Ride the best blue runs in Plagne Bellecôte, La Plagne
Plagne Bellecôte – the ultimate intermediate bowl
Tour the Plagne Bellecôte / Belle Plagne bowl: Plagne Bellecôte is one of the best areas in La Plagne for intermediate skiers and snowboarders. Sitting at the heart of the resort, the Bellecôte bowl is built almost entirely around wide, forgiving blue pistes served by fast, modern lifts.
This route shows you how to link together the best blue runs in the Bellecôte sector in a single, flowing loop. Everything is easily accessed from the main lift hub at the base of Bellecôte, meaning less time navigating and more time riding confidence-building terrain. If you want an intermediate day with minimal stress, no awkward links and consistent piste quality, Bellecôte is hard to beat.
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Planning to ride Plagne Bellecôte?
Quick tip: This Bellecôte blue route links multiple lifts and long cruisers. If your skis are too long, too stiff, or your board setup is wrong, you’ll feel it by lunchtime.
Booking ski or snowboard hire in advance means the right kit is ready, sizes are available, and you’ll usually get cheaper online prices. Pick a shop near your accommodation so you can get straight out and start the loop without faffing.
Prefer to go straight to Skiset? Book here
Plagne Bellecôte best blue runs – full route preview
This video shows the full Plagne Bellecôte blue run route from start to finish, including lift links and piste flow. Watching it beforehand gives you a clear idea of gradients, width and how the pistes connect on the mountain.
Combined with the route map below, it removes the guesswork and helps you ride the Bellecôte sector smoothly without accidentally dropping onto steeper terrain.
Bellecôte blue route map
The piste map below shows the full route used to ride the best blue runs in the Plagne Bellecôte and Belle Plagne sector. The route is designed to flow naturally, with no awkward traverses or unnecessary repetition. Lift up > ride down > lift up > repeat.
This guide starts at the Arpette chair in Plagne Bellecôte, so you should make your way there to begin the route.
Important Note: La Plagne has updated the Roche de Mio lift since this route was mapped. The skiing route itself is unchanged, but the new Roche de Mio lift isn’t shown. You can view the latest official La Plagne piste map here.
Why this Bellecôte blue route works so well
One of the main reasons La Plagne remains so popular is the sheer quality of its blue pistes, and Bellecôte showcases this better than almost anywhere else in the resort.
The terrain here is almost exclusively intermediate-friendly, with long, open pistes that allow you to relax into your skiing or snowboarding rather than constantly reacting to steep pitches or narrow sections.
Served by fast, detachable lifts such as Arpette, Colosses and Blanchets, this route lets you cover a lot of ground while avoiding long queues and bottlenecks.
Cover sorted before you explore Bellecôte?
Quick tip: Intermediate routes like this are confidence-building, but you’ll still be covering a lot of ground on unfamiliar pistes. In France, mountain rescue and evacuation can be charged directly to you.
Good ski insurance helps if something goes wrong, whether it’s an accident, a trip disruption, or needing medical support. If you haven’t arranged cover yet, it’s worth sorting before you travel.
Bellecôte runs and lifts used on this route
This route features the best of the blue pistes in the Plagne Bellecôte / Belle Plagne sector. Although it would be quite difficult to get lost in this area, below is the optimised route order to save you from doubling back or repeating runs unnecessarily. And yep – all this is easily possible in just one day for early intermediates and above.
START – Plagne Bellecôte
1 Arpette chair
ARPETTE PISTES
2 Arpette blue > 3 Arpette chair > 4 Dunes blue > 5 Arpette chair > 6 Lainés blue > 7 Belle Plagne blue (base)
MAIN BELLECÔTE BOWL PISTES
8 Blanchets chair > 9 Blanchets blue > 10 Belle Plagne blue (full) > 11 Colosses chair > 12 Trieuse blue > 13 Blanchets chair > 14 Roc du Diable blue > 15 Leitchoums blue > 16 Blanchets blue (base) > 17 Colosses chair > 18 Trieuse blue (top) > 19 Rhodos blue > 20 Blanchets chair > 21 Blanchets blue (top) > 22 Ours blue > FINISH
Other La Plagne blue run guides
If you enjoyed this Bellecôte route, you can follow similar intermediate day guides in other parts of La Plagne, all built with the same video-and-map format.
Champagny best blue pistes
Plagne Bellecôte best blue pistes
Grande Rochette best blue pistes
Biolley Aime 2000 best blue pistes
The best time to ski Plagne Bellecôte
All of the pistes in the Plagne Bellecôte bowl sit above 2000 metres, meaning snow cover is usually reliable from early winter through to late season.
For a clearer idea of what conditions are typically like during your trip, check the month-by-month snow and conditions guides:
Plagne Bellecôte blue run route FAQs
The Bellecôte Best Blue Runs Route – our most common FAQs? If you still have questions after reading the guide above, these are the things people most often ask before riding the Bellecôte blue run route. If you don’t find the answers you’re looking for here, drop us a line on the La Plagne 360 Facebook page and we’ll get right back to you.
- Is this route suitable for intermediates?
- Do I need to ski reds to complete this route?
- Where does the route start?
- Is Plagne Bellecôte a good area for improving skiers?
- What about riding Les Arcs – do you have a route to make the trip?
- Is there a route to see more of La Plagne – not just Bellecôte?
Yes. This route is designed specifically for confident beginners and intermediates who want a full day on blue pistes without accidentally dropping onto steeper terrain.
No. The entire route sticks to blue pistes, with optional alternatives if you want to avoid steeper sections. It’s ideal for riders building confidence.
The recommended start point is at the foot of the Arpette chair in Plagne Bellecôte. From there, the route flows naturally through the Bellecôte and Belle Plagne bowl. Of course, it’s possible to drop in from other areas but the route makes more sense if followed start to end.
Absolutely. Bellecôte is one of the best areas in La Plagne for improving skiers and snowboarders thanks to wide pistes, consistent gradients and fast lift access.
La Plagne and Les Arcs are linked by the Vanoise Express, so you can ski across if lifts and weather are on your side. We’ve mapped the simplest route including video guide and downloadable piste map so you waste less time navigating and more time riding. Check the La Plagne to Les Arcs route guide.
Absolutely. If you want to see more of La Plagne rather than just confining yourself to Bellecôte, try our See the Best of La Plagne in a Day route which takes in all the major sectors and is do-able by intermediates in just one day. Taking this route, you’ll see the best of the resort and visit all the major sectors.
La Plagne suitability by skill level
While La Plagne is a great ski area, it is undoubtedly better suited to some levels of rider than others. Take a look below for our guide to which levels get the most out of a La Plagne ski trip.
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- New guide drops as we build out the site
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