La Plagne probably once worked rather well as a resort but not so much any more. I have visted a number of the resorts that make up the La Plagne ski area and have noticed it getting more and more busy each year. When the original hubs of Plagne Centre, Bellecote and Aime La Plagne were constructed lifts ran from these resorts to the top of the slopes. More recently La Plagne has gravitated up the mountain with the creation of Plagne Soleil, Plagne Villages and Belle Plagne. None of these resorts (possibly with the exception of Belle Plagne) have direct access to the top of the slopes so the only way to move about is to ski down to the original hubs to gain height. This results in cronically overcrowded pistes and lifts particularly in Bellecote.
La Plagne has become a victim of it's own success and has become completely overdeveloped. A real shame as it is now ruined in my opinion. The link to Les Arcs has only made matters worse as the hordes decend from Les Arcs. This adds to the queues and the really bad snow conditions on the lower slopes which are mostly a combination of bomb proof ice in the morning, chewed up crud over lunch and slush by the end of day. Throw in the masses veering all over the place and you get the general idea. A great shame as my earlier memories of La Plagne were good.
September 27, 2010
Morgan Slade
from
United Kingdom
We have been many times to La Plagne. It is great! My son has grown up in the ESF ski school. La Plagne centre is the place to be for families. We always stay at the Hotel Terra Nova which is comfortable and has the right mix of things for a family holiday. There is a vast ski area and will suit all levels of skier. It can be a little bit crowded at some lift stations around holiday times but so are other resorts. Off-piste is very good and some ESF group classes specialise in this. For the kids there is the ‘Milka Cow’ run and for a bit of public singing you get a hand out of free chocolates.
We are going back Xmas 2010. Maybe we will see you there?
Myself, my partner and our 14 month old daughter stayed in La Plagne 1800 in chalet Arpette 2 weeks commencing 20th Feb 2010. The Paradiski area is fantastic and we loved La Plagne. But, unfortunately, the chalet had a strong stench of cannabis mainly at night which seemed to be filtering through from other apartments in the premises used by seasoned reps. Although this sadly spoilt our holiday we will be going to La Plagne again next season but definitely not staying in Arpette.
Just returned from La Plagne March 2010.
Stayed at Hotel Vancouver in Soleil. Very good food (big buffet breakfast and choice of mains at night : fish particularly good), clean hotel. Did not use pool but evidence of problems with the roof. Some of the staff not that friendly but some very good. Same anywhere I suppose. 6 (that's six) pounds per pint: same everywhere apart from 1 hour happy hour: beer only half price. Would stay ther again if we got the same deal.
Skiing - perfect for group of mixed abilities. Easy to get on and off piste and lift queues were negligible (Easter half-term). We particularly liked the run down from Colussus lift to Plagne centre and the run from Col du Forcle to Bellacote. Best skiing we have had (Les Gets, Avoriaz, Kaprun, Scheffau, Niedarau, Sestriere and Passo del Tonale) and would definitely go back to La Plagne. The views from Roche de Mio were awesome.
Not a lot of red stuff and some stretches of blues are really red standard:eg blue down from Grand Rochette to Soleil.
One boarder in the group enjoyed the range of stuff.
Apres not much. We tried Monica's bar in Soleil for the football and had a live band on one night (crowd = 2 people after we left). Still £6 per pint though.
Eating out was ridiculously expensive and so we had a big breakfast and made do with a snack: which was a shame.
Trannsfer from Grenoble a bit of a nightmare (2.5 hours).
You come to ski and enjoy the company and scenery and it was spectacularly good, the food in hotel was v good and the holiday superb.
Coming up to the end of my season in La Plagne...
The real story about the resort...
The sking is great. If you're a boarder and find yourself with not enough speed to get over flats, then maybe you could consider taking more lessons, I have not unclipped my back foot once in 5 months.
The skiing is good with nice runs: well pisted where it matters (they could do with more piste bashers for lower resorts).
Off-piste is v good: over 35 decents around La Plagne, some good some ok, but something for everyone. I spent 4 hours skiing over 3 big runs: North Face, Freland (spelt wrong I'm sure) and various other valleys. If you can't find enough challlenging runs, get an off-piste guide. 95% of the people out here would not be able to ski the North Face let alone another 20 off-piste runs.
The bars are expensive, as with everywhere in France, the nightlife is quieter than the raaa crowd in the 3 valleys, but still fun. Lift waiting times: twice in 5 months did I wait for more than 2 mins at a lift (bottom of the Derby in Les Arcs, and La Arpette in Belle Plagne).
I was in the resort of Les Coches, which is quiet but mostly chalet orientated. If I were to come here (I'm 29), I would go to Peisey Valandry, as it has more going on.
La Plagne is a great place in all, you'll have a blast here.
Just returned from 1 week at Plagne 1800 (La Plagne), which I would say, although not the best linked/night life, it's by far the nicest looking place to stay.
La Mine is good for cheap beer and live bands but it gets very busy. The pizza bar was our choice, the owners were excellent with cheap (ish) food but some drinks expensive compared to La Mine.
Our Chalet was Momosses through Crystal - very good with excellent food in our opinion.
The snow was good but we've had the best of the last snow, so I wouldn't go back this late in the season again just in case the weather improved sooner than it did this year. A local told us this year the weather was cold for this time of the year but trust me, we all have sun tans.
Les Arcs has much better lifts, longer runs and quieter. Although La Plagne good, the lifts are much to slow and someone has already mentioned the lift staff never smile!
The La Plagne was good but Val and 3V just a little bit better in all aspects.
We have just returned from a week skiing in La Plange. The skiing was great, however, we stayed at the hotel Vancouver in Plange Soleil. We booked the hotel as it advertised an indoor pool and spa. We did not use the facility owing to the disgusting state of the overcrowded changing room, single toilet and filthy water in the hot tubs. I would not recommend this hotel to anyone.
D Mitchell.
There seem to be some very misinformed comments about La Plagne and I find it hard to understand why. There is a massive variety of pistes plus the extensive off-piste which should keep most levels of skier more than busy. The runs from the Bellecotte glacier are great fun.
The word disjointed seems to be used a lot but I found that it is usually possible to get to the different sectors using a variety of routes - admittedly boarders and people who struggle to interpret a piste map can struggle but it really doesn't take long to work out your way around the extensive lift and piste network.
I've stayed in Belle Plagne and Plagne Soleil and yes, the night life is relatively quiet but there are some decent happy hours in the evenings at places like Igloo (Centre) and Tete bar (Belle Plagne) or if you prefer the European dance scene Bellecote is meant to be lively later on.
I've been to the mega resorts like Tignes, St Anton, Verbier, Courcheval and Meribel and think La Plagne ranks pretty well alongside them particularly as it can be significantly cheaper to stay there. The link to Les Arcs is a bonus but personally I preferred the snow conditions and wider variety of La Plagne.
Prices are no more than other large resorts. If you want to eat and drink on the cheap it's possible by using the happy hours and takeaways but otherwise it will be fairly pricey but then where in France isn't?
Jan 14-18 '09
La Plagne ok but like some have said, you can spend too much time on the lifts. Some lift attendants severely lacking in smiles and assistance. Skiing pretty good but Les Arcs area leagues better for layout and variety of runs. We stayed in Belle Plagne apparently where all the apres action was - well there still wasn't much. Best apres bar I've been to is that one in Verbier (you know the one don't you?) where the roof winds back to let the snow/stars in - excellent! If I went back to this area I would go to Les Arcs. We did the Aguille Rouge run a few times - really great run, would love to do at end of the day (but impossible if you're staying in Plagne!). Couldn't believe it when we saw a crazy (and v. skilled) off-pister going under the rope and down the 60 degree couloir from top of Aiguille gondola..crazy French dogs !! Happy skiing everyone, snow is amazing at the moment.