We stayed for 7 days at Arc 1950 at the end of August 2025, their off-peak season, as it's primarily a ski resort, but there was loads to do across the Arcs.
1950 is a private village, with it's own activities and pools but you can visit 2000, 1800 and 1600 by free bus or drive and pay for the activities you want at those venues as well. They're all within 20-30 minutes of each other.
The staff are very friendly and helpful, with excellent English. We found the majority of people staying were local French, especially with their dogs, as it's a great walking location. There's a variety of food and the prices are higher than the local town, which is not surprising being at the top of a mountain, but it's not wildly expensive compared to everywhere else, unless you want ski equipment, but they only sell high quality brands. The local town, Bourge-Saint-Maurice has a Decathalon if you want more options.
There are tons of activities at 1800 including climbing, swimming, tree-top walks with ziplines etc. It's basically a giant activity resort but most activities require kids to be 8 or over. The other activities are for little ones, making it a little tricky for us with a 12 year old and a 7 year old. They could do the tree top walk which lasts for 2-3 hours of just fun climbing and zip lining, which they loved.
The swimming pool was great fun, especially compared to the UK pools and immaculately clean. There are lots of questions online about Speedos/trunks versus shorts for men in French swimming pools but I think that's the municipal or council pools. The Arcs pools at the accommodation and the 1800 pool (La Piscine) allow swimming shorts for men. There are no restrictions for women.
It's well worth a stay, with free parking, free shuttle buses between resorts and a free for pedestrians, cable train (funiculaire) down the mountain into the local town. It's a 35 minute winding drive otherwise. We did the drive a few times (the little one threw up once) but we also took the buses and funiculaire and it was great fun, arriving in the middle of the town. Ideal for grocery shopping and the local Saturday market, which is well worth a visit.
We had an amazing stay at Pierre & Vacances in Arc 1950 Le Village! The views were absolutely breathtaking and the whole place felt magical. The pool was a great size and perfect for relaxing after a day outdoors. Our kids loved every bit of it – especially the ping pong, fussball table, and all the other fun activities, plus of course plenty of time in the pool. It’s such a great place for families as well as for hikers and outdoor lovers. We truly enjoyed every minute and would happily come back again!
Lovely visit, 3 nights, stayed right next to the mountain and hiked more than 30 kilometers in gorgeous high elevation scenery. The apartments are just a bit shabby, but still respectable. I imagine they'll be remodeling them in the coming two or three years. Service staff was super friendly and helpful. I was surprised that recharging our electric vehicle was a bit complicated given the increasing popularity of EVs, but it was resolved easily enough. A full charge was only EUR 20! We love Arc 1950 summer and winter, and will return again and again.
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