Andorra

Since I would be heading from Spain to France, it only made sense to stop off in the small country of Andorra whilst on the way. This place is quite small and to get here I had to take buses (there isn’t a train track). It was super fun to drive through the Pyrenees and at one point I spotted four paragliders taking advantage of the air currents.

Andorra La Valle

I stayed in the capital city, Andorra La Valle. This city is in the middle of a narrow valley with super steep mountains on either side. The scenery is stunning. The city is weird. It dawned on me today that it feels like there is a city-wide HOA. All the buildings are new and shiny and I can’t figure out where the locals live. 

Since I was only here for a short time, I opted to just stay in the Andorra La Valle instead of venturing off to the other towns. There is a real Aspen vibe going on here and I bet this place is rocking when the snow hits. Today I wandered the town and enjoyed the views. One thing that is interesting: the town has different heights to it. I couldn’t figure out why Google Maps kept routing me the long way between two places until I took matters into my own hands and got stuck looking down at the road I wanted to be on. Imagine folding a piece of paper in half. This city  is basically that shape. 

It feels like the whole town is a store, apartment, or a restaurant and the mountain sides are terraced with big beautiful houses. There are cool trails that run parallel to the valley (after you make it all the steps to get to them!). From those viewpoints you can see that the city has different levels, but everything is at least six stories high. I spotted a few basketball courts on the roofs of some buildings; I guess with space at a premium you put them where you can.  

Shop til you Drop

Andorra is known for being a tax haven, so lots of people come here to shop til they drop. Since I have limited space in my bag and I don’t really like this kind of shopping, this town is a bit wasted on me. However, I had a balcony on my sixth floor hotel room and the views were seriously stunning. The river that flows through the middle of town roars past and it wasn’t as hot as it was in Southern Spain.

Hiking Trails

I stumbled upon a trail that runs parallel to the valley on my first day in Andorra, but the second day I found a longer trail on the other side valley that I could hike. It is cool how they have it set up, you are always walking on stone or pavement, except you are halfway up the mountain and looking down at the city as you walk parallel to it. I opted to take a steep detour to a lookout, but if you didn’t want to do that, once you made it up the mountain to the trailhead, you could have a pleasant stroll with no incline.

Andorra Thoughts

I don’t know that I would recommend Andorra La Valle to anyone, unless they like duty free shops in airports. I would however, recommend the Pyrenees mountains to everyone. It is a super pretty mountain range and if you are traveling from Spain to France you might as well go through instead of up and over.