It is suggested that the villages of St. Jean d'Arves and neighbouring (linked) St. Sorlin are two of France's best kept secrets as far as the UK market is concerned. Certainly St. Jean d'Arves is a beautiful unspoilt village resort, with plenty of natural charm and divided into several hamlets. Most self-catering accommodation is in the hamlet of La Chal which has restaurants, ski equipment shops, a supermarket and an Irish bar. The views over the Arvan valley from La Chal are fantastic, and La Chal is ideally situated for the slopes.
The villages are part of the superb Les Sybelles ski area which offers 300km of uncrowded pistes.
Being a small hamlet all accommodation is within an easy walk of the ski school, shops, tourist office and lifts. A shuttle bus links St Jean d'Arves with the slightly larger St Sorlin d'Arves (shuttle bus free with lift pass), the two resorts are only about 15 minutes apart by road or a pleasant 40 minute walk in the Spring. St Sorlin has a bank and more shops, bars & restaurants.p There are plenty of activities at the resort including snow-shoe walking, an ice rink and cinema, in addition to bars and restaurants.
The tourist office staff at La Chal are very active & friendly. Welcome drinks are organised for new arrivals and all the activities on offer in the resort are presented (from night time snow shoe walks (highly recommended) to visits to the local Beaufort cheese farm). St Jean d'Arves is linked to Le Corbier and La Toussuire (as well as several smaller village resorts) in the Les Sybelles ski domain offering extensive skiing possibilities.
The journey to St. Jean d'Arves is via the Chambery-Turin motorway (A43) and the exit is at St. Jean de Maurienne. When you arrive in the town centre, you take the D926 road and the ski resort is a further 11 miles from the town.
www.saintjeandarves.com has lots more information.
Special Offer: We have teamed up with PV Holidays, leading supplier of French Skiing accommodation to offer a Christmas offer of
one night free with every booking.