Les Arcs and La Plagne were both built from nothing in the 1960s and 70s, on high pastures above the Isère valley, to stop the valley's young people from leaving. Les Arcs came from the guide Robert Blanc and the developer Roger Godino, with the designer Charlotte Perriand on the architecture team, and opened Arc 1600 at Christmas 1968. La Plagne opened in December 1961 with two drag lifts and four runs, and ended up with eleven villages. In December 2003 a double-deck cable car, the Vanoise Express, joined the two areas across the Ponturin valley, and Paradiski was born: 425 km of pistes by the operators' count.
The two sides are different places on one pass. Les Arcs is the architecture side: car-free villages stacked up a slope facing Mont Blanc, a pedestrian village (Arc 1950) built in 2003 to look like a traditional one, and a 3,226 m summit above a 2,000 m drop. La Plagne is the geography side: a big, sunny plateau of blue runs, a glacier you can still ski, a rooftop at 3,080 m and the only Olympic bobsleigh track in France that tourists can ride. Five days is the right length because the cross-over takes planning: two days on each side, one lighter day, and the transfers between them are slower than the map suggests.
The plan assumes you sleep in Arc 1800 and ski Monday to Friday. Arc 1800 is the lift hub of Les Arcs and the nearest base to the Vanoise Express on skis, and the funicular from Bourg-Saint-Maurice brings you up from the station. Day 1 is Arc 1600 and Arc 1800 (easy blues, right for beginners), day 2 the Aiguille Rouge and Arc 1950 (the day for strong skiers), day 3 the Vanoise Express and La Plagne's glacier side (reds and blues), day 4 off skis in the valley, and day 5 La Plagne Centre, Aime 2000 and the bobsleigh track, planned as a one-way trip because the Express is a long way from the track. A Monday start (Monday 11 January 2027 works) avoids the Saturday changeover rush and the French school weeks; the first days of 2027 are still Serbian school break, so expect other families from home. For the country around it, see France. If you want a different area for a day, the neighboring guides are Val d'Isère and Tignes and Les 3 Vallées.
Every stop from the plan below, colored by day. Pick a day to see its route.
Up from the station by funicular, past the Coupole and Perriand's architecture, across to Arc 1800 on skis, then luge, tartiflette and the pool.
The highest point of Les Arcs, the long run down to Villaroger, then Arc 2000 and a night in the pedestrian village of Arc 1950.
The cable car that joins two ski areas, La Plagne's glacier side, a rooftop at 3,080 m and a Savoyard lunch in Belle Plagne.
A cross-country morning, the tallest bell tower in the Tarentaise, a cheese lunch in the valley town and an evening in warm water.
La Plagne's sunny heart: the Grande Rochette viewpoint, the Funslope, the Paquebot des neiges and a ride down the 1992 Olympic bobsleigh track.
Paradiski joins Les Arcs and Peisey-Vallandry to La Plagne through one cable car, the Vanoise Express, and sells the result as the second largest linked ski area in the world. It is a wide-open, mostly intermediate mountain: the La Plagne tourist office counts 128 blue runs and 77 red against 34 black across the linked area, 70% of the pistes lie above 2,000 m, and a good skier can cover most of it without ever seeing a steep pitch. Experts get the Aiguille Rouge, a 7 km run that falls nearly 2,000 m to a village at 1,200 m. The two halves feel different. Les Arcs is built from four resorts of concrete, wood and stone, three of them designed in the 1960s and 70s, La Plagne from eleven villages and a slower, more family mood. For a wider comparison, see the best ski resorts in Europe.
| 1 day, Paradiski (Essential pass), adult 13-64 | 78 EUR |
|---|---|
| 5 days, Paradiski (Essential pass), adult 13-64 | 367 EUR |
| 6 days, Paradiski (Essential pass), adult 13-64 | 412 EUR |
| 1 day, Les Arcs / Peisey-Vallandry only (Classic pass), adult | 71 EUR |
| 6 days, Les Arcs / Peisey-Vallandry only (Classic pass), adult | 368 EUR |
| 1 day, Paradiski, child 5-12 or senior 65-74 | 63 EUR |
| 6 days, Paradiski, child 5-12 or senior 65-74 | 330 EUR |
| 1 day, Premium pass, adult | 91 EUR |
| 1 day, pedestrian pass, adult | 24 EUR |
The Essential and Premium passes (sold by Les Arcs) and the Paradiski pass (sold by La Plagne) cover the whole linked area, the Vanoise Express and the Les Arcs funicular. The Classic pass covers Les Arcs and Peisey-Vallandry only, and a La Plagne pass covers La Plagne only; La Plagne sells a one-day Paradiski extension as an add-on. Prices are the adult rates for 19 December to 16 April; La Plagne's own price list shows the same Paradiski rates (5 days 367 EUR, child or senior 294 EUR). Children under 5 ski free. The first week (12-18 December) is 15% cheaper on the Classic and Essential passes.
Source: Paradiski figures (425 km, 258 runs, 3 resorts, 70% above 2,000 m), the Vanoise Express dates and all Classic, Essential and Premium prices are from the Les Arcs operator, read 2026-10-21. The run counts by colour (19 green, 128 blue, 77 red, 34 black, 258 in all) and the 129 lifts cover the whole linked Paradiski area, the same as the 425 km, per La Plagne. Paradiski prices: La Plagne's price list. Neither resort publishes kilometers by colour, so none are given; easy means green plus blue. The top (3,226 m, Aiguille Rouge) and the bottom (Villaroger, 1,200 m) are the Les Arcs figures. Opening dates are from Les Arcs and La Plagne. French school holidays are from the Ministry of Education calendar data.
This is the day to find your feet. Everything stays on the Les Arcs side and within a few lifts of your bed, with easy slopes between the two villages. The trap is arrival: if you come Sunday evening by train, buy the pass online, then collect it at the funicular station, and check the last funicular departure on the Yuge app.
The easiest way into Les Arcs starts on the platform at Bourg-Saint-Maurice. A funicular next to the station climbs to Arc 1600 in seven minutes, with departures about every 20 minutes timed to the trains. The link began with a chairlift in 1961, became a cable car in 1974 and was replaced by the funicular in 1989, which is why Eurostar, TGV and local trains drop you almost on the snow.
The ticket office is at the far end of the platforms, away from the main station building. Show your train ticket and the return ride is free; with a Les Arcs pass it is included. In the evening, the last departure matters more than anything else on this list, so look it up on the day.
Arc 1600 is where it all began. It opened at Christmas 1968 as the first of the Les Arcs resorts, with Charlotte Perriand leading a team of architects who wanted buildings that followed the slope, kept the old alpine chalets standing and left the best view unbuilt. The Ministry of Culture gave it the 20th-century heritage label in 2006.
Walk up to the Coupole, the timber-framed hall by Pierre Faucheux whose frame became the Les Arcs logo. Note the apartments: compact, with built-in furniture and a terrace offset from the one above so that every flat gets sun. It is quieter than 1800 or 1950 and has the cheapest parking. It is the resort's architectural heart, not its nightlife.
The Mont Blanc and Cachette chairlifts spread skiers from the Arc 1600 snow front, and pistes lead across to Arc 1800, the main hub of the Les Arcs lifts. For a first morning, stay on blue runs and let your legs and your goggles settle; the views of the Mont Blanc massif across the valley are the reason Les Arcs was built facing that way.
If anyone in your group is new, ask about the beginner pass, sold on site only.
Arc 1800 opened in 1974 with the Hôtel du Golf and the Bellecôte and Miravidi residences, and it is the largest of the villages, with four pedestrian quarters: Charvet, Villards, Chantel and Charmettoger. The big blocks of Charvet, such as Les Lauzières and Belles Challes, were drawn to hold the village together and keep cars outside it.
In winter this is the working centre of the area: most lifts toward Arc 2000, Peisey-Vallandry and the Vanoise Express start from here, and the terraces get the late sun over the Tarentaise valley. If you only walk once through one village in Les Arcs, make it this one.
Take the Villards gondola, pick a sled (Speedy, Rocket or Big Bus), and ride 900 m down a run that ends in an illuminated tunnel. It is open from age three, and it is the best tired-legs activity in Arc 1800 because the gondola does the climbing.
Tartiflette is the dish that makes sense after a day on skis: potatoes, reblochon cheese, bacon and onions baked together, with a splash of white wine in some versions. It is an après-ski dish rather than an old farmhouse tradition, and the cheese is Reblochon, from the Aravis side, though you eat it everywhere in Savoie.
The Les Arcs resort lists restaurants and bars in each village, including Le Petit Zinc and L'entrepot'es (closed Tuesdays) in Arc 1800. Ask for the salade verte on the side: it is not decoration.
The Pool is the aquatic centre of Arc 1800, with 3,800 m² of pools and wellness areas, and it is the one indoor activity here that is not a shop. The Essential pass includes one free admission, which is a good reason to take it.
After the first day on skis, an hour in warm water beats another bar. It closes at 7 pm on Mondays, so go before dinner.
Today is the big-mountain day. The top of the Aiguille Rouge is the summit of the whole Les Arcs area, and the run from it is the area's famous 2,000 m drop. The cable car needs clear weather, so if it is bad, swap this day with the valley day (day 4) rather than the Vanoise Express day, which stops in wind too.
The Aiguille Rouge cable car opened in 1982 and takes you to 3,226 m, the summit of the Les Arcs ski area, with no pylon between the stations. The station is in the heritage list as part of the Arc 2000 architecture. From Arc 2000, the Varet gondola takes you to the base, and walkers on a pedestrian pass can make the same ride.
On a clear day Mont Blanc stands across the valley and the peaks of the Vanoise ring the other side. Stay a few minutes: the top has no facilities, and the real food is at the Varet gondola. Lower down, on the same side, sits the Aiguille Rouge zip line, a 1.8 km flight at an announced 130 km/h that lasts about 70 seconds.
The run from the summit to Villaroger at 1,210 m is more than 7 km and drops about 2,000 m. It starts on a glacier and ends in larch forest above a village. It is one of the great pistes of the French Alps, and it is not a gentle one. The top section is steep, the operator now rates the whole run black and no longer grooms the glacier part, and the ice up there is retreating by several meters a year. Check this winter's piste map and the daily status before you commit.
Be honest about your level: this is a run for confident parallel skiers who are happy on ungroomed snow, and a red-run skier will not enjoy the top. Intermediates should take the cable car up for the view and ride it down. The lower forest section near Villaroger sits at 1,200 m, and the operator publishes snow depth only for 2,000 m, so in March and April ask at the cable car about its state. If you ski it, start early and stay on the marked run: the sides are avalanche terrain.
Villaroger is the lowest point of the ski area at about 1,200 m, a small village with around 130 tourist addresses and a link to Les Arcs since 1982. Since December 2025 a ten-seat gondola, which replaced two old chairlifts, takes about seven minutes to reach the base of the Droset chairlift, so the climb back toward Arc 2000 is much quicker than it was.
It feels like a village, not a resort. Eat here rather than at the top if the restaurants are open.
Lunch today should be Savoyard and hearty. Fondue savoyarde is melted cheese and white wine in one pot, eaten with bread on long forks; raclette is cheese melted and scraped over potatoes, with charcuterie. Both come from the cheese belt of Savoie and the Swiss Valais, and both are on every mountain menu in Paradiski. Eat in Villaroger if a place is open, or at Arc 2000 or Arc 1950 once you are back up.
Order one big dish for two and a salad.
Arc 2000 opened in 1979 and looks like a fortress turned toward the sun, with big sloped roofs inspired by ski jumps. The architect Bernard Taillefer designed it around the Varet hill. In 1992 the speed-skiing events of the Albertville Olympics were held here as a demonstration sport, on the Kilomètre Lancé course, and Finland's Tarja Mulari won at 219 km/h.
It is the highest resort of Les Arcs, with ski-in and ski-out access and snow that tends to hold. The honest verdict: the best place for skiers and the worst for evenings, so take the Cabriolet cable car across to Arc 1950 for dinner.
Arc 1950 was the last of the Les Arcs villages, built in 2003 by the Canadian developer Intrawest in a mix of Savoyard and North American styles, with slate, stone and wood and a pedestrian street of shops and restaurants.
The cars are underground, the paths are for skis and boots, and Arc 1950 was named the most welcoming town in France in the 2026 Booking.com Traveller Review Awards. It is the base for people who want a village feel and are happy to pay for it.
After the Aiguille Rouge you earn a proper dinner. The Les Arcs resort lists Le Chalet de Luigi, a Savoyard chalet with a terrace, and Le Perce-Neige in Arc 1950, as well as The Wool Socks Pub for a beer. Order Savoyard dishes: diots (pork sausages cooked in white wine) with polenta or crozets, or a reblochonnade.
The après-ski is relaxed rather than wild; 1800 is the livelier village.
The crossing is the point of Paradiski, and it takes time. Allow a long first leg from Arc 1800 to Plan Peisey, and be back at the Vanoise Express with a margin: Live 3000 is far from it, so leave the glacier by early afternoon (an estimate, as the last crossing is not published). A late crossing is the one mistake that strands you on the wrong side. This is the intermediate day, mostly blues and reds in the open.
Peisey-Vallandry is two twin resorts in the trees: Plan Peisey (1963) and Vallandry (1986), joined to Les Arcs since the 1960s. It is the side of the area that feels least like a resort, with forest runs, a few villages and the start of the Vanoise Express.
The slopes in the trees are the best place for a bad-visibility day.
The Vanoise Express is a pair of double-deck cabins, each carrying 200 passengers, that cross the Ponturin valley in about four minutes without a single pylon. The span is 1,824 m and it passes 380 m above the valley floor. Poma built it, and it opened in December 2003, the link that created Paradiski.
The lower deck has a glass panel in the floor, called VertiGO, so you can look straight down at the snow. It was closed for the whole 2007/08 winter after cable damage was found, which also shut Paradiski that season. In 2026/27 the operators give 12 December to 17 April as the opening dates.
Montchavin is an old farming village at 1,250 m; Les Coches, above it at 1,450 m, is the modern resort built in 1980 next to the Express. They are the La Plagne side of the crossing, and the lowest villages of La Plagne.
Both are forest skiing, a good bad-weather fallback. They sit between 1,250 and 1,450 m, so late in the season the lower runs depend on snow cover and snowmaking, and the villages close earlier than the high resorts (17 April in 2027).
Plagne Bellecôte was built in 1974 by Michel Bezançon, the architect of La Plagne, who drew it like a hydroelectric dam across the valley. It is the crossroads of La Plagne's lifts: the Roche de Mio gondola, the Arpette chairlift for the Funslope and the links to Plagne Centre, Champagny and Montchavin.
Skiers pass through it, so do not dawdle.
Belle Plagne, at 2,050 m, is a pedestrian village built in 1981 in the style of a Savoyard village, with stone, wood and slate roofs and more than 50 levels climbing a south-facing slope. A gondola links it to Bellecôte in minutes. A proper lunch before the glacier.
La Plagne's own listings give La Godille du Chenard and Le Matafan in Belle Plagne, both open daily in 2026/27, for Savoyard cooking; ask for croziflette: crozets, the small square Savoyard pasta, baked with cheese. Confirm opening before you go.
From Roche de Mio the new Glaciers gondola climbs for about ten minutes to Live 3000 at 3,080 m, the roof of La Plagne, with an outdoor terrace and a café called Le Sixième Ciel facing the Vanoise glaciers. It is open to pedestrians as well as skiers.
The glacier is the part of the story the brochures skip. La Plagne used to reach 3,250 m on the Chiaupe glacier, but the lifts there were dismantled because of its melting, and the area now tops out around the Bellecôte glacier. Summer skiing ran there between 1979 and 2004. Enjoy the view, but do not treat the glacier as a certainty for the future.
This is the one day off skis, and it is also your weather buffer: swap it with day 2 if the Aiguille Rouge is clouded in. If your legs are fine and the sky is clear, ski the Peisey and Vallandry forest lifts instead of the cross-country stop. Either way the funicular is the way down, so check the last departure before you finish.
Peisey-Vallandry has 43 km of cross-country trails and a biathlon range, and it is the easiest way to see the area in silence. The trails run through forest.
Ask at the tourist office or a ski school about rental and lessons. If you have never tried it, take a lesson.
The parish church of Peisey has been a protected monument since 1972, and its slim bell tower is the tallest in the Tarentaise. The village had grown comfortable by managing its common pastures, and the church shows it: frescoes inside and a gilded altarpiece carved in 1700 by Jacques-Antoine Todesco and Jean-Baptiste Guallaz.
Bourg-Saint-Maurice, at 850 m, is the town at the bottom of Les Arcs, a working place of about 7,000 people with a railway station, a cinema, two swimming pools and supermarkets. In 1969 it hosted the Canoe-Kayak World Championships on the Isère, and its whitewater course is still used by national teams.
Walk the main street, look in the bakeries, and stock up on cheese and wine.
Beaufort is the cheese of the Tarentaise: a firm raw-milk cow's cheese of the Gruyère family, made in the Beaufortain, Tarentaise and Maurienne valleys. Winter Beaufort, summer Beaufort and the higher alpage version differ in taste, and the cheese has had its appellation since 1968. It is also what you taste, melted, in a proper fondue.
Buy a wedge in a shop in town and take it back to Arc 1800 for dinner, with a bottle of Vin de Savoie.
Lunch in the valley costs less than lunch on the slopes. The Les Arcs resort lists La Cozna, a restaurant in the Hostellerie du Petit-Saint-Bernard on avenue du Stade, with Alpine-inspired cooking, and Allez Café Vélo, also in town.
Order the dish of the day, and check hours first, because valley places keep their own days.
Come back up on the funicular and head straight to La Piscine at Arc 1800: in winter it closes at 7 pm most days (the resort lists an extra hour on some Tuesdays and Thursdays), so this is warm water at dusk. Tomorrow is the Vanoise Express and the bob.
This is La Plagne's day, easy blues and reds with a viewpoint, and it is built backwards from the bobsleigh track below Plagne 1800. The operator opens it to visitors only in the late afternoon and gives the slot when you book. From Arc 1800, cross the Vanoise Express on the first lifts (about 9:30 to 10:00 with a queue, an estimate), ski east to west (the Funslope and the Grande Rochette, then lunch, Plagne Centre and Aime 2000), and reach La Roche for your slot. Do not plan to ski back: La Roche is roughly an hour of lifts and pistes from the Express (an estimate), and the last crossing is not published. Book a taxi in advance instead: by the routing service it is about 30 km and 40 minutes to Arc 1800 in dry conditions, via the valley and Bourg-Saint-Maurice, so allow an hour in snow. The cleaner option is to spend the last night in Plagne Centre or Belle Plagne, moving on the evening of day 4 (train to Aime-la-Plagne, then bus S71).
La Plagne's Funslope is described as the longest in Europe: a gentle run with tunnels, bridges, banked turns and small bumps that children love. You reach it by the Arpette chairlift from Plagne Bellecôte. There is a picnic area at the top, and it suits a group of mixed levels.
The Funiplagne takes you to the Grande Rochette at 2,508 m, where the north side of La Plagne and the south side of Champagny-en-Vanoise meet. The panorama covers Mont Blanc and the Vanoise glaciers, and it is open to pedestrians, winter and summer.
Ride down the Champagny side if you want sun, and back toward Plagne Centre for the north-facing runs.
Today's lunch is croziflette: crozets, the small buckwheat pasta squares of Savoie, baked with reblochon, cream and ham, and an easier dish to share than tartiflette. Diots with polenta is the other classic, a pork sausage cooked in white wine.
La Plagne lists the Chalet des Dolines in Plagne Villages and La Casa de l'Ours on its snow front, both open daily from 12 December 2026 to 24 April 2027.
Plagne Centre is the first resort of La Plagne, opened in December 1961 at 1,970 m. It was designed by Michel Bezançon as an integrated resort, with cars and skiers kept apart, and it is the roundabout of the pistes, where the sites of La Plagne meet.
The snow front is wide and the shopping gallery has a cinema, a bowling alley and an ice rink.
Plagne Aime 2000 is the highest village of La Plagne's own resorts at 2,100 m, opened in December 1969, and its main building, the Paquebot des neiges, or snow liner, has been a listed 20th-century monument since April 2008. Michel Bezançon built a single block to leave the slope free, with terrace roofs and large balconies.
The Télémétro, a pedestrian cable car, links it to Plagne Centre in a few minutes, and the Super Tyro zip line covers 600 m between the two.
The bobsleigh track at La Roche, under Plagne 1800, was built for the 1992 Albertville Olympics and is the only one in France. The operator quotes 1,500 m and 19 turns, and a ride takes under two minutes. The building of it was controversial: it cost 233 million francs and was criticized for its effect on the environment and for the unstable ground it stands on.
Visitors ride in the late afternoon, after the athletes train. The Bob Raft (4 people, self-steering and self-braking, 80 km/h, from 1.30 m tall) is the family option; the Speed Luge (alone, on your back, 90 km/h) and Bob Racing (behind a pilot, up to 120 km/h) are for those aged 16 and over. Rides run from 12 December 2026 to 4 April 2027 on the bobsleigh page itself, while La Plagne's general opening-dates page says 27 March.
If you moved to Plagne Centre for the last night, finish with a fondue savoyarde here. Toast with a glass of Vin de Savoie, a white from the only Alpine wine region in France, made from grapes like Jacquère and Altesse, or a génépi, the herbal liqueur from alpine wormwood plants.
If you are taxiing back to Arc 1800, eat there instead, after the ride. The Pool closes at 7 pm, so skip it tonight.
The places that did not fit the five days, ordered by distance from Bourg-Saint-Maurice.
A sunny balcony resort at 1,850 m, linked since 1984 to La Thuile in Italy by the Espace San Bernardo. The road over the Little St Bernard Pass is closed in winter from La Rosière onwards, so the border is crossed on skis. Quieter, with lunch in Italy.
Getting there: 23 km, about 30 minutes by road from Bourg-Saint-Maurice
The other great Tarentaise area, with glaciers and the long season. Our guide 5 Days in Val d'Isère and Tignes covers it.
Getting there: 30 km to Tignes and 32 km to Val d'Isère, 36-42 minutes by road
The village that gave its name to Beaufort cheese, in the valley next door. An afternoon for the cheese cooperatives and a cheaper meal than in the resorts.
Getting there: 40 km, about 46 minutes by road from Bourg-Saint-Maurice
The biggest linked ski area in the world is one valley west. Our guide 5 Days in Les 3 Vallées covers it. The two areas do not share a pass.
Getting there: 44 km to Méribel, 51 km to Courchevel 1850, 47-55 minutes by road
The old capital of Savoy, on a lake, with canals in its old town. A good half day on the way to or from Geneva.
Getting there: 98 km, about 1 hour 45 by road
The town that hosted the 1992 Winter Olympics, whose events were spread across the Tarentaise valleys, including the speed skiing at Arc 2000 and the bobsleigh at La Plagne.
Getting there: 55 km, about 52 minutes by road, or by train toward Chambéry
Mountain food in Savoie is cheese, potatoes and cured meat, served in portions made for skiers.
Melted cheese and white wine in one pot, eaten with bread on long forks. It is the sharing dish of the area, best ordered for two or more and with black tea or white wine, not cold water.
Where to try it: A Savoyard restaurant in any village; Les Arcs and La Plagne list several, so ask for the fondue on the menu and book in school weeks.
Cheese melted and scraped over potatoes with charcuterie and pickles. It comes from the Swiss canton of Valais, and Savoie has eaten it for generations, so it is on every mountain menu.
Where to try it: Mountain restaurants and village Savoyard tables in Arc 1950, Belle Plagne and Plagne Centre; confirm winter hours.
Potatoes, reblochon, bacon and onions baked until the top goes brown. It is a modern après-ski dish with an old pedigree in the potato gratins of the Alps, and the only vegetable on the plate is the green salad.
Where to try it: Any Savoyard restaurant; La Ferme de César in Montchavin and Le Matafan in Belle Plagne are open daily in 2026/27 per La Plagne's listings.
The firm raw-milk cheese of the Tarentaise, in the Gruyère family and appellation-protected since 1968. The summer, alpage and winter versions taste different, and a thin slice with a glass of white wine is a lunch.
Where to try it: A cheese shop or supermarket in Bourg-Saint-Maurice; ask for the alpage wheel if you want the best.
Savoie is the only Alpine wine region in France, with unusual grapes: Jacquère, Altesse (also called Roussette) and Gringet for white, Mondeuse for red. The whites are light and dry, made for cheese.
Where to try it: Restaurants and supermarkets list it by the glass or bottle; Apremont is the best-known village name on the label.
A traditional herbal liqueur of the Alps made from wormwood plants, served neat as a digestif. It is an acquired taste, less sweet than most digestifs, and the usual end to a fondue.
Where to try it: Bars and restaurants all over Les Arcs and La Plagne; buy a bottle in Bourg-Saint-Maurice rather than in the resorts.
Crozets are the small square pasta of Savoie, baked with reblochon and ham as croziflette. Diots are pork sausages cooked in white wine, served with polenta, boiled potatoes or crozets. Both are better than they sound after six hours on skis.
Where to try it: Ask for croziflette at La Godille du Chenard in Belle Plagne, and for diots at Savoyard tables in the Les Arcs villages.
Thin pancakes with sugar, lemon, chocolate or cheese and ham, a staple of every French town and cheaper than the dessert menu. Not Alpine, but a quick lunch.
Where to try it: Crêperies in the valley and creperie stalls at the foot of the slopes; ask in Bourg-Saint-Maurice.
The French breakfast, from the bakery in each resort's shopping gallery. A baguette with Beaufort is the cheapest lunch on the mountain.
Where to try it: The bakery in your village gallery from 7:00; in Bourg-Saint-Maurice the bakeries on the main street.
The terrace drinks of the afternoon: thick hot chocolate, and mulled red wine with spices and orange. At altitude, hot chocolate is the better bet.
Where to try it: The Sixième Ciel café at Live 3000 (confirm it is open) and the terraces at the foot of the pistes.
The après-ski drink is a draft beer on a terrace at 4 pm, at mountain prices.
Where to try it: The Wool Socks Pub in Arc 1950 is listed by the resort; Le Petit Zinc is in Arc 1800.
Pick the side first. Les Arcs has the funicular and the Aiguille Rouge; La Plagne has the bobsleigh and the glacier. Bourg-Saint-Maurice is the cheap base in the valley.
Best for: Skiers who want a pedestrian village, ski-in access and a good evening
The newest village, with the most polished feel and the highest prices. The catch is distance from Arc 1800's hub and the Vanoise Express, so crossing to La Plagne takes longer.
Les Arc 1950 | A Cosy Evening Walk In ski resort in Les Arc Village Savoie France 4k · The Flying Dutchman · 23 min · YouTube
Best for: First-timers and families who want the middle of the area
The practical base, and the one this plan assumes. Everything leaves from here. The catch is the architecture, which divides people, and queues at the lifts on busy mornings.
Arc 1800 Walking Tour | Explore Les Arcs Ski Resort in 4K (France) | Ski Resorts walks · Ski Resorts Video · 11 min · YouTube
Best for: Skiers who want La Plagne's glacier side and a ski-in village
A south-facing village with the best location on the La Plagne side. The catch is that Les Arcs is far: the Vanoise Express is reached through Bellecôte and Montchavin.
[4K] Skiing La Plagne, All Blue - Belle Plagne - Blanchets, Paradiski France, GoPro HERO13 · Chasing Snow · 13 min · YouTube
Best for: Families and groups who want a lively resort at the hub of La Plagne
The first La Plagne village, and the busiest. The catch is the age of its buildings, and the distance from the Vanoise Express.
Best for: Budget travelers and train travelers who want a real town
The cheap and convenient base if you come by train. The catch is the daily trip up and down, and the last funicular back in the evening.
In Map Drop the countries of Europe fall one at a time and you drop each into its place - France is one of the pieces.
The practical stuff that makes the first day in Les Arcs and La Plagne easier.
For this plan you need Paradiski: the Essential pass from Les Arcs or the Paradiski pass from La Plagne, 78 EUR for one day and 412 EUR for six in 2026/27. The Classic pass covers Les Arcs and Peisey-Vallandry only. The first week (12-18 December) is 15% cheaper. The plan skis four days, so look up the 4-day price in the shop (we could read only the 1, 5 and 6-day rates). Buy online and collect at the funicular station or at a lift pass office.
Bourg-Saint-Maurice is the end of the line, with TGV and local trains and a funicular to Arc 1600. Aime-la-Plagne and Landry stations serve La Plagne. The Eurostar ski train runs from London St Pancras on Saturdays from 19 December 2026 to 20 February 2027, with a change at Lille Europe, reaching Bourg-Saint-Maurice about 17:45 (timetable from Seat61; check Eurostar). Returns run mostly on Sundays. A night train from Paris runs Friday to Saturday in winter.
You don't need a car. If you drive, from 1 November to 31 March French law requires either four winter tyres or chains in the boot. La Plagne's roads climb in 21 hairpins from Aime. Parking in Arc 1800, Arc 1950 and Arc 2000 is covered or underground and should be reserved.
It opens 12 December 2026 and closes 17 April 2027, and it is the only link between the two areas. It stops in high wind. The app shows its status, and the crossing back is the one thing that can strand you on the wrong side, so keep a margin.
French holidays set the crowds. Christmas is 19 December to 4 January. In February, Zone C (Paris) is off from 6 to 22 February, Zone A (Lyon, Grenoble) from 13 February to 1 March, and Zone B from 20 February to 8 March. Serbian families have their own breaks: 31 December to 15 January for primary schools, and the Sretenje week of 15-19 February.
Prices are in euros and cards work almost everywhere. A mountain lunch costs about 20-35 EUR, and the valley is cheaper. Supermarkets are in Bourg-Saint-Maurice, so buy groceries there and take them up by funicular.
Rescue on the mountain costs money in France. Buy cover with the pass or check that your own insurance covers skiing. The emergency number is 112.
Leaving the groomed runs is where accidents happen. The Natur pistes are marked and secured but not groomed; for anything else, go with a guide.
Four ski days let you ski each side properly. A second week would go to the quieter runs and off-piste.
A Paradiski pass: the Essential or Premium pass from Les Arcs, or the Paradiski pass from La Plagne. A Classic pass covers Les Arcs and Peisey-Vallandry only, and a La Plagne pass covers La Plagne only. La Plagne also sells a Paradiski extension for one day.
Yes, the operators give 12 December 2026 to 17 April 2027. It is a double-deck cable car that crosses the valley in about four minutes. It closed for the whole 2007/08 winter after cable damage, so check status on the day and keep a margin on the way back.
Arc 1800 is the best first base because it sits at the hub of Les Arcs and is the closest to the Vanoise Express. Arc 1950 is the prettiest village, Belle Plagne and Plagne Centre are the La Plagne choices, and Bourg-Saint-Maurice is the cheap valley option.
Yes. The linked area has 19 green and 128 blue runs against 34 black, and both sides sell beginner options. La Plagne has CoolSki zones and 16 free beginner lifts, and Les Arcs has a beginner pass sold on site.
From London, the Eurostar ski train runs on Saturdays from 19 December 2026 to 20 February 2027 with a change at Lille, reaching Bourg-Saint-Maurice in the evening. From Serbia, Geneva (150 km) and Lyon (190 km) are the nearest big airports; check what flies from Belgrade, then take a transfer or the train to Bourg-Saint-Maurice.
The pass is 78 EUR for one day and 412 EUR for six. The big costs are lodging and lunch on the mountain. Staying in Bourg-Saint-Maurice or buying food in the valley saves the most.
Yes. The only Olympic bobsleigh track in France offers Bob Raft rides for 57 EUR, from 1.30 m tall, plus Speed Luge and Bob Racing for people 16 and over. Rides are in the late afternoon from 12 December 2026 to early April 2027; book in advance.
Find Les Arcs and La Plagne on the map, learn the flag and check how much you really know about France.
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