Snowvantage

Comparisons

Les Arcs or Serre Chevalier?

Serre Chevalier takes 4 of 9, with 4 too close to call. That still does not settle it — only the categories you care about count.

France

Les Arcs

Tree-lined runs down to Arc 1600 and 1800 give it a bad-weather advantage over most high Tarentaise resorts. The Vanoise Express cable car links it to La Plagne for a 425 km pass.

Worth knowing. Arc 1600 and 1800 are dated, and reaching La Plagne eats a morning.

Choose it if

Families with young kids

About £1,159 a week from London

France

Serre Chevalier

250 km of mostly tree-lined skiing across four old villages, at prices the Tarentaise stopped offering twenty years ago. Consistently the best value large area in France.

Worth knowing. Strung along a valley road, so it never quite feels like one resort.

Choose it if

A non-skiing partner

About £978 a week from London

Side by side

Les ArcsSerre Chevalier
Snow reliability56/10052/100
Size of the ski area200 km250 km
Top lift3226 m2800 m
Cost before travel€1120€895
Families with young kids8/107/10
Snowboarders8/107/10
A non-skiing partner4/107/10
Budget and après6/108/10
Off-piste8/108/10

Bold marks the winner. Rows where neither is bold are close enough that the difference would not change a decision. Cost excludes travel, which depends on where you leave from.

Piste kilometres, lift counts and prices are indicative and compiled from public sources — they have not yet been checked against the resort's own figures for this season. Costs are planning estimates, not quotes. Spotted one that is wrong? Tell us.

Les Arcs from your citySerre Chevalier from your city