Taken together, La Plagne and Les Arcs make up the massive Paradiski ski area with 425km between them – which also happens to be the third-largest ski domain in the world. However, many people wonder whether it’s better to choose a La Plagne ski or snowboard holiday or stay across the valley in Les Arcs.

The article below by LaPlagne360 attempts to answer this perennial question.

Which has better skiing & snowboarding – Les Arcs or La Plagne?

As mentioned in other articles on the La Plagne 360 blog, this really comes down to your level of skiing or snowboarding. Certainly, La Plagne is good for snowboarding and skiing – but taken with the proviso that you need to be of a reasonable level to get around. In particular, in La Plagne, there are several runs with flat spots that are a pain regardless of whether you’re skiing or snowboarding. This article explains more about the La Plagne pistes to avoid.

On the flip side, the skiing and snowboarding in Les Arcs tends to be a little steeper and certainly features fewer problem pistes where you can run out of speed. We’ve broken this down further below.

Is Les Arcs or La Plagne better for beginner skiers & snowboarders?

Beginner skiers and snowboarders will enjoy the pistes in both La Plagne and Les Arcs – both have excellent beginner areas higher up the mountain than you find in many ski stations. Plus the ski and snowboard instruction in both is unrivalled.

Is Les Arcs or La Plagne better for intermediate skiers & snowboarders?

Intermediate skiers and snowboarders will find the wide-open runs in La Plagne an absolute joy – the same with Les Arcs although this area always feels more compact for some reason. La Plagne probably wins for the best intermediate pistes (but not by a long way).

Is Les Arcs or La Plagne better for advanced skiers & snowboarders?

Advanced skiers and snowboarders will find more challenges over in Les Arcs where there are over 40 red pistes – plus a huge terrain park split into multiple lines of difficulty. In comparison, La Plagne falls down considerably when you look at advanced level skiing and snowboarding (partly due to terrain, party due to the resort being so family-focussed). Les Arcs is definitely a better resort for more advanced skiers and snowboarders.

Is Les Arcs or La Plagne better for expert skiers & snowboarders?

Expert skiers and snowboarders will find challenges in both Les Arcs and La Plagne – though in very different forms. La Plagne’s in-bounds black pistes are all left as ‘Natur’ pistes which means they never get pisted, resulting in huge moguls as the season progresses. They are also pretty much all concentrated around the Bellecôte glacier and Aime 2000 / Biolley sector, often sharing rather similar slope profiles.

Over in Les Arcs, things are very different with a large range of black pistes – particularly higher up off the Aiguille Rouge and featuring the long route down to Villaroger, a vertical drop of around 2000m and around 7km in length. Throw in Les Arcs’ legendary off-piste routes (plus the flying K track) and it would be fair to say Les Arcs probably beats La Plagne when it comes to expert terrain.

However, it’s not quite as simple as that and, as most accomplished skiers and snowboarders know, the expert terrain doesn’t always fall within the marked areas. Expert riders in La Plagne, will find the biggest challenges  The extensive off-piste riding in La Plagne, much of it easily accessed from main pistes, removing the hassle of touring – including the routes down the infamous Bellecôte North Face. Remember, you should take a guide for all off-piste riding (no matter how good you think you are).

Which has better nightlife – Les Arcs or La Plagne?

If nightlife is important to you, Les Arcs probably wins. While things have improved massively in La Plagne and there are now some great on-hill aprés ski bars (plus much better bars in the main villages) Les Arcs still has a lot more going for it and a much more youthful vibe at night. It was also chosen by the world-renowned Folie Douce bar and restaurant chain – mainly because it definitely attracts a more lively clientele.

Also, Les Arcs has a high Brit contingency, with many saisonnaires choosing the cheaper accommodation available down in Bourg-St-Maurice. In fact, other than perhaps Méribel or Val d’Isère, Les Arcs is probably the most Brit-friendly resort in the entire Tarentaise – a fact borne out by its annual Brit Week.

While there are some good bars in La Plagne (particularly in the higher-altitude villages), the spread-out nature of the resort often means bussing it between villages – which can be a hassle. Also, you can pretty much forget having any rowdy late nights in the lower villages.

For our money, Les Arcs wins hands down on nightlife.

HOWEVER – this all depends on the type of holiday you want to have. We’re saisonnaires so appreciate a bit of nightlife but, for many people, that week or two-week time away is the only time you’ll get on snow – so you make the most of it and not have the nights wreck the days.

If you’re looking for a quieter, less hectic nightlife scene where you can pick and choose whether you want a big night out, then La Plagne is probably the better call.

Which has better accommodation – Les Arcs or La Plagne?

While both resorts have a high concentration of self-catering and hotel accommodation, chalets are particularly prevalent in most of La Plagne’s stations. Whether this is important to you or not will likely come down more to personal preference than anything else and the type of holiday you prefer. There is also new hostel-type accommodation in La Plagne. Certainly, for families, chalets can offer significantly more value than hotels or self-catering.

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Which has the best scenery – Les Arcs or La Plagne?

Both resorts feature astounding Alpine views over the Tarentaise to Mont Blanc – although, as Les Arcs is closer, the views here are slightly better. Against that, take a trip over to La Plagne’s Champagny sector for an incredible vista that takes in Trois Vallées, Champagny, Pralognan and Grande Casse. In truth, both resorts are pretty much equal winners in terms of scenery.

Which has the shorter transfer time – Les Arcs or La Plagne?

Transfers to La Plagne and Les Arcs are relatively similar in length – although, in both cases, transfers get longer the higher up the hill you stay. That said, you can pretty much guarantee a shorter transfer staying in La Plagne. The only thing that might change that is weather and snow conditions on the road and the sometimes particularly heavy traffic making its way up from Aime. As a rule, staying in La Plagne should make for a shorter airport transfer.

However, if you’re travelling by Snow Train, the transfer to (most of) Les Arcs is quicker due to the funiculaire link from Bourg-St-Maurice.

Which makes for a better ski holiday – Les Arcs or La Plagne?

Really, only you can answer that by factoring in the points above. There’s a reason Paradiski as a whole is known as one of the world’s best ski resorts. Also, no matter which resort you ultimately choose, you’ll have the option of riding both anyway if you buy the full area Paradiski pass (unless you’re a total beginner, buy this pass). Check La Plagne – Les Arcs all-inclusive ski trips.

Find out more about La Plagne

La Plagne 360 has extensive video and written guides covering La Plagne activity guides, La Plagne information guides and La Plagne ski and snowboard edits plus images in our La Plagne gallery to help work out how to make the best of your next La Plagne ski / snowboard holiday and help you choose the best accommodation in La Plagne.

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La Plagne piste map