Snowsure: 4.6
- Occasionally gets enough snow for skiing
- Is often closed due to a lack of snow
- Occasionally suffers from a lack of snow
- Rarely suffers from a lack of snow
- La Plagne is snowsure even in the poorest seasons
Visitor reviews for La Plagne Ski Resort
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(NOTE: Reviews may be edited by our content team for the purposes of ensuring accurate and relevant information)
(NOTE: Reviews may be edited by our content team for the purposes of ensuring accurate and relevant information)
Latest
January 12, 2010
nick durbano from
United Kingdom
nick durbano from
United Kingdom
I just had to comment after reading some reviews on La Plagne. First, the pistes are groomed very well. I agree the blacks are not and as a boarder it sucks but they are blacks so they are meant to be hard. The runs are not really disjointed and if you study the maps you can get around easy. Also, there are maps to hand everywhere. With regard to the comment that the skiing is not hard enough as there are not enough blacks, the off-piste is second to none and very accessible and as safe as you can get. The pistes are numbered well so if you can't count you may get lost.
The drink, yes, £6 for a pint but most bars have a happy hour and each area have at least 1 club. If you want to party it is not the place to be. The food has been the same price, within reason, for the last 4 years. It's just the £ is worth f all. The staff are as polite as they can be when you have rude Brits who would be better in a English theme pub in Majorca.
4 years ago was my first trip to La Plagne. I had about 5 seasons in Tignes/Val before and yes, class places but too busy and way more expencive and the same with the 3 valleys. There are a lot of blue runs but a 1/4 of them should be marked as reds but as they have the width they are blues. La Plagne does swing more for the families than the young who party and ski hard. I love it because it's not too busy and for the off-piste.
January 06, 2010
mickey from
France
mickey from
France
Stayed in Terra Nova Hotel - Plagne Centre over new year 09/10. Hotel was quite nice: good food, good location but too warm, it was like a sauna!. Slopes at La Plagne were very disjointed and not really 'piste-bashed' everyday. Purchased full area ski pass (not good value €800 as I only got over to Les Arcs once due to queuing for lifts in village of Bellecote which cannot be avoided to get to Les Arcs. French piste attendants did not bother to fill up the chair or bubble lifts which did not help. One of our snow boards was stolen from Hotel locker room-had to pay €430 to replace it! Restaurants at La Plagne are over priced: €8.50 bowl of soup, vodka/coke €8. Overall, not a patch on Tignes or 3 Valleys- I'm afraid I would not return to La Plagne.
January 04, 2010
Heath Edwards
Heath Edwards
Paul June 08 nailed it on the head with his comment re La Plagne resort being disjointed. I have just returned from a New Year 09/10 trip and we also had this problem. You simply spend far too much time trying to get from one spot to another so you lose valuable time enjoying the slopes. There were some other problems we encountered, apres-ski was non existant. 2 bars in total are in La Plagne Centre, poor piste signage and non groomed pistes. We made a complaint to the tourism office about the pistes at La Plagne not being groomed and the response we received was the area is too large to groom in one night?? I've skied many resorts, some with double the skiing area and never ran into this problem in the past. Overall, yes it's a nice looking resort with the dotted villages, yes there are hundreds of run, yes this is catered more for families, but if you're after a serious ski holiday with plenty of action and apres-ski, head to another resort.
June 15, 2009
Alan from
France
Alan from
France
I have now lived and worked in La Plagne for the last 13 winters (and most summers). La Plagne really is a gem.
Too many people judge the place without ever really getting to know it. Sure there are not that many bars, but that means we don't get drunken idiots causing trouble. As for angry French locals, I seem to find them some of the nicest people of all the French ski resorts I have been to.
As for the skiing, nothing to be said as it speaks for itself. Some of the best on and off-piste going. Especially the off-piste; so few people (they all go to Val D'Isere).
June 08, 2009
Paul from
United Kingdom
Paul from
United Kingdom
La Plagne is a truly awful resort. I worked there for the season and ended up moving to Val d'Isere by Feb (much, much, much better in every way possible). The resort is so disjointed. You spend most of your time on lifts trying to get to places rather than skiing. There are far too many flats. Yes, it is high but that doesn't make up for the pistes and all the bottle necks that cause horrific queues. It also faces north which may mean it keeps its snow but it is pretty much in the shade 24/7 = ice so make sure your skis have good edges.
As far as nightlife goes there isn't any at La Plagne. If you want to go out to more than 1/2 bars in a night then good luck. Due to the fact that it is split into about a million separate resorts and the buses stop at 12 midnight you can't really go anywhere except your particular area, and if you do, expect a very long cold walk home. Any bar you do go into watch out for angry French locals.
The only good thing about La Plagne is that it is linked to Les Arc which is a great resort. But, again, you need to get over there and back which is a pain as the Vanoise crossing is always busy. Getting back is a nightmare at the end of the day. Solid ice everywhere and hundreds of people; about 200m of skiing to do with 4 lifts in between.
Hey, I'm only one person, but working/living there gives you a much better insight.
April 07, 2009
Paul from
United Kingdom
Paul from
United Kingdom
Got back from La Plagne last Saturday after an excellent week's skiing. Snow was good, Belle Plagne was excellent and, apart from one day, crowds were almost non-existent; often had the pistes to ourselves. Great for a mixed-ability group, and enough variety to keep most skiers busy; I accept that there weren't masses of blacks, but with the Paradiski lift pass we spent a day in Les Arcs too so found enough to entertain us. I'd highly recommend La Plagne resort.
March 29, 2009
david (grand montets) hemingway from
United Kingdom
david (grand montets) hemingway from
United Kingdom
La Plagne is one of the better high altitute stations and it's great for kids. Generally ugly and a bit tatty like all the high stations. If you want a 'choclate box cover' go to Switzerland. Off-piste at La Plagne is excellent; was very surprised. Tree runs off the Arpette and lines off Bellcote and Grand Rochette are great. Would go back but only with good snow or it would be a bit boring as piste skiing is very lame above intermediate.
March 28, 2009
Sian Glynn from
United Kingdom
Sian Glynn from
United Kingdom
I have just got back from La Plagne (about 20 mins ago). I loved it. The runs were just brilliant for my 5 yr old and some of the really experienced skiers.
The staff on the slopes were very friendly .
I would love to go back to La Plagne as there was just so much more we didn't get to ski. It has to be one of the prettiest resorts I have been to.
Definitely recommend La Plagne.
March 16, 2009
Colin from
United Kingdom
Colin from
United Kingdom
A group of us have just got back from La Plagne staying at 1800 in Clubhotel Rhododendrons, there were 2 boarders and 5 skiers.
The hotel - cheap but more than cheerful. We got what we paid for and a bit more. The room was basic, 4 sharing, 2 singles and one bunk bed. A bit tight but was perfectly adequate for 4 blokes if a bit smelly. The food was a bit disappointing at breakfast; continental, but was made up for in the evening by an excellent 3 course meal. The bar was a bit uncomfortable and would not accomodate all guests at the same time but did the job during happy hour when beer was 3.5 euros a pint. There was also a games room with pool & table football. Great staff and manager.
The resort Plagne 1800 - arguably the better looking resort but not the best for night life, the only usable bar to speak of was La Mine which got very busy when the bands were on. There was another Pizza/bar but it was always closed when we turned up. Given the choice, I would have booked Plagne centre; lots more bars and just felt a bit livelier. However, in 1800 there is a Spar and a Tabac so you could buy beer, fags and snacks without any problems and we still managed to enjoy ourselves at 1800.
Transport - excellent - free, regular and on time bus services that serves 1800, Belle Plagne and Plagne Centre. V useful if you are tired at the end of the day and don't fancy skiing or boarding back. You can get taxi's but I have no idea of rates. The one from Plagne centre back to La Plagne 1800 was running up until 12.45 so you can have a reasonably late night if you want it.
Cost - yes it is expensive but as long as you find the Happy Hour's you can get a reasonably priced beer up until about 9pm, ususally 3.5 euros a pint. Thereafter you end up paying between 5 to 7 euros depending on where you are and what you are drinking. We were catered but lunch times we did eat out and we were paying 10 euros for a massive Pizza & chips that we shared between 2, which was reasonable enough. On chef's night off we went to Le Chaudron and had the set menu which was 30 euros each plus wine & coffee on top - not too bad. You can also pilfer bits from breakfast for your lunch however, if you board like me you may end up with an unappealling, soggy, wafer thin croissant.
Skiing - the skiers amaongst us tell me that the skiing was excellent for all abilities at La Plagne, off piste, moguls, forgiving reds, tough blues and long sweeping motorway pistes. Additionally, you can get to Les Arcs as well. Everyone in our party had a great weeks skiing and cannot fault it. The lifts seemed only really busy first thing and one of our group got the first lift up and the last lift at 5.30 - he is a nutter but La Plagne accommodated him well.
Boarding - so, so. We are not the best boarders and found the amount of paths at La Plagne torture. There were very few runs that did not involve a path or two and the subsequent thigh and calf burning agony was a little off putting. There were also some large sections where it was either flat or (slightly) uphill and if you either fell over or stopped to look at a map or a junction, you can find yourself skating or walking a bit. More competent boarders would have no problems I'm sure and we did indeed see them whizzing past us at great speed. They also had a snowpark, 2 half pipes and a boarder cross section so they catered well for those whose abilities surpass my own. Despite this, we still had a brilliant time.
Weather - loads of snow first few days then petered out leaving blue skies and sunshine. More snow = easier boarding - hooray. Piste bashers = less snow, harder boarding - boo.
As a boarder, I will not be rushing to go back to La Plagne (the paths) but the 5 skiers would go back at the drop of a hat. A great time was had by all.
March 09, 2009
Mitch
Mitch
I'm a seasonaire in La Plagne this year, and I have been frustrated to read comments from skiiers complaining about piste management and ludicrous prices. The piste management here is brilliant, people shouldn't expect black runs to be pisted, otherwise they wouldn't be blacks.
The restaurants are expensive, but as is every French ski resort. The prices here are alot lower than that of resorts like three valleys and Val d'Isere. Most bars here offer Happy Hours, great Plat du Jour food, and if you can avoid the obvious tourist traps, food that does'nt make you feel sick at the amount you've paid for it. I think alot of people are just feeling the burn of the pound falling to be par with the euro.
There's so much off-piste skiing in La Plagne, that is very accessible, and absolutely brilliant. La Plagne is a huge ski area, great for skiiers/boarders of all levels, especially with a Paradiski pass giving you access to Les Arcs. I find it very unfair to criticise La Plagne so heavily.
Nearest