La Plagne 1800

We are off to La Plagne 5th March for the week, was waiting as long as possible to see if there was better forecast in Italy but our usual haunt sauze not doing too good on the snow front so we've opted for France
Any tips for la plagne 1800 I hear the paradiski ski area is great skiing and snowfall excellent at the moment
Would like to hear about the village places to eat and drink etc and is it easy access to la plagne centre any info welcome

Stayed in 1800 a few years back and this description from plagnenet sums it up: '1800 offers a small, beginners ski area, where lessons take place, whilst the Melezes and 1800 chairlifts connect the village with the rest of the resort via Plagne Centre and Aime 2000 respectively. The runs back into the village from the surrounding area are a mixture of reds and blues offering wide highway pistes and narrower winding ones, these runs can become busy and somewhat messy in peak season as they are high traffic areas, but with care and a little off-piste can provide access to – or close to most accommodation.'

It is a steep walk up to a lot of the accommodation from the slopes, although some properties are almost ski to door. Access to Plagne Centre is by by bus and there's not much in 1800 apart from a bar or two and a few restaurants and small shops. It is mainly catered chalet central with hundreds of UK tour operator-run properties.

It easy enough to access Plagne Centre by bus or via the ski lift if you are on your planks.
You may well find skiing over to Les Arcs finds you quieter pistes.
La Plagne is a big bowl so plenty of scope for deviating off piste.

Having just come back from there I would say that there is a marked difference in how La Plagne decides what is blue and what is red compared to most resorts, including over in Les Arcs on the same ski pass. That's not an issue for most but for inexperienced skiers it could be. It's a gripe of mine where resorts designate runs as blues so they can claim there's a blue down to the bottom from one lift or other when it isn't really.

I love La Plagne, however I've only ever stayed in the centre. It's not the prettiest of villages but I love the ski area. It's quite easy to understand the runs and you can quickly pick out the ones you like the best. I remembered most of them when I went back the second time so felt confident to ski on my own. If you ski the whole area it's vast. Nice to go over to les Arc. We skied in the other direction and found a lovley place to eat right at the bottom, but I can't remember where it was. We tend to ski in January so big queues aren't really a problem. But there's usually ways to get around the lifts with the larger queues by sking down to a lower station and getting on there. If your wanting food through the day ski to the centre. There's a few places to eat on the side of the slopes. Think they are a bit cheaper than higher up. ENJOY!

Lota has it nailed. Not the worst spot though - pretty easy to get up into the main area and, depending on conditions, an easy ski down. However, the "home" run can be crowded and a bit nasty if conditions are not right. There are regular ski buses up to the "centre" if you want to access a swimming pool or some shopping.

One piece of advice I would offer to get out to the edges of the resort as quickly as you can - as with most big resorts, the central area can be a bit congested but the fringes are often largely neglected. Runs down to Montalbert, for example, can be lovely :D .

Les Arcs is a fair hike across so you probably wont do it that often. I think there is a liftpass option which gives you one day over there which would be enough for most people.

We stayed half board and cant remember any of the other eating options so cant help with that :roll:.

Thanks guys this info has been helpful we are pretty confident skiers so can ski reds no problem I've been looking on some webcams this week and as its half term looks pretty congested on some lifts etc especially last ones back
We have 2 weeks to go so hopefully holidays over then and before Easter starts
Snow forecast looking good can't wait for a bit of paradiski will try Les arc too we have whole lift pass area which is cool