisey Vallandry, which takes just four minutes.
Is Les Arcs snow sure?
Les Arcs is very snow sure. Any concerns you have will be quickly dispelled by even a cursory glance at its snow history: the 2023/24 season saw over 400cm of snow on the upper slopes.
On top of that, its runs go all the way up to 3,250m and the altitude of several of its villages is high enough to allow you to ski to the door of your hotel or chalet for most of the season, which typically runs from mid December to the end of April.
The presence of the Les Houches glacier on the western side of Mont Blanc, and the extensive snow cannon coverage also help to ensure snow surety.
Read more:
Les Arcs came second in our guide to the top snow sure ski resorts in France. Discover more excellent snow sure ski resort options in the guide.
Is Les Arcs suitable for beginners?
Les Arcs is very suitable for beginners. Novice and beginner areas can be found all over, and many of the blues and reds tend towards the easier end of the spectrum, which will really help you progress. We go into more detail on why Les Arcs is such a great ski resort for beginners in our Beginner's Guide to Skiing in Les Arcs.
Family skiing in Les Arcs
Parents and kids will love Les Arcs.
The variety of slopes caters to all abilities, and the ski-in-ski-out accommodation makes it easy for the whole family to get on and off the slopes with minimal fuss. There are many great ski schools and activities to keep kids entertained if the adults want to have a bit more freedom to explore the mountain.
Read more:
Easter is a great time of year for a family ski holiday, with warmer weather, quieter pistes (than in half term), and still lots of fresh snow. Les Arcs is one of the top ski resorts for an Easter ski holiday and you can discover why and more fantastic Easter ski resorts in the guide.
Is Les Arcs good for group skiing?
As part of the Paradiski, there are a huge variety of runs, which'll suit the various needs of a mixed-ability group. Advanced skiers can stay entertained on the 77 red and 37 black runs in the area, while absolute beginners can learn the ropes on the 12 greens, before hitting the monumental 135 blues on offer.
You can enjoy après-ski in easily accessible locations (although you can find even better French resorts for après), such as the Folie Douce, which is just outside Arc 1800. Off the slopes, you could go ziplining or bowling in Arc 2000 among other things, or visit the various restaurants and cafes dotted about.
Being one of France's most popular resorts, there's plenty of accommodation types to suit various budgets or preferences - including within your group. Le Village Apartments are a popular self-catered choice for groups in Arc 1950, with a pool, hot tub, sauna and steam room among its highlights. They’re right on the edge of the slopes, meaning you can ski right up to the door.
How do you get to Les Arcs?
Flying to Geneva is probably the most convenient option, which is around 2 hours 45 minutes away from Les Arcs by car. You can also fly into Chambery, which is about 2 hours away - the flights just aren't as frequent.
Another easy option is to get the Eurostar to Bourg-St-Maurice, and then either take a taxi or the seven-minute Funicular from there.
Les Arcs Ski Holidays FAQs
Additional information on Les Arcs.
What town is Les Arcs near?
Les Arcs is only a seven minute funicular rail ride away from Bourg-Saint-Maurice, a large Alpine town that’s on the Eurostar line.
What is the hardest ski run in Les Arcs?
For its sheer technicality, the double black diamond Robert Blanc, named after the man who first conceived of the Les Arcs’ purpose built villages.
What is the longest ski run in Les Arcs?
The 16km Aiguille Rouge, which starts right up at max resort height of 3,226m, is the longest run in the resort, and one of the longest in the Alps.
Can you drive to Les Arcs?
Yes, it’s relatively easy to drive to Les Arcs, taking around 10 hours from Calais once you’re through the tunnel. However, Les Arcs main villages are car-free.
Can you ski Les Arcs in the summer?
No, Les Arcs is not open for summer skiing.
Is Les Arcs in the 3 Valleys?
No, Les Arcs is not in the 3 Valleys, it’s part of the Paradiski area.
Does Les Arcs have any green initiatives?
Les Arcs boasts two green snowflakes or flocon verts, marking Les Arcs' commitments to the environment.
The commitments are across a number of areas and include; Zero wastage policies across water and waste, caring for bio diversity and nature, increasing rail and low carbon access to Les Arcs, making their energy consumption carbon free.
Les Arcs vision is "Les Arcs would like to move forwards responsibly and towards sustainable tourism"
Les Arcs SKI PASS PRICES
The prices for the Les Arcs Paradiski lift pass, for the Winter 24/25 ski season can be found below.
| Number of days | Adult price | Child price | Senior price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | €401.00 | €321.00 | €321.00 |
| 4 | €291.00 | €236.00 | €236.00 |
| 3 | €223.00 | €179.00 | €179.00 |
Prices are normally based on a full area lift pass and child ages vary by resort. The above are guides, so please call one of the Iglu team for prices for your holiday.