TR Arc 2000 Half term budget trip by train

A snowHead

Overview: UK half term week (11 - 18 February 2023) farther and son trip to the very sunny slopes of Les Arcs done on a budget

Who was enjoying the winter wonderland:
Dad (me) - good skier but spent the time going slowly with the boy
9YO son - good beginner, moving towards early intermediate, very safe on blue runs, usually slow but speeding up a bit

Background: My son and I go skiing together at least once a season, this is our third visit to Les Arcs. Last year we got a good deal with the overnight ski train to Arc 1950 and it was great so I tried to self book something similar this time. My wife doesn't ski at all and is not keen on trying again so it's just the two of us.

Booking: Self booked all elements. Accommodation was AirBnB. We had to make a relatively late change of travel plans that meant I needed to re book the French trains later than I would have liked. The result was more difficult outward journey.

Cost: Total cost was about £2800 all in including: transport form home, accommodation, ski pass, food, drinks, ski hire, etc. I don't know if this counts as budget but this as about as low as I could reasonably go.

Travel:
We got a Friday night Eurostar to Lille and stayed in a hotel close to the station. This stage was great all went smoothly, plenty of hotel choice very close to the station in Lille.
On the Saturday morning we took trains across France and got to Bourg St Maurice at about 15:00. This was a pain because the direct train from Lille was unavailable when I booked so we had to change trains twice (including lugging bags to the top decks of TGVs)
Transfer was the Funicular up to Arc 1600 then the free shuttle bus to Arc 2000. There was a woman in the lift pass office that gave us free return Funicular tickets (when we showed her our TGV tickets) which was good. Shuttle bus was extremely busy to start with and it was a very uncomfortable ride up to Arc 2000.
On the return trip we were first on the bus from Arc 2000 so got a seat and the direct TGV to Paris from BSM was good. Crossing Paris was fine as ever. The Eurostar terminal was of course very busy but we got through after about an hour of queuing. Train was about 10 minutes late in leaving seemingly due to the time it took to get everyone through passport control.
We arrived to the Uk to face travel disruption with no express services and a rail replacement bus. I knew about this in advance but it was still annoying.

Accommodation: Studio in the old part of Arc 2000 overlooking the Olympic Square. Mezzanine level with double bed. Decor was dated but everything worked ok and it was warm and clean. Boot room was in the corridor next to the lift which worked ok. 2/3 minute walk from the apartment lift to the snow.

Skis/Boots: We used Skiset (never again). I used my own boots and hired skis, my son hired skis and boots. Total cost was 200 Euros. My son's equipment was fine and seemed reasonable value. My Skis were ok but TBH I'd have expected better for the "Premium" option. The queueing time for equipment was so long that I will be bringing my own gear next time.

Resort/location: The runs from Arc 2000 were very good for us, plenty of easy blues for my son. Lift queues were a problem at peak times, particularly the links between 1800 and 2000/1950. The main cause of the queues were people coming up from the lower resorts (1600/1800/BSM) and getting in/out of the Arc2000/1950 valley. As a result the worst lifts were Acrabulle and Arpette, the queues were 15mins plus at peak times. The Acrabulle queues were more of a problem because it is needed to access a lot of the easy blue runs at the top of the valley. We avoided the queues by getting out early and skiing at the end of the day. If it was busy we tended to use the Valet gondola because it was never that bad.

Conditions: Overall great, very sunny all week, we got a bit warm and had to stop to cool down a couple of times. The days started with firm pistes but quickly turned into hard base and soft bumps on any vaguely steep section even on the blues. My son really likes this kind of skiing because he can play on the bumps and slow down on the soft stuff when he wants to. Things were looking increasingly skied out by the Friday.

Skiing: We did lots of skiing together, I skied slowly behind my son so I could speed up and deal with any issues. He's very safe and steady so incident's were rare. This meant I spent a whole week skiing slowly working on slow short carved turns which did a lot for my technique. My son improved a lot an he was faster and more in control by the end.

Food: We tended to go home for an early lunch each day to avoid the 11am crowds but did have plenty of hot chocolate stops. The igloo bar was a favourite of my son. I enjoyed the cafe at the top of the Varet lift. We had takeaway pizza or a burger for dinner most days. We tended to get this from Papa Pizza which was friendly and good value.

Verdict: Overall it was a great trip, the journey could have been easier but once we got there it worked out really well. I'd certainly look at going back.

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

You need to Login to know who's really who.

@Henwc, interesting report - thanks for sharing.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Good report @Henwc, and "There was a woman in the lift pass office that gave us free return Funicular tickets (when we showed her our TGV tickets) which was good" to me is indicative of how I've been treated there by pass office. In buying group, family passes and have conversation with various pass office employee, all come across as enthusiastic about their local area and been helpful in giving advice on best purchase to make use of pass offers etc.

I first ever went skiing in 2000 and always have a soft spot for it with impeccable access to slopes along with big variety to cater for difference in skier skill experience.

Good to hear you enjoyed the trip.

You'll need to Register first of course.

Great report. Would definitely consider the train option, do you mind telling us roughly what you paid?

I have had fantastic trips with my lads on our own and they will pay dividends for the rest of your lives (whether its a skiing trip or any other activities, but skiing is obviously the best (for lift chats), with golf maybe a close second). Not addressed to OP, but I think more fathers (especially) and sons (especially) should look to do these (and mums should encourage them) {yes, switch genders to taste, but generally speaking this is a dad thing IMHO}. I regret not being sufficiently on the ball in this respect during my oldest's formative years and my relationship with Lads 2 & 3 is fundamentally closer, which becomes a self-perpetuating cycle.

@Henwc, you have about two years until you have to exert effort to keep up with your boy and have at most five years before he is comprehensively better than you. Sorry.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

@Dyrlac, Completely agree on the patient/child time, I only wish I could convince my son to get into surfing too.

On the gear it was the queuing that was the biggest issue. Given the time it took to get and return the skis I have decided that it's probably easier to just travel with a longer bag and avoid all the faffing about.

I estimate that the train cost about 700 Euros for the two of us return. Plus another 100 Euros for the Lille hotel. This would have been a bit less if I hadn't had to change travel plans. I also used an SNCF discount card (much like a UK rail card) I can't remember how much it cost but I think it was under 50 Euros on a Black Friday deal. This works for two adults and a few kids traveling together so it would pay for itself in a single trip probably.

Probably more info than you asked for but here are the main options for train based travel to France for Skiing in no particular order (all will work fine for resorts near Bourg St Maurice or Moûtiers):
- Direct Ski train from London, only available if you book a package through Travelski. Easiest and most convenient but you have to take the overnight Friday train and sleep in your seat, return is Saturday day time. If you can handle the overnight you get to ski the first Saturday. I'm not sure I'd do this without the upgrade to premier seats. I did this when we did the Arc 1950 trip at easter last year and it was excellent. Arc 1950 is better quality accommodation and all accommodation seems to have an outdoor pool, Sauna and steam room included.

- Self book trains, pretty much what I describe in the TR, you can travel each way in a single day or break the journey. Lille is slightly better as a break on the way out because you can avoid crossing Paris. Coming back crossing Paris seems easier because you are doing it in the afternoon not midnight. The main difficulty here is buying the tickets when they are released. Eurostars are typically released earlier than the TGVs and also the direct trains from Paris/Lille to the Alps sell out extremely quickly. I have never really cracked this part of the booking (but there is a solution if you are a large ish group).

- Use a travel agent to book the trains, the journey is the same as the self book option but the booking is much easier. I have found out that if you are a group of 10 or more then a travel agent can book the TGVs before they go on general release. If this is possible for you, this gives comfortable direct trains without the pain of trying to go through the booking yourself.

I hope this is of some use, feel free to ask if you'd like any more info.

After all it is free

@Dyrlac, what makes Skiset particularly problematic is that the central booking system is a separate company from most (all?) of the shops and when you book through them, they hold all the cards. That wouldn't be an issue if they were 'pro-service' but in my (fairly broad) experience, they are brutally mercenary on all levels of their operation and often leave a shop, who might otherwise be ready and willing to solve an issue, little room for manoeuvre. So yes, you can have problems with any supplier, especially at busy times, but when a problem does occur, good shops are often hamstrung by Skiset while bad shops are able to hide behind them as an excuse.

Many (all?) 'Skiset' shops, are independently owned but primarily carry the Skiset banner for fear of a local competitor gaining the marketing advantage. I've rarely met an owner who 'enjoyed' their relationship with Skiset.
Always better to deal direct with the shop Cool

Help!!

TR Arc 2000 Half term budget trip by train

snowHeads Forum Index >>> Resort Reviews and Trip Reports