Guide to La Plagne, French Alps

La Plagne is a huge multi-centred ski area in the Savoie French Alps, spread around 11 villages, many are entirely purpose built. The highest resort is Aime La Plagne at 2100 m, Plagne Centre the largest and liveliest, chalet-style Belle Plagne is car free. Others are Plagne Bellecote, Plagne Soleil, Plagne 1800, Montchavin with Les Coches above, Champagny en Vanoise and Plagne Montalbert. The skiing here is very diverse, particularly for beginners and intermediate skiers. Snow is reliable, good nursery slopes are adjacent to most of the villages and there is some marvellous off-piste skiing to be found. Advanced skiers will enjoy the black runs on the high Bellecôte glacier. Families and children are well looked after, with ski schools and nurseries everywhere. La Plagne is now also linked with Les Arcs to form the vast Paradiski ski area.

Mountain Information La Plagne

Resort Altitude	2100 - 1800 m
Vertical Drop	2000 m
Top Lift	3250 m
Lifts	111
Total Runs	225 km
Longest Run	10 km
Advanced Runs	6%
Intermediate Runs	84%
Beginner	10%
Cross Country	90 km

Getting to La Plagne

The quickest and cheapest way to travel to La Plagne ski resort is to first find one of the many cheap flights to Geneva or Chambery airports. The nearest airport is Chambery, at 70 miles away, Geneva airport is also close at 90 miles and Lyon is around 120 miles away. The airports have frequent bus services to Aime, from here taxis and a local bus go up to La Plagne. The Snow Train stops at Aime-La Plagne station or nearby Moutiers and Bourg St. Maurice. By road take the motorway to Albertville, then the dual carriageway N90 from Albertville to Moûtiers. Head towards Aime on the N90, then towards La Plagne Centre.

Accommodation in La Plagne

Don't expect much Alpine charm here, but Montchauvin is more rustic and Champagny has a wooded setting. In La Plagne, apartment accommodation dominates and outnumbers hotel beds by 20 to 1. Many complexes have ski shops and malls, interconnected by walkways and passages. Room sizes vary quite a lot and many apartments are tiny. Les Montagnettes in Belle Plagne and Les Hauts Bois in Aime la Plagne are some of the better ones. Plagne Soleil has attractive modern chalets. There are some simple 2 star hotels in the lower villages.

Bars, restaurants and apres ski in La Plagne

There are around 60 restaurants to choose from in the resort, with about 10 night clubs and 40 bars. Prices for food and drink have been reported as high, the nightlife as low key. The Showtime Cafe in Plagne Bellecote offers live music and karaoke, The busy King Cafe in Plagne Centre attracts the young crowd. Restaurant meals are good but pricey, for cheaper meals try the crêperies or a pizzeria. At Belle Plagne, head for The Cheyenne Café for affordable prices. Le Matafan restaurant is also popular and serves huge dinners and reasonably priced lunch.

Activities

Plagne Bellecôte has an outdoor heated pool, solarium and sauna, Plagne 1800 has its famous hair-raising Olympic bobsleigh track, Belle Plagne has 10 pin bowling and electronic golf. Other activities include 30 km of cleared walks, tobogganing, ice skating, ice hockey, paragliding, parapenting, speed skiing, squash, skidoo. Snowboarders are spoilt for choice on and between the pistes and 3 terrain parks at Belle Plagne, Champagny and Montchavin.
 
Compare other nearby French Ski resorts or read our latest guides to Italian and Swiss ski areas in the alps.

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