With its 11 unique villages, fantastic terrain and 225km of pistes (425km when counted with Les Arcs), La Plagne holds the double-edged-sword distinction of being the world’s most-visited, most-popular ski area. There are many reasons why La Plagne is so popular but its allure can lead to queues and busy pistes at the worst times through the winter. While the efficient lift system and wide network of pistes usually caters well with the hordes, La Plagne can indeed get ridiculously busy at points – particularly over the dreaded February mid-term holidays. So, when are the quietest times in La Plagne?

Quiet holidays in La Plagne

Although all resorts can get busy from time to time and there are no 100% fixed rules, there are points in the season when La Plagne is much more likely to be quiet. Of course, a lot of this tends to revolve around holidaying outside the school holidays when many people have no choice but to take their trip. If you absolutely can’t get out of holidaying over these periods, read our Making the best of La Plagne when it’s busy article. However, some other times can bring epic conditions with quiet lifts and pistes. If you’re new to wintersports – or, more importantly, La Plagne – be sure to read our Beginner Guide to La Plagne article.  Below are a few of our recommended La Plagne holiday times.

The first week of the season

In recent years, La Plagne opening dates have slipped later through December but, if you can manage it, the first week of the season should see you riding almost deserted pistes and lifts. That said, it’s always a good idea to check the La Plagne weather and La Plagne snow conditions before booking as there no guarantees so early in the season.

In recent years, there’s been a tendency for early-season dumps bringing great conditions in the run-up to Christmas – plus La Plagne has extensive snow-making should the white stuff not arrive. Really though, there are no rules so be sure to always reference snow cover before booking. Also, when booking, you should consider the higher altitude resorts like Plagne Bellecôte, Belle Plagne, Aime 2000 and Plagne Centre.

The first few weeks of January

One of the best times for a La Plagne ski holiday is through the first few weeks of January. As the world returns to work after the Christmas and New Year festivities, the pistes, lifts and villages empty. Most people take their holidays over the Christmas week so often can’t afford either the time or money of an extra trip.

Moreover, January usually brings storms so you could also end up enjoying some of the best conditions of the season while lapping quiet runs and lifts.

February into March

Again, this follows the logic of avoiding the February school holidays. The whole of Europe mid-term breaks in February so the entire month remains busy – particularly as France is split into departments. At any given time through the month, one region of France will be on holiday so queues are more or less assured. However, as the month ends, the majority of people return to work and the resort gets much quieter.

Note – as March progresses, things will get busier again. Often this is dictated by how early or late the Easter holidays fall. Also, in recent years, more people have grown wise to this tactic so you may still find the resort busy – although nothing on the scale of the Christmas period and February.

The tail-end of the season

If you want truly quiet runs, end-of-season parties, longer days, forgiving spring snow (although powder is not uncommon (the picture above was taken in April)) and hotter sun, there is no better time than the final couple of weeks of the season. As well as great conditions, you’ll find food and drink promotions as owners try to get rid of stock they otherwise might not be able to use. In case you do get lucky in April, check out our guide of where to ride when it snows in La Plagne.

The couple of weeks of the winter season are an undiscovered gem – plus will give you that last snow fix before summer returns to resorts again. Just be sure to select the higher resorts for your accommodation as conditions can be less predictable lower down in Montalbert, Montchavin, La Roche and, especially, Champagny-en-Vanoise with its south-facing pistes.

La Plagne video guides through the season

Be sure to check the iRide YouTube channel for a huge range of La Plagne videos produced by the team behind LaPlagne360. These videos cover multiple times across the season filmed over multiple years doing seasons in the resort.