Around two and a half hours. Eleven villages across two mountainsides and nearly a thousand metres of altitude: this is the resort where getting the address wrong costs the most.
La Plagne is roughly 160 kilometres from Geneva Airport, two and a quarter to two and a half hours in normal conditions. The route follows the Tarentaise, then leaves the valley at Aime or at Bellentre depending on which village you are heading for.
Because La Plagne is not one resort but a collection: the high villages — Plagne Centre, Belle Plagne, Bellecôte, Plagne Villages, Plagne Soleil, Aime la Plagne, Plagne 1800 — and the hillside villages: Montchavin, Les Coches and Champagny-en-Vanoise. The latter are not reached by the same road at all.
This is the single commonest source of error on this destination. A client writes "La Plagne" and ends up forty minutes from their chalet, because they were staying at Champagny and the vehicle climbed via Aime. On a February Saturday, that kind of mistake is paid for in hours.
So we always ask for the exact village. And we set out from Moûtiers, about forty minutes away, where our vehicles and drivers are based from December to April.
A word on arrivals by train, which are often more sensible than people assume for this destination. La Plagne is served by the stations of Aime-la-Plagne and Landry, both on the Tarentaise line and only minutes from the climbing roads. A good part of our British clientele arrives that way, by sleeper or on the seasonal Eurostar, without going through Geneva at all.
We meet those trains exactly as we meet flights: on the platform, luggage and ski bags taken, dropped at the village. For a family with young children arriving at seven in the morning after a night on a train, the difference between a waiting vehicle and a taxi queue is measured in mood for the rest of the week.
Finally, La Plagne is linked to Les Arcs by the Vanoise Express, one of the largest cable cars in Europe. When it closes for wind — which happens — the link between the two resorts is made by road, in about forty minutes. We run that journey regularly in high season, particularly at the end of the day.
A word on the return leg, which is prepared least and forgives least. From the high villages you come back down to the valley, cross the Tarentaise and then reach the motorway. On a Saturday morning the traffic coming down meets the traffic going up on a two-lane road, and the valley floor between Moûtiers and Albertville becomes the choke point of the entire Northern Alps.
We therefore set departure time from your flight, your village, the day of the week and the real state of the roads that morning — not from an average. For a midday flight on a February Saturday the margin is significant and we are happy to defend it. A coffee in the departure lounge costs a great deal less than a missed flight and an unplanned night in Geneva.
Very early departures deserve a mention too. A 7 a.m. flight from Geneva means leaving La Plagne before four. With our vehicles based in Moûtiers, forty minutes away, that is a matter of organisation rather than heroics: the car is cleared, warm and on time.
Finally, on groups: La Plagne draws large parties, and they rarely arrive on one flight. We synchronise several pick-ups so everyone reaches the village together, with one lead driver and a single point of contact. For agencies and chalet operators we arrange centralised invoicing and dedicated seasonal terms.
One last practical note. The high villages of La Plagne are largely built for pedestrians, with parking concentrated in dedicated areas and traffic restricted in the centre of each. We drop you at the authorised point nearest your residence, with luggage and ski bags carried. Give us the exact building name as well as the village — in Belle Plagne and Plagne Bellecôte in particular, residences are reached by different service accesses and the difference is several hundred metres through snow.
"La Plagne" is never enough. Give us the village: it determines the road, the duration and the drop-off point.
Plagne Centre, Belle Plagne, Plagne Bellecôte, Plagne Villages, Plagne Soleil, Aime la Plagne and Plagne 1800. Reached by climbing from Aime, on steady hairpins. Traffic and parking are regulated in high season.
On the Bellentre side, towards Paradiski and the Vanoise Express. A separate approach: climbing via Aime would be a forty-minute mistake.
The southern side, facing the Bozel valley. An authentic village, a different approach again — and the closest of all to our base in Moûtiers.
La Plagne and Les Arcs form a single ski area linked by the Vanoise Express. We cover the road link between them during your stay. See Les Arcs →
"La Plagne" means nothing to a driver. Belle Plagne, Montchavin and Champagny are three different roads and up to forty minutes apart.
Geneva ↔ La PlagneLa Plagne is one of the most family-oriented resorts in the Alps, and it shows in our bookings: rarely two passengers, usually five or six, with children of every age, seats to arrange, pushchairs, and a volume of equipment that always exceeds the original estimate.
We supply and fit baby seats, child seats and boosters before you arrive: give us each child's age and weight when booking. They are in place as you get in, not being hunted for in a boot while the terminal empties.
On equipment, the advice we give every time: count the ski bags, not the passengers. Six adults with six pairs of skis and six hold bags do not fit in a vehicle sized for six people travelling light. It is the number of bags we ask for, and it is that which determines the vehicle assigned.
And two and a half hours with young children is something you organise: we plan a stop if needed, there is water on board, and nobody sighs when you have to break the journey halfway.
La Plagne hosted the bobsleigh, luge and skeleton events at the 1992 Albertville Games. Its sliding track is among the venues confirmed for the 2030 Winter Games in the French Alps.
Site visits, delegations, technical teams and federations: activity builds well before the event itself. Transport capacity in the Tarentaise is booked a long way ahead.
From our base in Moûtiers, La Plagne, Courchevel and Val d'Isère — the three Alpine venues for 2030 — are all within an hour's drive.
Convoys of several vehicles leaving and arriving together, a lead driver, one point of contact, centralised invoicing.
If you are organising group travel around these dates, get in touch now rather than in 2029. Contact us →
Your flight, your village in La Plagne, the children's ages and the number of ski bags.