La Plagne is part of the Paradiski area, one of Europe’s biggest ski areas. This huge area takes you between 1200 and 3250 m facing Mont Blanc. There’s a wide variety of runs to keep you interested from forests, wide curves, boarder parks, luges, and pistes to suit the beginner to the advanced.
Our likes/dislikes: There’s enough here to keep you busy for a week’s ski holiday – you’ll find new and undiscovered runs every day. Plagne Centre and Belle Plagne get very busy in peak season, but there are plenty of lifts (chair and bubble) to take you on different routes.
Where to stay: If you enjoy ski-in ski-out accommodation then go for Belle Plagne or Plagne Centre. The accommodation here is purpose built and they are situated at the heart of the Paradiski area. You’ve got easy access to the beginners slopes as well as all the lifts that take you to the major runs.
We prefer to stay somewhere with a bit of character and we can highly recommend Montchavin, at 1250m. This is a beautiful ski village with a strong farming heritage. It’s small but offers a few bars and restaurants of good quality, and a mix of independant apartments and Pierre et Vacances apartments. There is a 4 man modern chairlift and a bubble lift that takes you directly into the Paradiski / La Plagne area.
La Plagne / Paradiski Factfile
– 2 equipped glaciers
– 3 peaks over 3000 m
– 425 km of piste
– 228 hectares of artificial snow (626 cannons)
– 236 slopes including 37 black, 65 red, 123 blue, 11 green
– 153 km of cross country trails
– 2 snowparks, 3 boardercross, 2 boardergliss & 1 half-pipe
Skiing Lessons: We can recommend Evolution 2, but all the ski instructers that we’ve come across here are very good. Evolution 2 run the ‘Yeti’ courses for the children, where they can gain certificates and badges at the end of the week course. All the instructers speak good English.
Ski Equipment: As in most skiing resorts there is a plethora of sports shops offering ski rental. We’ve used www.skiset.co.uk to pre-book at a good price.
Food Choice:
Montchavin
– excellent pizzaria called
– Moulin Poivre – lovely food including steaks and the ‘hot stones’ are to die for! Very good quality meat and a fun way to cook.
On the mountain:
Baby Sitting/Kindergarten:
* please note that all prices are subject to change, so check the providers’ website for latest information
Read more abut popular ski resorts in France: