Summer in La Plagne

28/08/2026

We left Les Saisies in the afternoon, making sure we were out before we ticked over into another 24 hour period. Stupidly I’d forgotten to top up the CCP wallet so the barrier wouldn’t let me out. Typically three vans turned up trying to get in while I was scrabbling to top up the account but they also seemed to be dithering at the entrance so we managed to get out without causing anyone too much delay.

Getting to La Plagne

The drive from Les Saisies to La Plagne starts as a winding treat along mountain roads, through small ski towns, hamlets and farm communities until you get down to the main valley road at Ugine. Once on the valley road we just had a quick stop at the supermarket and then we were ready to start the drive up the switchbacks to the resort.

Except there was an issue. We saw the warning signs of a diversion as we left the main road, but didn’t see any diversion signs. Blindly we followed the sat nav’s instructions all the way up towards Montalbert, which was when I got a bad feeling. I wasn’t aware of any roads from Montalbert around the mountain to La Plagne, so I took a look ahead at the Google Maps suggestion. The road we needed to take was more like a track.  Walking routes were signposted at the junction, and although it was tarmac and there were no signs forbidding entry to vehicles, it didn’t look motorhome friendly. Time to turn around and try again.

Back downhill we spotted the diversion sign which took us through the back of Macot La Plagne before joining up with the usual switchbacks. Not too complicated, but we’d taken an extra hour following the wrong route and both of us were hangry. We couldn’t wait to get parked up and dive into our dinner.

The La Plagne aire

We were parked in the aire we last visited in April. This time there was no barrier in place. The overnight charge had been reduced for the summer and the signs told us that the municpal police would come round to collect the payment. They didn’t come very often though. We were there for three nights and only saw the police on our final morning. If the police hadn’t caught up with us we were meant to go to the Marie (town hall) in Macot La Plagne to make payment. We also found that the police only take cash and don’t carry a lot of change. We needed to pay €36 for our three nights and had to hunt through the nooks and crannies of the van to find the €6 of small change. We would have been sent down to the Marie to pay if we’d been unable to scrape that together. I wonder how many people bother. I’m not sure why they cant just change the cost on the ticket machine and leave the barriers in place. But then the management of the aire has been notoriously complex recently.

Instead of a crush of vans vying for the coveted piste-side spaces there were just a handful of us who spread ourselves across the aire with our chairs and tables out ready to enjoy the outdoor life while gazing across the grass to the Marmots frolicking on the hillside opposite (and sometimes running around on the rugby pitch). A large group of teenagers seemed to also have use of the rugby pitch for a training week which provided some lively entertainment, including a loud music soundtrack. On the slope next to us the local parapenting school trained people in the art of taking off.

Looking down over the aire

A hike around La Plagne

The morning after our arrival we decided that we wouldn’t go biking but would take advantage of the lovely weather and go for a walk.

I popped down to the Spar to get some bread for lunch (probably the most expensive baguettes I have found in France) and picked up the bike trail map from the tourist office, but today was not to be a bike day (much to Paul’s disappointment).

I’d planned us a walk from the aire up to the top of the Grand Rochette lift on it’s 2508m peak, and then across to the top of the next lift which involved a steep switchback downhill path and an equally steep uphill. The geology of the area isn’t very visible in winter, but in summer you can see all of the steep sided funnel shaped depressions in the gypsum rock where water has eroded cavities and sink holes. You wouldn’t want to get trapped in one when skiing, I imagine they would be difficult to get out of.

The soft rock has also made it easy for marmots to excavate their burrows. We saw and heard plenty of them scurrying around. In the sky above us we could see peregrines which obviously nest on the higher rocky cliffs.

We normally like walks that are a little wilder, and where we’re less likely to see people who’ve arrived by lift the easy way, but there is something to be said for arriving at a summit where there are toilets, tables and chairs. We enjoyed a rest in a very comfortable lounging chair where we ate our lunch looking over beautiful views to the Vanoise.

The walk also gave us an opportunity to scout out the mountain biking trails. The map I had found online was obviously out of date. We’d expected the lift next to the aire to be operating, but it was suspiciously static. The map from the tourist office corrected us. The main lifts to the trails would be down in Plagne Centre. On our way back down to the aire we saw that we would easily be able to get onto one of the many tracks around the resort to come back down to the van and wouldn’t need to slog uphill from Plagne Centre to the aire.

We also picked a few mushrooms on the way down the mountain. We’d seen plenty of other people foraging on our walk and once we’d finished our lunch we had an empty lunchbox to fill. Paul loves mushrooms and these were beautifully fresh and pungent. Personally I think they are horrible slimy things. Despite trying to train myself to like them, I can only eat them raw or hidden in other foods. They would be wasted on me.

A bike day in La Plagne

We woke up to cloudy skies and a stiff breeze. Actually that wasn’t too bad for a day of mountain biking, we weren’t going to roast in the sunshine and the cloud was above the resort so we weren’t destined for a foggy day..

Most of the mountain bike park was centred around the Colorado lift in Plagne Centre. We took a track behind the Plagne Villages shops which got us onto the bottom of the green trail down to the lift. We charged up our ski passes with a MTB day each (at €25 each it was incredibly good value) and then we spent the morning on the green and blue trails from the top of the Colorado lift. The tracks were lovely easy flow trails and were very quiet. Just the way I like them, although Paul was itching to get onto the more difficult trails.

We went back to the van for lunch, which meant going up the Grand Rochette bubble. On the way down the track from the top (which was a bit unpleasantly bone jarring, with lots of large gravel/rocks) we passed the top of the Roche di Mio lift which was stationary. Roche di Mio serves an outlying area of the bike park which we were planning to visit later that day. When we went back down to Plagne Villages the Colorado lift was also out of action. The wind was too strong. Only Grand Rochette was open and that only gave us access to one blue trail. When we asked if the lifts might open later we got typical gallic shrugs. Maybe. They never reopened.

In the Grand Rochette bubble

It was a bit of a disappointment. The blue trail we had access to was nice enough, but we had to descend the nasty track from the top before getting onto the bike trail. Paul decided we should follow some other mountain bikers a different way off the top of the mountain down a steep ski slope to try to access the Colorado runs. Never again. I picked my way slowly down the slope while Paul cycled down (and fell off once), those other mountain bikers were more expert than us!

In all we enjoyed our time at La Plagne, the walking was more interesting than we expected, the prices were good (except for the baguettes) and the bike park was well maintained. There were also lots of cross country trails to be explored by bike. We would just be aware that a windy day might close the lifts.

We debated spending another day in resort, but Italy was calling us onwards.