La Plagne or Méribel: the gentler week or the bigger one
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20265 min read
La Plagne and Méribel are two of the big French family names, and they turn up on the same shortlist for good reason. Both are big, both run from December to April, both are snow sure on our measure, and you fly to Geneva or Chambéry for either. Our matching puts each among the other's closest.
They are not on the same lift pass, though. La Plagne is half of Paradiski, shared with Les Arcs. Méribel sits in the middle of the Three Valleys. So the choice is between two ski areas, and between two quite different mountains for the less confident skiers in your group. The numbers first.
The numbers, side by side
| Figure | La Plagne | Méribel |
|---|---|---|
| Village altitude | 1,800 m, across several villages | 1,450 m at Méribel Centre |
| Top of the skiing, measured | 3,022 m | 2,891 m |
| Linked ski area | Paradiski, 425 km, shared with Les Arcs | The Three Valleys, quoted at 600 km, not yet measured by us |
| Piste we measure around the village | 202.5 km | 261 km |
| Green and blue | 128 km, 63% of the piste, 4.3 km of it green | 156 km, 60% of the piste, 34 km of it green |
| Black | 28 km | 30 km |
| Marked off piste itinerary | 3.0 km | 4.9 km |
| Piste steeper than one in four | 27% | 31% |
| Piste gentler than 15% | 39% | 32% |
| Piste at or above 1,800 m | 80% | 78% |
| Season | December to April | December to April |
| Nearest airport | Geneva or Chambéry | Geneva or Chambéry |
Three rows tell most of the story: the ski area, the gentle share and the green. The snow row, for all the difference in the villages, is level.
Size: Méribel is bigger however you count it
The Three Valleys is quoted at 600 kilometres, the widely used figure for an area that is genuinely linked, though we have not measured it ourselves. Paradiski is 425 kilometres, a figure we have checked against our own measurement. Around the villages, we measure 261 kilometres of piste at Méribel, the second most of the 55 resorts we cover, against 202.5 at La Plagne, the fifth most. That is 58 kilometres more, though Méribel's figure overlaps with its Three Valleys neighbours.
Either way you will not run out in a week. Méribel's advantage is position: from the middle valley you can ski towards Courchevel one way and Val Thorens the other, all on one pass. La Plagne's other half, Les Arcs, is across the valley on the Vanoise Express, a full day out rather than a lunchtime detour.
Altitude: La Plagne sleeps higher, the skiing is level
We put La Plagne's village at 1,800 metres, the joint ninth highest of the 55 resorts we cover, against 1,450 at Méribel Centre, 350 metres lower. In truth La Plagne is several villages, high purpose built centres on the snow and older ones down in the trees, and Méribel has Mottaret higher up the valley at around 1,750. So check which village you are booking at either.
128 km green and blue 63%47 km red 23%28 km black 14%
156 km green and blue 60%75 km red 29%30 km black 11%
Marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste totals: La Plagne 3 km, Méribel 4.9 km.
On the mountain, the gap closes. La Plagne's skiing reaches 3,022 metres by our measure against 2,891 at Méribel, 131 metres higher. But half of La Plagne's piste sits above 2,067 metres, and half of Méribel's above 2,076. Both are snow sure: 80 percent of La Plagne's piste is above 1,800 metres, up to 3,022, and 78 percent of Méribel's, up to 2,891. Nobody can promise snow at either, and on our measure there is nothing to choose between them.
The skiing: La Plagne is gentler, Méribel steeper
Both resorts grade the French way, so the shares compare fairly here. La Plagne is the gentler mountain: 39 percent of its piste is gentler than 15 percent, the third biggest share of the 17 French resorts we cover, against 32 at Méribel. And 27 percent is steeper than one in four, against 31.
128 km green and blue 63%47 km red 23%28 km black 14%
156 km green and blue 60%75 km red 29%30 km black 11%
Marked off piste itinerary, kept out of the piste totals: La Plagne 3 km, Méribel 4.9 km.
The measured gradients agree, grade by grade. They are averages per run segment, and a run's grade is set by its steepest pitch, so read them as how the week feels rather than a verdict on any one run. La Plagne's blues average 15.5 percent and Méribel's 17.0, either side of the French average of 16.2. La Plagne's reds average 23.6 against 25.4, and its blacks 25.5 against 32.8, where the French average for a black is 29.6.
Both have plenty of black. Méribel has 30 kilometres, the third most of the 55 resorts we cover, and La Plagne 28, the fourth, including 6.5 kilometres of double black. But Méribel's blacks measure much the steeper. Its longest piste, the Combe du Vallon, is a red of 3.1 kilometres that drops 947 metres, a long, serious run for strong intermediates.
Who each one actually suits
La Plagne suits families with improvers, groups of cruising intermediates and anyone who wants to step out of the door onto the snow. The high centres are built for that, functional rather than pretty, though Belle Plagne and Plagne 1800 have more charm than people expect. The lower villages, Montchavin, Les Coches, Champagny en Vanoise and Montalbert, trade the doorstep skiing for old farm buildings, village squares and tree runs for bad weather days. Evenings are relaxed, a terrace drink rather than a party, and the Olympic bobsleigh run is there for anyone who wants a story to tell.
Méribel suits mixed groups, multi generational families and anyone who wants the place itself to be part of the holiday. It was built in timber and stone, chalet style, with no towers, and the catered chalet week is a tradition here. Méribel Centre has the shops and bars, Méribel Village is calmer, and Mottaret is the high, practical base. The après is lively without getting out of hand, and there is a leisure centre with a pool and an ice rink for days off.
The bit nobody tells you
La Plagne has a name as the beginners' resort, and it earns it, but not in the way most people assume. It has very little green: 4.3 kilometres in all the piste we measure there, against 34 at Méribel, where the greens around the Altiport sit among the trees.
What La Plagne has instead is gentle blue, and a lot of it: 128 kilometres of green and blue, averaging 15.5 percent on the blues. So a first timer spends the first days on Méribel's greens, then meets blues that average 17.0 percent. At La Plagne there is little green to linger on, but the blues are kind enough to move onto early. For a child or adult in their second week, La Plagne is the easier mountain. For their very first days, Méribel has more to offer.
So, which one
your group is mostly improvers and cruising intermediates, you want ski in ski out from a high village, and you would rather have gentle blues and reds than the biggest area.
your group spans first timers to strong skiers, you want the Three Valleys from the middle and a village that is a pleasure to come back to, and a catered chalet sounds like the holiday.
It has more at both ends, real greens for the beginners and steeper reds and blacks for the strong, with Courchevel and Val Thorens either side, and on our measure the snow is level. La Plagne is the right answer when the middle of the group matters most, and the middle of the group wants an easy, gentle week.