Bonneval-sur-Arc

Bonneval-sur-Arc in the high Maurienne is among the most beautiful villages in France. The natural-stone houses with shingle roofs seem to have fallen out of time; antennas and visible cables are banned. The village lies at the foot of the Col de l'Iseran, the highest paved Alpine pass, and borders the Vanoise National Park.

Highlights

• Authentic natural-stone village
• One of the most beautiful villages in France
• At the foot of the Col de l'Iseran
• Borders the Vanoise National Park

Good to know

Practical info

Background & History

Bonneval-sur-Arc lies at the upper end of the Maurienne valley in Savoy, near the source of the river Arc and not far from the Col de l’Iseran, one of the highest paved Alpine passes in Europe. The village is among those officially designated as one of the “most beautiful villages in France” and has preserved its original character to this day: tightly packed stone houses with heavy slate roofs that withstand the harsh high-mountain climate. Strict building regulations prevented the sprawl of modern holiday architecture here and preserved the medieval-looking townscape with its narrow lanes and vaulted passageways.

For centuries the inhabitants lived in near-total isolation, sustained by livestock farming and self-sufficiency, for the high passes were impassable throughout the long winter and cut the valley off from the outside world. Its position at the gateway to the Vanoise, France’s oldest national park, established in 1963, later made the region an important refuge for the Alpine ibex, which was saved here from the threat of extinction. Anyone walking through the quiet lanes of Bonneval today can still sense the spare world of the mountain farmers, shaped by hard labour, which gave this remote corner of Savoy its unmistakable character over many generations and turned it into a living open-air testament to Alpine building craft.