La Plagne family holidays and breaks

A family favourite for skiing holidays in the French Alps – as a place for youngsters to progress and families to ski together it is second to none – La Plagne is a group of purpose-built villages ranging from the plain (Plagne Centre) to the pretty (Belle Plagne, Plagne Soleil, Plagne Bellecôte) via the traditional (Plagne 1800), plus some original villages (Montchavin, Montalbert and so on). There are plenty of beginner areas, and Plagne Centre is home to one of the original and best independent, English-speaking ski schools. Even moderate skiers can head all the way from the 3,250m glacier to 1,350m villages.

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Today

15°C
60°F

Flying Time	3 hours
Timezone	GMT +1

What to do

Ski on fantastic nursery slopes, great wooded runs or good cross-country trails; highlights are the gorgeous routes through the forest to Montchavin, Champagny and Montalbert.

Or take the top chairlift from the Bellecôte glacier for excellent black runs and truly breathtaking views (if you don't want to ski down, it's still worth going up to visit the ice grotto with its ice sculptures).

Note that lift tickets lasting 6+ days entitle you to a day's skiing in Val d’Isère, Tignes, Les Trois Vallées or Les Arcs.

For kids, there's a good choice of crèches and supervised snow- and ski-clubs, plus several espaces luges for freeplay. Tuition-wise, it doesn't come much better for adults or kids than Oxygène, who invite parents to donate 1% of the cost of their children's group lessons to its Fresh Air Campaign for children's charities (the firm will match your donation).

Otherwise, enjoy winter walks along marked trails, and go tubing and bowling. There are cinemas at Aime, Bellecôte and Plagne-Centre.

Adults can try out the floodlit bob-sleigh run (dating from the 1992 Winter Olympics), with a drop of 125m and 19 bends (it's piloted by a professional driver).

Where to stay

Accommodation suited to family holidays in La Plagne includes Club Med's La Plagne 2100 resort, overlooking the slopes, and its Aime La Plagne resort. Or try the Chalet Hotel des Deux Domaines with Esprit or Pierre & Vacances' Les Constellations or its Les Hauts Bois.

When

The ski season in Savoie lasts from December to April.

How

See our Savoie destination guide for details of getting to the region as a whole. There are TGVS from Paris (4hrs 15mins) directly to Aime La Plagne.

Eat

La Plagne has a good choice of family-friendly restaurants whether you opt for traditional Savoie fare such as fondue, raclette or tartiflette or prefer pizza or steak. The best mountain restaurants are to be found outside the main bowl, above the satellite villages.

Cost

La Plagne is far from cheap, but you can keep costs down on family holidays in the resort by opting for one of its self-catering apartment complexes.

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