Travel by luxury coach from London to La Plagne, Belle Plagne and Bellecote with Snow Express from only £75
La Plagne has a well deserved, excellent reputation for being good for all levels of skiers, with a great range of well linked runs and lifts.
Wide-open motorway skiing above the treeline and gladed trails through the forest below it are the main features of the ski area. These are coupled with gentle beginner pistes and some truly outstanding off-piste, if you know where to find it. You need a guide to discover the long, sweeping descent from the Glacier de Bellecôte down to Les Bauches, as well as the challenging Cul du Nant run from the back of the glacier into the Champagny-le-Haut valley.
Scenic routes wind down through the forest to Montchavin-Les Coches, Champagny and Plagne Montalbert. Queues are generally not a feature of La Plagne, although the closure in bad weather of an arterial lift can have a knock-on effect across the entire area. The old, slow Arpette chair-lift out of Plagne-Bellecôte has long been a notorious bottleneck, but it has been upgraded to an eight-person chair. Terrain parks are located at Plagne-Bellecôte, Montchavin-Les Coches, and at Champagny. Plagne Centre has the Pro Snowpark.
Town CentreSummary
La Plagne is made up of 10 mainly purpose built villages, set at different altitudes above the valley town of Aime. UCPA LA Plagne "le France" is in the main part - imaginatively called "La Plagne Centre!" The various parts are linked either by ski, or by free resort bus.
History
The original high-altitude resort of Plagne Centre (1970m) is outwardly a monument to the alpine architectural atrocities of the 1960s but it has undergone a complete makeover down the years and functions well as a holiday centre. Aime-la-Plagne (2100m) resembles a battleship stranded on a white mountainside. Belle-Plagne (2050m) is easier on the eye with a pleasant village centre. Plagne-Bellecôte (1930m) is high-rise and plain. Plagne-Villages (2050m), Plagne-Soleil (2050m) and Plagne-1800 are much more agreeable wood-clad complexes built in sympathy with their glorious scenic surroundings.
In 2006 the Paradiski, 200 passenger double decker, ski lift was opened to link the resorts of Les Arcs & La Plagne. This provides a combined area of 425km of piste. In reality the individual ski areas are so large that the lift has not proven as popular as predicted.
Nightlife and Activities
La Plagne is not famous for its night life, fortunately the UCPA centre is in the most lively village. There is always a good atmosphere in the UCPA bar but outside of the UCPA try Scottys Pub or Le No'blem both in La Plagne Centre, Le Bleu night club in Aime La Plagne is always packed during the season.
Other Things to Do
Swimming pool, hiking, snow shoeing, bobsleighing.
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Ski AreasParadiski
its combined ski area with Les Arcs - is so vast that even an experienced skier will be hard put to travel from one end to the other and back in a single day. The double-decker Vanoise Express, which spans the Ponturin gorge that separates the two resorts, cost €16 million to build and is a remarkable feat of engineering. However, both La Plagne and Les Arcs are so enormous in their own right that only a small proportion of visitors to either make use of it.
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Our Top TipsThe absolute must do in La Plagne is have a run on the Bob Sleigh track - 1500m long you can hit speeds of 100kph and feel forces of more than 3.5 G's in the bends.
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Hire your Skis, Boards, Poles, Boots and Helmets etc. Great discounts and equipment to suit all standards of skiers and boarders.
Buy your lift pass online to take advantage of some great savings on resort prices.
Whether you want group or individual Ski or Snowboard lessons, we can book them for you here.
Taking the coach out and flying back? No problem! We can arrange an airport transfer for you.
