Looking to go next Summer and would like to hear some of your recommendations/stories on where to stay for the week if you have any please.

White Room.

Trailaddiction. Especially at ‘The Goat Shed’.

Second for Trail Addiction and the Goat Shed.

^ 3rd

Bike Village – really excellent. I went for a week last year, 2 weeks this year and it’s looking like a month next year! Woohoo! Lovely people, trails, food, everything.

^4th

The White Room

2nd for Bike Village – been the last two years….best singletrack…best guides….best tartiflette

cant believe Hicksy’s going for a month….given he drives us there and back it would appear that I need to book more holiday!

FACT

The 2 hour downhill singletrack DH was worth it!

Why does is it seem that everyone on STW requires a guide to take them around an MTB resort/holiday? I dont get it? Yeah, they will know the area very well, local knowledge of the unsignposted trails, but is it necessary? I mean would you do the same in the UK trail centres? 😐

I’d just stay at Camping Les Versoyen , get the funicular up and ride the marked trails, try out the other Tarantaise resorts too.

I take your point superfli – but I dont consider the Alps as an area the same as UK trail centres…and I’d have missed pretty much all the best rides of my life if I’d just rode the marked trails…(or left it to my map reading)….plus the guides were really nice…like riding with Hicksy – but more decsive!

But your points a good one – I’m all for an adventure!

get the funicular up and ride the marked trails

Yeh, that’s what you want to do

definitely

those people up there ^ are all idiots

@superfli I guess a lot of people, myself included like the idea of knowing your going to be riding the best trails (within reason) and not really running the risk of missing out, its usually all new anyway, so still a sense of adventure

If you factor in how cheap it is go with a guide, for me, it a no brainer.

+1 for trail addiction from me as well!

I mean would you do the same in the UK trail centres?

No. They are marked where to go.

I had no idea where the trails that White Room showed us. They weren’t marked. They were all over the place. Spend a week looking or a week riding awesome trails with someone who knows where they all are. Simple one that for me.

Les Arcs is totally undeveloped (minus a handful of trails) for mtb use, so a guide really is crucial out there to get the most from your week.

It’s not like the PDS where you can see tracks going off everywhere and can easily ask/follow other riders. Half of the Les Arcs trails seem to have hidden entrances and a million different cut offs all the way down, there are almost no other riders there too. A guide really does help, I can see me needing one for a few trips to come

BV
and yes a guide is worth it.

trail addiction all the way and you definitely need a guide to get to the best stuff. It’s a large area and all the best trails aren’t marked just footpaths etc around the place.

Not being argumentative, just thought it weird that all I ever read about here concerning the Alps seems to be guided tours at much higher expense. Dunno, I suppose you could get a guide for a few days when there. Just that staying with one of these companies costs a lot more than DIY, so should damn well be a good experience! Each to their own of course

Wouldn’t bother with a guide for other resorts (the ones I know of anyway), but Les Arcs is a bit of a nightmare. Last summer we were guided Sun, Mon, Tues the guides have Wednesday off so went went to ride some of the trails again…………………got massively lost!

Last two trips I did in the Alps didn’t cost that much. Flights, pick up and drop off at the airport, loads of guiding, great accommodation, amazing food, all the wine and beer you can drink, lovely cake and driven to all the trails we did in France and Italy. For what we got, I’d call it a bargain!

Definitely more expensive…so I can see your point on DIY…I thought it’d be like skiing where you could get going with guides for the first year and then just explore…but there’s so much hidden stuff I’d never find again…plus we’ve met some great other riders at Bike Village who we’ve met up with back in the UK…I guess that could happen DIY but the wine and fine food every night seems to nudge relationships along!

The Loft in Bourg St Maurice is a reasonably priced and well-equipped hostel, if you don’t want to go with a holiday company.

We did half a week independent and half with White Room there this summer and tbh the days with guiding were massively better.

Cheers hungry_monkey and WR peeps!

Managed to spend 2 weeks of great MTBing almost everyday in les arcs well before most of the trails were established in ’96. Some were marked and easy to follow, the occasional one I made up using a some sort of map, cant really remember. We never had any issues, pretty much like mtb’ing in the lakes or Wales at the time (the navigation aspect!) but with uplifts 😉

Bike Village, the original and best!

I mean would you do the same in the UK trail centres?

No, but as mentioned the best trails in Les Arcs aren’t marked. If I was making a biking holiday in the UK, I’d make an effort to meet up with some locals so I could get the best out of my trip. I don’t know anyone in the Alps!

The stuff I rode in Les Alps was often more difficult than I’d ridden in the UK. Even if I could have found the trails, I’d not necessarily know if I could handle what was coming up. TA were good at pitching the riding at our abilities.

Some were marked and easy to follow, the occasional one I made up using a some sort of map, cant really remember.

In a week I think I rode 3 trails that were marked, Black 8, Red 10 and the DH track. The rest were all walking trails. I think the guiding is a bit of a safety net, because you can guarantee you’ll see some of the best stuff on offer and not spend any time being lost. In a weeks holiday that’s important. I guess it becomes less relevant if you go for longer.

Have a look at “The Mountain Bike Chalet ” excellent service , Ben and Lucy are really friendly and the whole team will look after you very well indeed , they get my vote and score 10/10
Guiding — well I suppose you could DIY and stick to the marked trails but a guides aim is to show you the best areas and trails and link them all together for the most pleasure , we’re not talking PDS with its signposts and grades here , people who live around Les Arcs are still finding/clearing tracks all the time .

The best time I ever had in Les Arcs was with trailAddiction, staying at the Goat Shed.

Happy days!

Just that staying with one of these companies costs a lot more than DIY

I’m not convinced it’s actually that different, food is expensive to buy from supermarkets in most of these places, and you always end up eating out a few times IME.

I have been to trail Addiction and The White Room

White room better trails, linked better, well thought out, more variety, beer included.

TA better chalet, better food, better crack with the guises and guests (ok that is pretty much down to chance).

As its a riding holiday I’d go back to the white room sooner than with TA.

That said, I enjoyed both very much and both had their good and bad points.

+1 for mountain bike chalet. Amazing chalet and great hosts.

great vid: http://www.pinkbike.com/video/222894/

I’m going with the Mountain Bike Chalet next summer. I’m looking forward to it even more after these recommendations. 😀

Trail Addiction, good times. Don’t self guide, you’ll miss a lot! Just follow someone thats being doing it for along time, but don’t try to keep up with them!! 😯

been to white room and bike village loved both.

having a guide is so you can get the best out of your week. after the first day (which will be a fun introduction) the guides will have assessed and listened to what you want and will give you trails that you enjoy, can ride/challange you at and generally get the best out of the limited stay.

DIYing will imo, lead to some days that are underwhelming/ too difficult/ involve hiking back etc etc.

all about maximising quality riding time.

I know my way around Les Arcs/Vallandry/Peisey Nancroix pretty well but I’d say a guide is 100% essential for getting the most out of what is for most of us a short and expensive trip. For example this year there was lots of logging going on above Peisey that meant that quite a few of the trails I knew were tits up, a guide would have known that and saved us a lot of bother.
The marked trails in Les Arcs are only about 10% of whats actually there.

Depending on your preference you could spend a week riding the VVT and have a great time but if you want epic singletrack then any of the above.

I’ve stayed with Mansell (Ben) at the mountain bike chalet, but only during the ski season! It’s a great chalet and they are awesome hosts.

Been riding in Les Arcs / La Plagne area for 10 years and would highly recommend you get a guided package unless you want to miss 99% of the good riding.

TrailAddiction are a phenomenal company, as per all the reviews above, you won’t find better in the Alps in my personal opinion. Bike Village have a great reputation and more tailored to xc riding so worth checking out too.

Recommend The Loft in Bours St Maurice, and Coolbus.co.uk for guides/uplifts.

And you very much need a guide.

We’ve stayed a few times at the Chill Chalet and camping at Le Versoyen doing the DIY trail-finding thing. Also did a guided trip with the White Room.

Enjoyed all options although it was great to have the White Room guiding to find the less obvious trails and sort out shuttles, etc. Food was amazing too and you probably can’t beat the view from their chalet.

Bike village looks good, so too does the white room. Which is closer to bourg town centre?

Not sure about The White Room (not been), but Bike Village is about a 15 minute bike ride along a cycletrack running beside the river or 10 minutes by car. Pretty sure there is a train also. We have been given a lift in/back a couple of times too.

It’s a great area, lot’s of different types of trails to suit all.

PS That’s a great picture Coogan.