Travel to Andorra

Andorra overview

Located between France and Spain under the protection of the Pyrenees, Andorra offers the best conditions for winter sports, as well as stunning mountain scenery and cultural heritage inheritance of its Roman past. In the warm season, geography attracts hikers and those who need to escape the noise and tensions of the cities. Its cities became tempting to reflect on their windows all the good prices of their products relative to their neighbors.

best time travel to Andorra

The ski season usually starts in December and continue until March, although many stations contribute to slow during the spring snow. The time for hiking is between the last snow until October. The feasts of the Andorran people are held between July and September, and the highest hotel business is concentrated in July and August and December to March

Andorra Mean festivals and Holidays

In local festivals, cities and villages Andoran show their ancestral roots and traditions, are often held between July and September, and they meet people to enjoy music, dancing, food and wine. In Andorra la Vella, the festival, which begins the first Saturday in August, was developed during three days. La Mare de Deu de Meritxell, the national holiday honoring the Virgin Mary is celebrated on September 8 with a pilgrimage to Meritxell, 7 km northeast of the capital. In Andorra, there are also various international music festivals of great importance as the Festival International de Jazz de Escaldes-Engordany, in July, or the International Music Festival in Ordino in September

Andorra Most Attraction Places to Travel

Andorra la Vella

The capital of the principality, the country's largest city, is located 1,000 m above sea level and surrounded by mountains up to 2,400 m altitude. At present, Andorra la Vella focuses its business in the retail electronics and luxury goods tax free. Despite the buzz that fills the streets himself from the most crowded, Andorra la Vella has lost the remnants of its 1100 years of history.
Barri Antique (old town) was the epicenter of the population, and is distinguished by its short and narrow cobbled streets lined with beautiful stone houses of the people own the Pyrenees. The country's most famous building is the Casa de la Vall (house of the valley), seat of the Consell de les Valls (Andorra parliament) since 1702. The stone building has three floors and was built in 1580 as a private house in a wealthy family, the arms of the door dates from 1761. The ground floor is the Hall of Justice, for the whole country, and on the first floor, the Sala del Consell, where meetings are held in parliament. Set Panys (chest of the seven keys) contained within a document most relevant to Andorra, it could only open if this was one of the representatives of each parish in possession of a key.
Cultural events are held in the Plaça del Poble, a public plaza surrounded by theater and music conservatory in the city, usually in the evenings where people congregate.

Caldea

The huge complex Caldea spa is located in Les Escaldes, east of the outskirts of Andorra la Vella. Fed by natural hot springs, the spa consists of a lake of 600 m², which is maintained at a constant temperature of 32 ° C. It is the ideal way to end the day's skiing. You can also enjoy the whirlpool or Turkish baths, both included in the ticket price, which provides a stay of three hours in the complex.
Caldea spa is open every day, his address is Parc de la Mola # 10, about 2 km from Piazza Guillem in Andorra la Vella. Tickets can be purchased at the tourist offices.

Ordino

Considering the average size of the populations Andorra, Ordino is one of the most extensive that, despite the recent increase in tourism (an abundance of holiday homes and British travelers), maintains its traditional character and serene. The most prominent attraction of the city is the Museu d'Areny i Plandolit, an ancient manor house belonging to the family Areny Plandolit, perhaps the most famous of the country. Their rough design, and interior furnishings are typically Andorrans.
In the parish located in the northwest, is the ski-Ordino Arcalís, where you can also do some of the most interesting hiking trails when the warm weather arrives. Some of the highest peaks reach 2800 m.
Throughout the year, maintains and operates a daily bus from Andorra la Vella and covers the 10 km that separate Ordino. In the snow season, there is a free shuttle to the lifts of Ordino-Arcalís from the vicinity, the only way to get the rest of the year is by car.

Encamp

This town is home to one of Andorra's best known museums, the Museu Nacional de l'Automobile, which displays more than two hundred cars from 1898 to 1950 years, as well as hundreds of motorcycles and bicycles. To the north, is the church Sant Romà de les Bons, and construction of the tenth century Lombard Romanesque style, the frescoes in the apse are reproductions of the originals, that moved to the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya in Barcelona.
The two ski resorts of Encamp, Soldeu-El Tarter and Pas de la Casa-Grau Roig, are considered among the best facilities Andoran to practice this sport, and they come mainly British and French tourists.
There is a bus line that connects daily and Encamp Andorra la Vella, 5 km and is addressed to the terminal stations French Ax-les-Thermes, L'Hospitalet and La Tour de Carol.

Llorts

Llorts village of one hundred inhabitants, lies between fields of snuff, and is protected behind their backs by pristine mountains. This is one of the least exploited of the country, ideal for hiking. One of the most popular marches, of three hours and a half, is the valley that runs west of the population along the river l'Angonella, path leading to the group of lakes Estanys de l'Angonella. North of El Serrat, about 3 km from the valley Llorts, there is a secondary road leading to the mountain hostel Sorteny edge at 1970 m altitude. From here you can restart another path that goes to the lake Estany de l'Estany and a mountain of 2915 m known as the Pic de l'Estany. In the tiny church of Sant Martí, Romanesque building erected in the curtain, 2 km south of Llorts, you  can admire some frescoes of the twelfth century in excellent condition. From Andorra la Vella, part of a daily bus service to and Llorts El Serrat, 16 km, another 6 km line runs between them in Ordino.

Seu d'Urgell

Seu d'Urgell is the gateway to Spain from Andorra, a beautiful enclave where refuel overnight. Since the ninth century was established as the seat of the bishop of Urgell and the Count, the Spanish fraction of the co-of Andorra.
Located south of the central Plaça dels Oms, the cathedral of Santa Maria, the twelfth century, is one of the most outstanding Romanesque buildings in Catalonia, despite  having undergone several renovations throughout the years. Its interior houses the Museu Diocesà, which has a large number of mural paintings, writings and altar pieces, plus a Beatus, illustrated manuscript on Revelation, very unusual, dating back to the X. Century
Seu d'Urgell is located 9 km south of the road Andorra CG1; a frequent bus service connects with the principality.

Toulouse

Toulouse, student center very dynamic and lively, is one of the fastest growing urban population of France and has many museums, churches, gardens and galleries. Besides being the city closest to Andorra and enjoy a lively nightlife, its inhabitants have a reputation for being more friendly to the French region.
The Place du Capitole is the main square of the city, there are the town hall building, the eighteenth century, and the Théâtre du Capitole, one of the opera houses of France's most prestigious. South of the square is the Vieux Quartier (Old Quarter) with its streets and lanes intact from the eighteenth century.
The city is full of notable churches to delight all lovers of religious architecture. Saint Sernin Basilica, the eleventh century French Romanesque structure is larger, in which the frescoes of the twelfth century the north arm of the cruise. The church of Notre Dame du Taur is a Gothic building which was built in honor of St. Sernin, a child martyr of the city who died in 257 AD to be tied to the tail of a bull. The madona black interior of the chapel dates from the sixteenth century. It also highlights the church des Jacobins, Gothic, and the relics of St. Thomas Aquinas, now buried under the new and ornate altar.
To enjoy leisure, you are advised to approach the area of bars around the Place Saint Georges, where you can choose between a score of clubs. The large population of gay meets in Toulouse premises to the south of the Place du Capitole and the west bank of the river Garonne.
Toulouse is situated 180 km northwest of Andorra la Vella following the road CG2 French and then the N20. There are trains and buses that connect Toulouse and the French border towns of L'Hospitalet, La Tour de Carol and Ax-les-Thermes, where one can travel by bus to Andorra la Vella.

activities in Andorra

Andorra is the most affordable enclave in the Pyrenees for skiing and snowboarding. Pas de la Casa-Grau Roig and Soldeu-El Tarter size, height and number of lifts, are the best seasons, but also more expensive. The ski season usually extended from December to March depending on snow conditions. Most stations use snow machines to improve the quality of the tracks.
Andorra is a beautiful, quiet and relatively little used, features that make it an ideal place for excursions. Notable tracks are located in the parish of Ordino, Northwest, and the path GR11, which crosses the Pyrenees from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic and crosses southern Andorra. Walkers can stay free in Refugis (shelters) available along the trail.
In the large ski resorts, mountain bikes can be rented during the summer months in the area of Soldeu-El Tarter, Canillo in the parish, is very popular practice of hang gliding

Andorra History

Tradition attributes the origins of Andorra to Charlemagne, who liberated the region from the Muslim occupation in the year 803 AD and his son, Louis the Pious, granted the residents an independent status. The first existing document where the name of Andorra is an order of 843 years which produced Charles II, grandson of Charlemagne, and which gave way to the valleys of Andorra Sunifred, Count of Urgell, from the nearby Spanish town of La Seu d'Urgell. The act of consecration of the cathedral of La Seu, which dates back approximately 860 years, including membership of the parishes Andorran territory dominated by the count. From the twelfth century the valleys of Andorra became a lordship under the aegis of the Episcopal diocese of Urgell.

The first constitutional documents of the country, Pariatges (agreements between equals), were drafted in 1278 and 1288, by which to resolve the differences between the Church of Urgell and the house of Foix (who would later be absorbed by the Royal House of France). These agreements, which both the bishop and the counts agreed to share sovereignty of Andorra, have formed the basis of the government of Andorra to the present day and are among the oldest documents of this type are still in force.

A distinctive political balance created by this agreement freed the country from being absorbed by its powerful neighbors, despite the periodic tensions that occurred between the co and the powers they represented. After the French Revolution, France, as heir to the territories and the prerogatives of the Count of Foix, renounced all feudal rights over Andorra, but Napoleon, at the express request of Andorrans and who feared Spanish hegemony, he returned to accept the sovereignty in 1806.

His documentation of tax arose from the smuggling of French goods to Spain during the Spanish Civil War and Spanish goods to France during World War II. Andorra kept its neutrality during the two world wars and the Spanish contest.

In March 1993, its citizens approved the first Andorran Constitution, turning the country into a parliamentary co-law, democratic and social, but also maintained the role of French and Spanish co-princes as heads of state together with much reduced powers. In July 1994 Andorra joined the Council of Europe and the UN.

Andorra has become a center for skiing and duty free shopping. Apart from these activities bring welfare, foreign businesses and around 11 million visitors a year, have a development without regard and several kilometers of traffic jams on both sides of the border.

Andorra Culture and people

Until the fifties, the Andorran population was 6,000. At present, only a quarter of its residents, almost two thirds live in Andorra la Vella and its environs are Andorran nationals. The rest comes mainly from Spain, France and Portugal.
The official language is Catalan, a Romance language closely related to Occitan, but Spanish and French influences. While it is believed that all of its inhabitants speak Catalan, Spanish and French, in fact many of their citizens know the French language.
The cuisine is mainly Catalan, although it has adopted many features of the French and Italian cuisines. Meat and fish are served with traditional sauce, the pasta is also very common. Among the dishes are the Conill (rabbit with tomato), the Xai (roast lamb), the trinxat (bacon, potatoes and cabbage) and escudella (stew of chicken, sausage and meatballs)

Andorra Map