Andorra: A Simple Guide to an Awesome Country

Table of Contents

• Andorra…where is that place, again?

• How to Get Here

• Where to Stay

• How to Get Around

• What to Do

– Cirque du Soleil – “Rebel”

– Our Week in Andorra

• Tips & Hacks

 

 

Andorra…where is that place, again?

Andorra is the sixth smallest European country at only 468 km² (or 290 square miles, about half the size of Indianapolis, Indiana) and a population of only 77,000.  It’s SMALL! 

 The capital and largest city is Andorra La Vella and has a mere 23,000 people, which is where Raychelle and I stayed.

Also, you can’t get here by air or by train. There is one road into Andorra from Spain and one another from France.

Think of this landlocked country as a “land island” separated from the rest of Europe by the tall Pyrenees Mountains and the vast “oceans” of Spanish and French countryside.

How to Get Here

Ok, so Andorra sounds a bit isolated…so how do people get here?

Most by bus, some by car.

There are many buses that run between the international airports and large train stations of northern Spain (especially Barcelona) and southern France, especially the airport in the French city of Toulouse.

Raychelle and I had to travel separately to get here (long story; a whole other blog post for sure!) so we used two different means of transportation.

She flew on a Vueling Airlines flight from the Málaga, Spain to Barcelona then took a small bus into Andorra La Vella via Andorra By Bus (Raychelle praises their great smartphone app!). The bus ride was three hours long, and while the Wi-Fi on the bus was spotty, it did have USB changer ports for every passenger. 

I took an AMAZING train from Málaga to Lleida, Spain operated by Renfe. Smooth, quiet, plenty of leg space for my 6’4” frame and we hit a top speed of 302 km/h (187mph)! FAST! These trains, shaped like a giant toothpicks, are worth a try in Europe – highly recommended.

The train had an EU style electrical outlet for each passenger, and you could purchase Wi-Fi, if so desired. From Lleida, I took a small bus by Grup Montmantell, which had five complimentary minutes of Wi-Fi but no charging stations. Don’t be scared by their HORRIBLE website, it’s legit.

Both of our buses arrived to the Estació Nacional d’Autobusos (national bus station), which is just south of city center. We had a house sitting assignment right on La Valira river, close to the start of Avenue Meritxell (that becomes Avenue Carlemany as you walk east of city center); this is a long street with a TON of shops…more on that later.

Where to Stay 

This really depends on your goals, budget, and time of year, so lets do some scenarios. There are a LOT of ways to spend a TON of money here, but there are also plenty of options for the budget traveler.

 

Our Recommendations for Accommodations During the Summer

Andorra is a winter sports Mecca, but don’t let that scare you away from coming here in the summer. Mountain biking and hiking are king during the warmer months. We really enjoyed our time here in July. Like, REALLY loved it!

• Urban: Andorra La Vella (most stuff to do, dining options, great hikes right from town)
• Small Town: La Massana (mountain biking, hiking, chill)

 

Our Recommendations for Accommodations During the Winter

Andorra’s position high in the Pyrenees Mountains makes it a top destination for winter sports enthusiasts.

• Urban: Andorra La Vella
  • No ski lifts, but all buses connect to all the lifts from here, and you’re in the big city with the best amenities and close proximity to everywhere in the country.
• Small Towns:
  • Pas de la Casa
    • If you ARE hitting the slopes, don’t care about vibe, and only care about the most skiing options – – p.s. you might want to speak a bit of French, it’s all we heard being spoken.
  • Arinsal
    • Great ski town, less slope options, better vibe.
  • Canillo
    • You can still ski here, but for being so close to Pas de la Casa it doesn’t connect with the slopes there, but it’s a WAY more chillaxable town.

How to Get Around

Walking and taking the bus are the two best options, in our opinion.  Everything is in close proximity, so walking is easy; buses can take you virtually everywhere within the country.

Additionally, there are car rental facilities available, but unless you’re going somewhere that buses don’t service we wouldn’t recommend it.  Car rentals are expensive in Andorra, we were unable to find any car for under €100.  Parking is expensive, too.  Only consider getting a car if you plan to go to one of the few places outside of available bus service.

If you’re in Andorra La Vella and don’t want to wait on the bus (or a taxi) or don’t feel like walking, consider renting one of these: an electric stand-up scooter (they’re EVERYWHERE), a bicycle, or a gasoline-powered scooter/motorcycle.

During the summer don’t even mess with taxis, maybe consider them if you’re here in the winter and it’s snowing like mad, but otherwise use the fantastic bus system. 

Let’s go for a walk!

Walking, our favorite option in Andorra, is easy and safe. Great walking trails and sidewalks exist within every town, often separated from traffic with metal guardrails. If you are walking between towns, be aware that the roads can get very narrow at times and walkers aren’t allowed in certain tunnels (which we found out the hard way when attempting to walk from Pas de la Casa – walking and biking are NOT allowed in that tunnel).

Road signs: If you’re walking or on a bike look for road signs to let you know if you’re permitted to use a certain stretch of road. Signs outlined in blue indicate you ARE allowed on that stretch of road, signs outlined in red mean you ARE NOT allowed. 

Never too bus-y for a bus!

Buses are a close second place for our preferred travel method within Andorra La Vella, and are a safer and faster option to get between towns when the sidewalks ends. In Andorra La Vella, buses run almost constantly and connect all parts of town.

There are lots of great options to connect to surrounding towns, too, and they typically stop hourly or every 30 minutes. Be sure to check the schedules online for the most up-to-date routes and times.

There is a bus system app called Moovit; however, we didn’t find it accurate for the bus system in Andorra, though it was helpful in that we were able to find the closest bus stops.

Bus fare pricing: One person, one-way from Andorra La Vella to Pas de la Casa on the French border is only €6.50. All other fares are cheaper.

What to Do?

Keep reading the section below for our review of Cirque du Soleil “Rebel” we saw while in Andorra — which is ONLY performed in Andorra during the month of July each year. It was AWESOME!

Again, this REALLY depends on the time of year you’re here, but also on your goals and budget.

We were here in July and felt like there were TONS of things to do and see. We like winter sports and will likely come back during the winter next time to experience Andorra in a different (not better, just different) way.

One Week in Andorra – Simply See The World-Style.

Day 1:

Raychelle was here alone for the first day (we traveled separately, long story, another blog). She chose to go get some groceries at Andorra 2000 supermarket and chill at the apartment until I arrived that night.

Weather was awesome and there was great people watching from the balcony, cheap entertainment! She walked down to the National Bus Station to meet me and we walked back to the apartment with bags in tow.

Day 2:

Slept in!  Ray and I decided to walk around “Old Town” which has some sightseeing attractions such as La Casa de la Vall (which we never went in, but walked by often) and Seven Poetas Sculptures (which are easily viewed, best at night).

 

We got some drinks at Barri Antic (hostel and pub), which has an AWESOME vibe, super cute views in the courtyard, and cheap beer.

Another highlight, since Raychelle and I are big craft beer fans, was La Birreria De Andorra – several house-brewed beers (stout and IPA were the best) and bottles from around the world.

 

 

 

Day 3: 

We began our day with a walk over to Andorra 2000 supermarket, which is a REALLY fun experience. It’s a big store with groceries, produce, and deli, but also has general merchandise and a full-blown clothing section a la department store – it even has a bar and restaurant. Pretty cool place.

€88 later we had groceries and adult beverages for the entire week.

 

Who wore it better…Andorra 2000 or Andre 3000???  

                                                                                                                             “Hey ya!!!” – Andre 3000 of Outkast

 

 

 

Cirque du Soleil – “Rebel”

***SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers! Skip ahead to “Day 4” if you don’t want to know what happens in the “Rebel” show.***

Andorra is home to Cirque du Soleil – “Rebel.” It is performed ONLY in Andorra, and ONLY in July of each year. There is a HUGE “tent” (it’s a building, let’s just be real) set up year in a parking lot near Parc Central. Did I mention it was big?

Guess what? Like Raychelle and I, YOU CAN SEE CIRQUE DU SOLEIL “REBEL” FOR FREE!!!

We logged onto https://www.cirquedusoleil.com/rebel and get free tickets, which are parking lot level looking up to the large stage, or tickets for purchase in the bleachers. Raychelle and I were happy with the free, standing-only tickets that placed us stage right about 3 meters (10 feet) from the stage.

NOTE: Get you tickets EARLY, especially if you’re planning on going to a weekend performance. Arrive a bit early to the show if you get free tickets so you can get a good place to stand. 

Review of the show:

“Rebel” is a show inspired by the Rock & Roll and has a lot of great songs including Jimi Hendrix “Purple Haze”, Elvis Presley “Heartbreak Hotel”, Bob Dylan “Blowing in the Wind”, George Michael “Faith.” There were several awesome Spanish and French songs, too.

There was a fantastic aerial silk performer, a cyr wheel performer who was also the emcee (my favorite!), a giant swing that performers launched from and then landed in a net, a roller-skating duo who were brilliant, an artistic and incredible pole dancer, and many other performances before the finale.

The Finale:

The finale was motorcycle stunt that had several phases. There was a giant sphere that the riders would enter from a door that would then close to enclose the sphere.

First one rider, then two together…then three. Zooming around in rapid circles, weaving in and out of each other’s paths. Crazy!

Then, we saw a fourth rider approach the outside of the sphere. We we’re like “Turn around, there’s already three riders in there!” but he entered anyways, haha!

So they started riding in circles again, but this time there was a twist: not only were there four riders, the sphere they were riding within came apart and became two hemispheres! We were REALLY nervous – it was a nail biter, for sure!

The riders continued circling in two detached hemispheres and then the separate pieces finally joined together again.

The crowd went CRAZY!!! What an exciting end to a GREAT show. 

Raychelle and I have seen Cirque du Soleil “O” in Las Vegas, and we liked “Rebel” much more. Tickets were about $125 for “O”, and they were FREE for “Rebel”.

How about that?!?

Bottom line: If you’re in Andorra in July, you really have to go see “Rebel”.

Day 4:

Another workday in the apartment. Around sunset we took a stroll around town and had some delicious chilled red wine from the Ribeiro region of Spain while playing a game of Phase 10 (our favorite card game) at a great place on the river called Granja Diva.

Two wines = €3.90. Yep!

Diva, as it’s called, has a diner vibe and an awesome riverside outdoor dining area, and great service with a smile – try it for breakfast, too!

Day 5:

We thought the people watching was good from our balcony, but oh boy, just wait until you walk through the BRIGHTLY LIT shopping district of Avenue Meritxell!

Here you’ll see travelers from throughout the world shopping until they’re dropping at chain stores and luxury retailers. Raychelle found a specific style of shirt she’s been looking for at Mango for only €12.

Along this avenue you’ll find perfumes, tobacco, booze, electronics, normal stuff, weird stuff…they’ve got it all! If you love shopping, even window-shopping, you’ll love this. If you don’t, still check it out anyways and enjoy the chaos – it’s entertaining.

Plus, the avenue is punctuated by an art installation of giant snails!

Day 6:

Time to get out of the “big” city for a bit and check out some of the smaller towns! We took the L5 bus route to the ski resort town of Arinsal, which was €3.35 per person. The bus takes you straight to the gondola lifts at Ushuaia Mountain Hotel. 

Our day turned out to be a mix of hiking and bar hopping.

We started walking back towards Andorra La Vella on the sidewalks (and occasionally the road, sometimes no sidewalk is present when the road narrows) and we stopped at El Cabin. FANTASTIC view! There we enjoyed a delicious Complot Mediterranean IPA.

After enjoying our beers and snacks creek side, and getting an obligatory picture within the gondola car they have converted into being a tiny dining room, we continued downhill back towards the city.

During this point in our trip we used a Pro Travel Tip. Read the “Tips and Hacks” section below to find out more.

As we continued to walk we would occasionally stop in a gas station to use the restroom and grab a drink. Four cans of beer = €1.58

We used another Pro Travel Tip here. More below! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mountain Biking in Andorra

Then we happened upon something pretty cool, the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, which was taking place in Vallnord (the north end of La Massana). This was really fun to watch!

We noticed the bikers would ride on the road into La Massana after their run, so we walked ahead to figure out where they were going. Turns out there is a gondola lift there and the bikers would ride their bikes into the building, onto the escalator, and then load themselves and their bikes on the gondola for their next run down the mountain. Neat stuff!

There is a walking trail that connects La Massana to Andorra La Vella so we got off the sidewalks/road and enjoyed the tree-lined trail back into the city. You could take this trail the whole way between the two towns, if you so desired – good choice! It follows the creek and is super chill.

We got back to Andorra La Vella and “splurged” on a €30 meal of tasty pizza and empanadas from Lescenari de Pizzes. Recommended.

Day 7:

Another day outside of the city, only this time out to the far east of Andorra.  Raychelle and I hopped on the L4 bus to Pas de la Casa, which is situated high in the Pyrenees on the French border.

We are REALLY glad we did this side trip! Andorra is MUCH more than just Andorra La Vella, and not getting outside of the city would be a shame.

The bus winded its way up through small towns and finally through a looooooong tunnel, delivering us to a part of Andorra that looks unlike any other part we had seen thus far.

There were no trees and the town looked almost fictional in the context of the craggy, windswept setting. Pas de la Casa is VERY different from Andorra la Vella. 

Remember taking French in High School or College?  Might be a good time to brush up.

First, we noticed that while we heard nearly everyone speak Spanish in Andorra La Vella, nearly everyone in Pas de la Casa spoke French.

Second, this town was about two things, and two things only…winter sports and shopping. If you don’t like either of those things there won’t be a whole lot here for you besides an interesting landscape.

We got off the bus and walked around. We saw cows grazing underneath the ski lift and people hiking amongst them. Lovers snuggled under the parked gondola cars and restaurant workers courted us to sit at their establishment.

Shop owners chatted with patrons and the shelves were stocked with booze, giant bottles of booze, giant multi-carton packs of cigarettes, and even-more-enormous multi-carton packs of cigarettes with a “free” bottle of booze shrink wrapped to it.

You get the picture.

Stores also sold winter sports gear, hunting and fishing gear, fragrances, bulk-sized laundry detergent, and all sorts of electronics. Andorra has lenient tax laws and has historically been considered a partial tax haven.

So, we think French folks were driving in, stocking up, and heading back home.

After walking around for a bit we bought some drinks and snacks and loaded up our backpack to return to Andorra La Vella by foot.

We started to walk through the long tunnel and shortly after entering we were flagged down by an orange truck with a man dressed in orange whom motioned us to turn around. We did, and we saw that he had parked and was walking towards us. Apparently we did not understand the signs that had a pedestrian and a bicyclist pictured. 

“Stop right there!”

In Andorra, if a sign is outlined in blue it means an action or method of transport is permitted, if outlined in red (as was the pedestrian/bicyclist on the sign outside the tunnel) it is NOT permitted. Whoops! Back to the bus stop, for a trip through the tunnel.

We were the only two people on the Greyhound-sized bus through the tunnel and we got off on the first stop: Soldeu. Soldeu and its neighbor El Tarter where both beautiful and quaint.

If you plan to come to Andorra for winter sports, do consider staying in Soldeu because there are gondola lifts that connect to Pas de la Casa. We feel that Pas de la Casa is home to the best skiing options, but is odd, utilitarian, and geographically isolated. The Soldeu-Pas de la Casa ski gondola system connects over 10% of Andorra’s landmass (that’s big!) and offers both downhill and cross-country skiing. 

Take a hike!

We found a trail connecting Soldeu to Canillo. They are renovating it currently and set to install a new walking bridge. Very pretty hike. However, there was a detour and we had to turn around. Maybe it will be ready for when you visit Andorra 🙂

On the road walking to Canillo we enjoyed beautiful mountain vistas and small pockets of development. If you’re a rock climber, consider looking into a curious man-made, roadside rock-climbing wall towering above the road called Rocòdrom Canillo.

A couple other sights to see in this area are Sant Joan de Caselles Church and Museu de les Dues Rodes (M2R), the Museum of Two Wheels. We didn’t do either, but if you love old churches and traditional Andorran architecture Sant Joan will surely please. 

Traveling simply means NOT doing everything, because doing EVERYTHING is exhausting, expensive, and unrewarding.

I LOVE motorcycles and would have enjoyed M2R, but when traveling simply you just can’t do EVERYTHING – and that’s ok. We will DEFINITELY be back in Andorra sometime – maybe then!

We then entered Canillo, which would be our choice of town to spend time in on the east side of Andorra. Very beautiful and chill vibe, plenty of restaurants, lots of hiking options and a gondola right in town.

For a RIDICULOUS view of the valley, check out Mirador Roc Del Quer. This man-made platform provides amazing views of the valley and surrounding mountains, and has a design essence and feel of the viewing platform of the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, albeit smaller. We were on foot so we just observed from the valley floor below but loved the pictures we saw online.

 

One more mountain to go! 

Finally, we entered En Camp, which is the first small town outside of Andorra La Vella. We didn’t spend much time here but it is very picturesque and the proximity to the city renders it a strategic place to stay/explore. It connects via several buses.

When entering Andorra La Vella from this direction (the east) you will enter through Les Escaldes. We really liked this artsy and humble part of town and will spend some time here next time we go to Andorra.

As a Hoosier, a person from the state of Indiana within the United States, I was excited to see a watering hole called Pub Indiana – which, didn’t seem to have anything to do with my home state, but was fun to see, nonetheless. 

 

 

Tips & Hacks 

• Pro Travel Tip: Two beers and an order of fries is our “cheap-o” travel meal of choice. Gives you just enough time to log onto the Wi-Fi, use the restroom, or just take a small break while only spending a few We have found that often a side of fries ordered a la carte is a fairly big helping, too.

Simple meal. Good deal. Dollars saved = more time/options on the road.

Plus, every single order of fries/chips/frites we’ve had in Europe has been REALLY good!

• Pro Travel Tip: Gas stations are often excellent places to save money on the road. For example, in Andorra we stopped in to use VERY clean restrooms, fill up our water in the sink (if the restroom is clean then it’s not gross to fill your water bottle, get over yourself) (or just buy a cheap water), buy a snack/drink and be on your way.

Travel Tip from Becky with the Good Hair:

• Pro Travel Tip: My sister, Becky is a traveling nurse and is AWESOME at traveling – total pro. She has car camped in her VW Jetta above the Artic Circle in Alaska and backpacked across Southeast Asia.

While on the road, she recommends taking “sinkies” when necessary, which are fully/mostly clothed sponge baths (sink baths). To be clear, still bathe in traditional way – she/we are NOT recommending you give up showers.

However, if you’re sweaty and gross, in the middle of nowhere, or camping, it is a solid option. A gas station with a locking bathroom door can offer you a way to freshen up in a pinch.

I enjoyed a “sinkie” in Canillo as a way to cool down. Thanks, Shell gas station!

Be sure to check out our Instagram and YouTube channel for pics and videos from our trip!!!