Taken together, La Plagne and Les Arcs make up the massive Paradiski ski area with 425km between them – which also happens to make this pairing 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. Let’s try weigh them up, side-by-side and attempt to answer the perennial question. Which is better – La Plagne or Les Arcs.

Quick links: If you’re mainly here for terrain, jump straight to the skiing and snowboarding section below. If you’re weighing up vibe and convenience, the nightlife and transfer sections could help make your decision for you.

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 on skis or on a board. Take a look at this article which 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 also has fewer problem pistes where you can run out of speed. 

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 these resorts 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. However, on balance, as a progressing beginner, La Plagne probably swings it. Also, if you’re holidaying with kids, La Plagne is definitely more family-focused.

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

Intermediate skiers and snowboarders will find the wide-open intermediate runs in La Plagne an absolute joy. The same also applies in Les Arcs – but perhaps to a lesser degree. For some reason, the Les Arcs ski area always feels a little more compact. La Plagne probably wins the best intermediate area badge (but not by a long way). The layout of La Plagne can make you feel like you’ve clocked serious mileage (new peaks, new views, new valleys) whereas Les Arcs is basically contained in two bowls. 

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. There isn’t so much in-bounds stuff here. 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 often have huge moguls as the season progresses – but they’re mostly really not pleasant. The blacks 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, including the long route down to Villaroger, a vertical drop of 2000m and around 7km in length. Throw in Les Arcs’ legendary close-to-lifts, off-piste routes (plus the pistes around the old flying K track) and it would be fair to say Les Arcs beats La Plagne when it comes to in-bounds, expert terrain.

However, it’s not quite as simple as that. As most accomplished skiers and snowboarders know, the expert terrain doesn’t always fall within the marked areas. Expert riders in La Plagne can find truly testing local challenges by going out of bounds. The extensive off-piste riding in La Plagne (much of it easily accessed from main lifts and pistes) removes the hassle of touring. In particular, the routes down the infamous Bellecôte North Face are tough (we’re talking world-famous ‘tough’). Remember, you should take a guide for all off-piste riding (no matter how good you think you are).

Extra resources for La Plagne skiing and snowboarding

Follow the links below to get comprehensive details of La Plagne’s suitability for riders of different levels. 

If nightlife is important to you, Les Arcs is going to win. 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 chain as a host resort – mainly because it 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 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. This article is written by people used to doing seasons – and yes, that means we appreciate a bit of nightlife. However, for many people, the precious week or two-week away is the only time you’ll get on snow. If that sounds like you, you might prefer La Plagne’s more chilled vibe so you can make early lifts and ride with a clear head.

Take-out: In short, if you’re looking for a quieter, less hectic nightlife scene where you can pick and choose whether you want a big night or not, then La Plagne is possibly the better call. Just pick the right La Plagne village for your accommodation. Some of them can be morbidly quiet. 

Transfers to La Plagne and Les Arcs are pretty similar in length – although, in both cases, transfers get longer the higher up the hill you stay. As Les Arcs if further along the valley, you will be looking at a slightly longer trip so, in most cases, you should have a shorter transfer staying in La Plagne. The only thing that might change that is weather and snow conditions on the road and the often heavy traffic making its way up from Aime. All told, travelling by bus/private transfer should make for a shorter airport trip if you’re staying in La Plagne.

However, if you’re travelling by Snow Train, the trip to (most of) Les Arcs should be quicker due to the funiculaire link from Bourg-St-Maurice. Plus, you get the bonus of an extra day/half-day riding when everyone else is sitting on buses.

For more details on transfers to all Isère resorts, check our Tarentaise resorts transfer times page. Alternatively, check this page to see 3D footage of the common transfer routes to La Plagne.